NHRA News: Hometown hero Head ready for breakout race in C-bus (6/7/2004)

Hometown hero Head ready for breakout race in C-bus

By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
6/7/2004

"Flat-out, I'm impressed with these things."
– Jim Head

During the final round of qualifying in Houston, Funny Car racers Jim Head and Ron Capps completed a pair of ugly, smoke-filled runs that would normally be the type drivers would just as soon forget. But as their 6,000-horsepower beasts sat smoking and hissing at the top end, Head said something neither man has forgotten – "These things are so much fun."

If Ohio needs an underdog favorite to root for at this weekend's Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals presented by Summit Racing Equipment, it needs to look no further than Columbus native Head. If anyone can get excited about a swerving 8.19-second pass, like Head did in Houston, imagine the fireworks a win in his backyard would produce.

He might not be having the on-track success he's grown accustomed to as he makes the transition back into Funny Car after 16 successive seasons in a Top Fuel dragster, but Head is spiking the fun-meter in 2004. Teamed with Jerry Toliver in a pair of Alan Johnson-powered Toyota Celicas, Head is thrilled about the challenge of driving and tuning the nitro-powered hybrid.

"There's no way to make it look easy," said Head, who has qualified just three times this year with a heartbreaking four 17th-place efforts. "No one is close to being perfect tuning a Funny Car. I don't care who you are, [Austin] Coil, [Lee] Beard, [John] Medlen, whoever, you rarely see someone even make it a weekend without a hiccup.

Jim Head's Toyota Celica Funny Car.

"Tim Richards had his hat handed to him when he tried tuning a Funny Car, and he's one of the best tuners we've ever seen. Even Alan [Johnson] struggled. The finesse you need to make a Funny Car go down the track is something. I'm on a steep learning curve, but I'm loving it."

Of Head's 325 professional starts, 58 came during the five seasons he ran Funny Car from 1984-1988. Additionally, half of his six Pro wins came over that same time period, including a huge victory over Kenny Bernstein at the '84 U.S. Nationals. But Head says that experience is virtually worthless to him now.

"Back in the mid-'80s, these things were not nearly as hard to tune or drive as they are now," said Head, who has always tuned his own racecars. "You have to be up on the wheel from the moment you step on the throttle to the moment the car stops moving or you're in trouble. As a tuner, just getting them to hook [to the track] is a huge accomplishment. Flat-out, I'm impressed with these things."

"It's a tough bunch in Funny Car, and I mean both the tuners and the drivers. The cars are very edgy. You don't have that long body or those big wings to help you, yet Funny Cars are running right there with the dragsters. It's amazing when you think about it."

Just like others before him that made the switch form dragster to Funny Car, Head is making his share of mistakes. But the personal-best numbers he's posted at his last two races has him encouraged.

"These things are animals and I think Jim is realizing that now," said Capps, who started his career in Top Fuel. "In a dragster you're sitting in front of the motor and you really don't get a lot of the sound or the oil or any of the stuff that goes wrong in these cars thrown in your face. In a Funny Car, it's tough just to see out the window when they lower the body down on you, and then it gets harder from there.

Head led the Top Fuel field Friday at last year's Columbus race with a 4.57 at 317 mph in his dragster.

"A Top Fueler does pull a lot harder early on. It plants you back in the seat because you're able to transfer power better with the long chassis. There is definitely a noticeable difference in launching the two cars. It's harder to hear what's happening with a dragster because by half-track you're going so fast you're out-running the noise. In a Funny Car your legs are wrapped around the motor and the pipes are right out the window. It's pretty hard to miss anything that happens.

"As a driver, it seems like you're more in-tune with a Funny Car. You can be a smarter driver. After awhile the dragster is a little boring to drive. I'm going to catch hell for saying that but it's true."

Head agrees with Capps' assessment of the variances between piloting the sport's two quickest machines, saying that in hindsight a Top Fuel ride is "relatively boring" when compared to a Funny Car pass. At the same time, he continues to be intrigued by the mechanical aspects of getting a Funny Car to run down the quarter-mile.

"My time at the races absolutely flies by these days," Head said. "That's why I'm sitting here at my shop late Sunday night. I'm trying to put together a gameplan for this weekend because I know it'll be hectic racing at home. When you're wearing two hats and you're still learning, there aren't enough minutes in the day.

"I offer no excuses for our performance so far. Jerry ran that 4.73 in Pomona and it made us both crazy because we've been trying to find that run ever since. The result is we've been way too aggressive.

"I'm a horsepower guy. I like to leave it on full power and try to tune from the bell housing [clutch system.] We're basically running the motor just like I did in the dragster when I went 4.53 at 320-something. The goal now is to get down the track every time and collect some time slips. You gotta get the car right because it's impossible to play on Sunday if they already told you to go home."

Head, who runs a general contracting business based in Galena, Ohio, says the resurfacing project that has taken place at National Trail Raceway, combined with the great unknown of Ohio weather in mid-June, could really level the playing field this weekend, opening the door for darkhorses like him.

"I flew over the track just a few weeks back and it was totally white," he said. "They've ground it from stem to stern and at that point no cars had been down it. I'm sure the crews will be out there prepping it but if we get some goofy weather, all bets are off. It could be one of those upset-filled weekends."

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