TAN Driver Blog - Dave Hirata - TAD

Winning Ugly

I don’t believe in 13 being bad luck. When I was told how long it was since my last National win, I did some math: I was in my 30's (something), they don’t even run TAD at that event any more, we were called Federal-Mogul dragsters, and I ran a completely different motor brand (I will elaborate on 13 years ago).

The best part of my win at Norwalk was for my crew: Molly, Grayson Biehn, Chris Wells, Brian & Byron Inouye. These "mad ants" have never experienced a win with me. They have stuck it out through mostly thin lately. Seems like we have turned the corner here and I hope we can be a competitive car more often. (Super Bowl champs: the St. Louis Rams – for real) Also, this is my first win with my "car partners”: Schepel Auto Group, NGK Spark Plugs, Lucas Oil, NAPA Service Auto Parts, Impact, R&R Connecting Rods, and Protect The Harvest. We need them to race at this level and I glad I can finally report a win to them. (13 years ago “Smooth” by Santana & Rob Thomas was longest on the #1 billboard)

As spoiled racers, my "basking in glory" really lasted until I hit the Ohio turnpike. I had 5.5 hours to think about "damn, why did that car run so bad those last two runs?" Well here we are, car torn down, engine out and fixing a few things. (13 years ago the Yankees won the World Series. I’m sure no one cares about that except me.)

What made the last two runs so much more emotional for me was the fact that I had NO idea we won. I just figured when the car shook in the semi's and Brandon Booher shot out past me that we were done. I was wondering why ESPN was not near Brandon's car. I thought that was strange. The camera man pointed at me: holy crap, we won. Same thing in the finals. Our car shook and just shut off. As the NHRA track staff pushed me off the track at the short turn, I thought it was nice that one man congratulated me on our final round appearance. With my back toward the starting line, I took off my gear and heard Ray Martin's crew and horns blowing off. Really, I turned around and it was our crew. I just found out he red lit. WOW. It was definitely  our day.

The winner circle, friends, fans, pictures, and high fives were so much fun. (Barbie & Ken Addams family was a popular toy 13 years ago.) And to top it off, the best track owners in the business, the Bader's, presented me with a billet ice cream scoop. IT IS BEAUTIFUL. A big thank you to them as they’re the BEST OWNER OPERATERS AND STAFF. (13 years ago Angelina Jolie married Billy Bob Thorton. Since I won I’m sure she'll be calling me back.)

Dave Hirata is the driver of the Schepel Auto Group/NGK A/Fuel Dragster. To find out more about Dave and the Hirata Motorsports team, visit them online at HirataMotorsports.com and Facebook.