Driver Blog - Cassie Simonton - TAFC

New Season, New Challenges!

Finally the 2013 season is underway and I can’t be more excited about it. We started our year like we normally do by going to Valdosta, Georgia to test then off to the Gatornationals. The two weeks leading up to our first test session were a bit crazy. I was busy getting the race car ready to run, doing interviews, and getting everything lined up for our sponsors. I didn’t have much down time and I loved every minute of it. 

Before we headed to Valdosta we spent two weeks in North Carolina getting the race car ready to go again. I must admit that I was excited to head down south in February. I thought it was going to be warmer down there, but it seemed the further south we went the colder it got. I guess it was nice a few weeks before we showed up so they said we brought the bad weather with us. Go figure!  During those two weeks we were busy servicing all the vehicles, grinding floaters, doing body work, and putting new decals on the car. I think after all the decals I have put on the car and trailer lately I am going to start a new business called Stickers by Sassy (lol). 

After two cold, rainy weeks, we were ready to head to warm, sunny Georgia. I couldn’t wait to get back in my car and start making passes again. After being out of the car for 6 months the first pass is always a little nerve-racking. We were short handed for our test session so one of my other crew members Patrick was given the job of buckling me in for those two days. It is not an easy job to do between the 7 point harness, hybrid, chin strap, radio, air hookup and the fact it all has to be hooked up a certain way. I am pretty sure he was ready to give up on it after the first pass when it took us about 20 minutes to get me in the car. He got it down after that one but I’m sure he was more than happy to give that job back to Londos when we got to Gainesville. One of the best parts about working with a team is all the memories and stories that are made throughout the season. That will be one of many I am sure we can laugh about later looking back on the season. We only made two short passes while we were in Valdosta but we were happy with what we saw so we packed up and headed to Gainesville for our first race of the season. 

I was also very excited to debut my new Sparco fire suit at Gainesville. We struggled during qualifying but I got in on the last pass by pedaling the car to 5.81 @ 255 mph. That put us in the lucky thirteen spot going into first round against Dale Brand. We made our best pass of the weekend first round, running a 5.67 @ 256 but it was not enough to take out Dale Brand’s 5.58. That was not how we were hoping to start our season but we learned some things and we were excited to head to Charlotte for our next race.

We had a month off in-between races so I was more than ready to get back into the car at Z-Max Dragway for the 4-Wide Nationals. Wednesday night I got the opportunity to go to the NHRA vs. Nascar Charity Softball game with Courtney Force and Sarah Adams. I got to hang out in the dugout and had a great time cheering on our NHRA boys. NHRA got the win over Nascar, 19-5.  

Last year we had a great running car at this race but had some bad luck first round and lost due to a broken fuel pump. We were hoping to make up for that this year! The first qualifying pass was a handful. It shot right over to the centerline when I left the starting line then shot over towards the wall. I couldn’t bring it back so I had to shut it off early. It still ran a 5.89 and I was out of it around half track so it probably would have been a pretty good pass if it went straight. The second qualifying pass she went right down the groove and ran a 5.69 @ 255 mph. First round we ran a great 5.55 @ 261 mph to get the win over Andy Bohl, the defending race winner. Second round I was paired up with Dale Brand again. We were hoping to even up the score from Gainesville but we both had tire shake and he was able to recover quicker and took the win.

On Saturday, I got to meet and show around Hunter from Off Axis Paint. They are one of our new sponsors for this year. Off Axis is going to be painting 3 of my new Bell Racing helmets. They do amazing work and I can’t wait to see my new helmet when it is finished.

 Work in progress

Our next race is May 17-19^th at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio for the Cavalcade of Stars regional race. I always look forward to running there because the fans and staff are amazing. I hope to see you there!

Cassie Simonton is the driver of the Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car. Fans can find her and the team on Facebook and Twitter (Twitter.com/CassieSimonton and Twitter.com/KonRodzPR).