UPDATED 5/12/08 - AJ is Dr. Nitro, Indy 500 Open House, and working for "The Don"
Q: Hi Tony. I'm a big fan of Alan & the late Blaine Johnson as I followed them from the Sportsman ranks. I'm the guy who gave Alan Johnson the shirt last year at Maple Grove that I designed which had his career accomplishments on. I was thinking of doing another updated one for Englishtown or Reading. Do you have any suggestions,especially a nickname? I never heard any racer or announcer including Bob Frey of tagging him with one. Hopefully you can help. Thx in advance, Mike
A: That's a cool gift for AJ. As for a nickname, a lot of people refer to him as "Dr. Nitro" because of his unmatched tuning abilities.
Q: Don, how would I go about becoming an employee of your fabulous company or a team? (Paul Lehr)
A: Submit a resume and see what happens. Mechanical experience and a Class A CDL do help. Good luck!
Q: Are there any plans to have an open house at Brownsburg on the weekend of the INDY 500 like last year? (Barry Feyh)
A: Yes, Barry. We'll open our doors for the General Public on Saturday, May 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is something the Brownsburg Motorsports Network puts together, and we are glad to participate. Don't forget about our U.S. Nationals Open House that is more of an event, and contributes to a great cause for the foundation for Riley Hospital for Children.
Q: Don, once out of a mechanical school with somewhat of mechanics knowledge behind you, what does it take to become a technician on one of your multiple fuel teams? (Cole Nance)
A: See above Cole. It sounds like you are on the right track, just look into getting a Class A CDL. That will help your chances in the NHRA arena.
Q: Don, Madison, IL., May 4th. When the cameras were televising from the front of the starting line, looking at the front of the cars, it seemed that the green light on the left side-being the right lane had a L.E.D. bulb in it. The right side-left lane had a standard bulb? If the tree the drivers use is the same, wouldnt that give the right lane an advantage? l.e.d. bulbs illuminate faster than incandesant bulbs?
A: That's a good question. None of our drivers noticed it, so it may have been the sunlight playing tricks on the camera. As for the drivers, it would only be an advantage if it the timing was off.
UPDATED 5/1/08 - Tony races his Dad, "Fast" Jack is living the dream, Todd Okuhara describes the relationship between a car "nosing over" and "mixing up cylinders"
Q: Tony, are you related to Michael Schumacher of Formula One? (Donnell)
A: I've never looked that far back in the family tree, but I don't think so.
Q: Tony, why do drivers take oxygen before a race? (Debi Stuckey)
A: I take it because the oxygen in your brain only lasts for seven minutes, if you have good oxygen. When you put a head sock on and a helmet on, and you start to breathe your own oxygen you start to get a little tired. I actually stick it in my helmet before I go out to make sure I have good oxygen and keep my head straight. Thanks for the question.
Q: Todd, what does it mean when the car "noses over"? Also, what does it mean when the engine starts "mixing cylinders"? Thanks! Go Scelzi!!!
A: Usually when it noses over it is dropping a cylinder. What happens is that cylinder is losing its load and is over-fueled. When one cylinder goes out it puts so much drain on the other cylinders, thus it is "mixing cylinders". The boost just goes way up and it changes everything about how the motor works, or is supposed to work.
Q: Tony, if you could race a retired driver, who would you choose and why?
A: I'd like to race against my Dad just to show him I'm a little bit better, (laughing). No, I'd like to race against him just to say I did it. To look back and see what he did, winning five races in NHRA, keeping in mind that there were only 8 or 10 races a year. He was a great driver and did a good job. It'd be fun to be able to tell the stories to the kids. Great question.
Q: Jack, how does it feel to live the dream man? We served together in the Air Force, and I haven't seen you since 1989 or '90? Just saw the Las Vegas run (or lack thereof)... what happened that you never left the line? (Bruce Stansel)
A: That was broken blower studs, make that a batch of bad blower studs. It's a part that is designed to fail, but isn't supposed to fail unless something catastrophic happens. We had two break in a qualifying run, but we thought it was a different issue. They all broke at the step in first round. We changed a few things with the torque sequence on them, and the blower belt tension. But, they all broke again on the first run during testing on Monday. We went back a looked and realized we were the first recipients of a brand new batch of them, so we switched manufacturers and haven't had any problems since.
***
Welcome to DSR's "Ask Us Anything". This is a new endeavor for shoeracing.com, and it is aimed to create a great place for fans to get their questions answered about their favorite DSR personalities. You won't find another platform like this in all of sports.
Have you ever wondered what the drivers do between races?
Where they hang out at the races?
What the crew chiefs are doing between rounds?
Who has the best golf game?
So, like the title says, As Us Anything. Participating drivers and crew chiefs are listed below, so go ahead and fire off that question you've always wanted to know. If you see something during the ESPN2 telecast that sparks your interest, hop on shoeracing.com/askusanything and get the answer.
Take advantage of the All-Star roster that we have assembled for Ask Us Anything. All seven DSR drivers are participating, Tony Schumacher, Gary Scelzi, Ron Capps, Jack Beckman, Cory McClenathan, Jerry Toliver, and Chip Ellis. Several Crew Chiefs are also contributing their knowledge to Ask Us, including Ed "Ace" McCulloch, Steve Tartaglia, and Todd Okuhura.
We'll post answers to the chosen questions bi-weekly, so visit often.
