On Saturday September 21st I had the honor to represent National Carriers with the Army Recruiting Battalion of Dallas at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas the for Mello Yellow Fall National NHRA event.
When I say honor or privilege I really mean it, the Army had several presentations and awarded several of their soldiers with some outstanding awards, once which a Sergeant pulled 2 occupants out of a burning car in Mesquite, TX. And had saved their lives.
Next was Mike Lewis, Senior Vice President for Don Schumacher Racing, Mike talked about how the many teams of DSR worked together, the hours involved in making sure that every team had what they needed to be successful and what it took to get where they are today.
The ‘Sarge’, Tony Schumacher was next, what a speaker and a fine representation he is for the Army, he talked about teamwork and how all of his Crew know what to do to be successful. He said he wouldn’t want to hire his five best friends from high school to work in his pit or he probably wouldn’t be where he is today with 6 Top Fuel Championships. Schumacher continued by saying driving a dragster is fun and exciting, but he has to have the best crew to be where he is at today. He also talked about horse power. On any given day he will have between 8000 and 10000 horse power, only in this business can you honestly tell someone that the Top Fuel Dragster could have a 2000 horsepower window.
Next they announce the Honorary Pit Crew member for the day, and guess what, that was me! What an Honor to spend it with a group of guys like this, this allowed me to go down next to the starting grid and get the best seat in the house. After Tony completed the preliminary run it was back to the pit for an engine overhaul, transmission, clutch and anything else that would keep him in the mix. In an amazing 23 minutes from the time they had backed the car in to the time they were done taking everything apart to putting everything back we were ready for round 2. This time he finished at the top of the chart with a run of 319mph. the teamwork that it took to accomplish this was just amazing, each member of the team knew exactly what their job was and did it successfully.
In the past year National Carriers has become one of the shared partners for the Army. NCI has hired some young soldiers who have had experience driving trucks in the military and want to continue their careers in the transportation industry. The Hero 2 Hired program helps quality businesses assist exiting military personnel move from serving our country to a successful opportunity in civilian life.
AL LOVE
NCI Director of Driver Services
