Howdy, Team K. fans. Well, the dust is finally completely setting on another running of the Big Go. We had a great, and somewhat exhausting, weekend in Indy, but it was all worth every second. Doug and the Mac Tools team made an excellent final-round showing and almost brought the Wally back to Ypsi. Hillary and the KB Racing team showed everyone just how strong they can run with five great qualifying efforts that they were rewarded for with the Full Throttle Award. Winning that award at any race is cool, but winning it in Indy is really something special if you ask me. Grubby and the DHL guys got their rail solidly in the show, and he and Doug both made the Countdown to 1, so to say we had a great weekend is really an understatement. The biggest victory at Kalitta Motorsports however, was not in any of the aforementioned pit areas.
I started getting this small, yet nagging, queasy feeling in my stomach Friday morning. I had run the scene through my head a few million times of what would happen and how I would feel and react to see the DHL Funny Car take off from the starting line again. Flashes of Scott, flashes of his last lap, flashes of dark, light, panic, and calm all intertwined in my mind like a wrecking whirlwind.
Being the big, strong, tough guy that I’m supposed to be, I made a half-hearted vow to myself to try to keep my emotions in check. That plan worked out pretty good for most of the day on Friday, but as the day and the shadows began to grow longer, that little nagging in the gut became a full-fledged anxious nuisance, and my emotions became almost as raw as they were that Saturday in New Jersey. There was something about my own healing process however, that compelled me to be near the car and Jeff and the guys from the moment it left our pit area to head to the staging lanes until it returned home.
I’ve been mulling over how to describe how the following minutes felt, but I’m not sure if I can give it justice. Watching Jeff get strapped into the car was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever been through. It was eerie. My eyes watched the guys getting Jeff belted in, but my mind’s eyes saw Scotty in the cockpit. He was there with us. I admit I am the first to cast stones at what I’ve even called “spiritual mumbo jumbo,” but not this time and probably never again. As we crept closer and closer to the starting line, I noticed my legs becoming more and more like noodles. Yeah, that whole tough guy deal went out the window as soon as the guys fired the motor. Sure, I will blame my watery eyes on the nitro fumes, but that was most certainly not the case.
The DHL Funny Car didn’t qualify for the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, but in every other sense, it won the biggest race of all. It won when it rolled to the starting line and the crowd at ORP rose to their feet and saluted Conrad Kalitta for everything he has given to the sport of drag racing. It won when the ambers fell and the green flashed and it went down the left lane in a yellow blur. It won when it ran a solid 4.19-second lap right out of the box. It won when it turned off the end of the track and brought Jeff safely back home every lap.
We miss you, Scotty. We’ll do our best because you did.
Todd has left the building.