Driver Blog - Johnny Ahten - TAD

Ahten and family at Disneyland

I can’t believe it’s already the end of 2014! As I write this blog it’s after Christmas and New Year’s is right around the corner. I hope everyone was able to enjoy Christmas and the Holiday Season with family and friends. My wife and I usually host Christmas Eve at our house but this year I was scheduled to be at work, so Monica and the boys came to visit and eat dinner at the fire station. Having grown up in the Fire Department myself, I really don’t know much different. On Christmas morning I came home and was able to have a great day playing with my boys and building Legos.

I have often said that on the West Coast we don’t have much of an offseason. We run the last race and the first race at Pomona. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to sit around. Right now I’m focusing on servicing our Freightliner, the trailer, and of course grinding a mountain of floaters from the last three races of the year. That itself will keep me plenty busy. I always like to strip the car down to the bare chassis and then put it all back together. This is the only way to thoroughly inspect all the wiring, air lines and welds for cracks. My dad is busy freshening the heads and motors. I have plans of replacing most of the aging fuel system with new Aeromotive fittings and hoses. 

I had a lot of people ask me what the heck happened in Pomona with a DNQ. Let me tell you, we ran pretty well in Las Vegas and when we got to Pomona we were trying to put the car into the Golf Course at the top end on Q1. The track had other plans for us and we shook pretty hard at around .6 seconds. This was really early in the run and it kind of surprised us all. It was a little too early in the run so I aborted. We looked at the data and decided to back it down for Q2 to go A to B and that’s what it did. Super lazy and was just too slow. That put us in the corner. We hopped it back up and it ran better but shook at 1.3 seconds. I gave it a slap and the car marched but the motor wasn’t exactly happy. We ran a 5.49 on a 5.47 bump. It just wasn’t our weekend. It was tough to not be able to defend our Finals title, but I was proud of my friend, Larry Miersch, and Cameron Ferre making career numbers and a runner-up finish. Look out for those guys next year.

Ok, I need everyone to watch the 2015 Rose Parade. A few years back my Engine Company crew was awarded The Medal of Valor for our actions on the “Station Fire". As a recipient of this award I was selected to be able to walk in the parade. So keep your eyes peeled!

The next few weeks I’ll hopefully be catching up on the clutch maintenance and will make some cool announcements for 2015. 

Happy New Year Everyone!

Johnny

Johnny Ahten is the driver of the Island Renovations/Combust Filters A/Fuel Dragster. Away from the track, Ahten spends time with his family and serves as a Los Angeles County fire captain. Follow the 2013 NHRA Finals champion on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.