Last year, TJ let his crew members do an occasional blog entry during the race. So, in order for us to catch Bob Wilber and the CSK team, PR Ted says we’re going to let the Skoal Racing crew members blog each weekend. Since, I’m new to the team this season, I get to go first.

My name is Jimmy Wingo. I’m 34 years old and from Frederica, Del. I was born in Dover, Del. As a teenager, I would go to the NASCAR races at Dover. I liked it much better when the track was entirely asphalt. It was more of a driver’s track. The driver had to finesse the car. I still enjoy NASCAR racing, but my passion is dirt track racing and drag racing. My brother and I are in the process of building a dirt modified car. We’ll get to that later on.

This is my sixth season on the NHRA circuit. I started in 2001 when I joined Jerry Toliver’s WWF team. I spent the past four seasons at John Force Racing working on the “C” team or the Auto Club Mustang of Gary Densham and Robert Hight. For those of you that don’t know, Force’s three Funny Cars are referred to as the “A” “B” and “C” teams. John’s car is the “A” team and Eric Medlen’s is the “B” team.

I enjoyed my time there. I learned a lot about the clutch from Jimmy Prock. He was an excellent teacher. It’s like a small army over there at Force’s. Either you fit in or you don’t. I’d like to think I left on good terms. They say “good morning” to me and I say “good morning” back to them. In fact, I chatted with a bunch of Force’s guys this morning at the hotel before we left for the track. They’re a good group of there.

However, I’m happy to be here at Snake’s working on TJ’s Funny Car. I’ve always worked on Funny Cars. I’ve never really had a desire to work on a dragster. I joined the Skoal Racing crew following the completion of the 2005 NHRA season. My family is in Delaware, but I stay in Brownsburg with my brother, Mike. He works on Cory Mac’s FRAM dragster. Us Wingos are a racing family.

Winning the second race of the season at Phoenix has to be my highlight of the season so far. Beating John in the final round was a great feeling. He’s John Force, so anytime you can beat him is a big deal. Also, running that 4.67 at Joliet, Ill. was really cool. That was the first time I worked on a car that ran a 4.60. We were close with the Prock Rocket, but never got there.

My hobbies are racing and riding bikes with my kids. My fiancé, Amber, and I have four children: Mikey, Desiree, Zachary and Joshua. The time away from home is the hardest part about being part of a drag race team. It’s great to have a few weeks off before the Western Swing because I’ll get to go home and see the family. Amber and I are scheduled to be married on July 7, 2007. We thought 7-7-07 was a cool date. Hopefully, NHRA or Mother Nature doesn’t schedule a race that weekend next season.

It’s a real laid back environment here with Mike Green. I really enjoy our group of guys. We have great camaraderie. It’s not so regimented here. Everyone gets their work done and takes care of the race car. We qualify, race, and go home or on to the next race. I really like golfing with the guys. The majority of the guys on our team golf, so we try and play on Thursdays before a race or when we have some down time in Indy. Mike is, by far, the best golfer. I haven’t played with TJ yet. I’m not very good. I shoot between 100-110. It’s just relaxing to me. There are no worries, just a fun time with the guys.

Now, back to my brother Mike. We worked at Force’s for four seasons together. It’s different now that he’s on Cory’s dragster. We don’t talk nearly as much. A lot of times, we’ll talk at the hotel. We’re working on a dirt modified car back home in Delaware. That’s our project car. We want to race it on off weekends. We’re waiting for the motor to get done. I’ll drive the car. My brother wants to tune it and make it go left and go fast. It should be fun once it’s complete.

Well, it’s almost 1 p.m. here in St. Louis and we have to warm the car soon, so I’ll sign off. Thanks for reading my blog and look for the other Skoal Racing crew guys to chime in every now and then. Watch out CSK boys. We’re going to make this a race to 200.