Fast Lane Fixture Neil Hansen Hopes To Continue Domination At Srp
Timing is everything, especially in drag racing, and Neil Hansen has had perfect timing most of the summer.
Hansen has been the leading Street Eliminator driver from the first race this spring at Spokane Raceway Park in his chop ‘62 Falcon. The souped-up Ford covers the quarter in 12.50 seconds, 106 miles per hour.
Then, he got faster.
“I asked the right question to the right person at the right time and came up with the right answer,” Hansen explained.
Hansen, a commercial truck driver who helps around the starting line at SRP, was leaving the track after the Lilac Funny Car Championships in May when he asked “Smokey” Joe Douthit how much his ride cost.
The answer was a cool $100,000 for the jet car that had made a 5.7-second, 291-mph pass earlier in the day.
Hansen couldn’t afford that, but when Douthit showed him a picture of his old car, sitting home in San Diego - which was one-third of the price - the 37-year-old 1977 Cheney graduate was hooked.
And tonight he’ll debut before the home folks at SRP, running his J 34 Westinghouse powered car with full afterburner - better known as Brain Dead - during the 34th annual American Hot Rod Association World Finals.
“I mortgaged the house,” said Hansen, who was exposed to drag racing through his father Neil in the late ‘70s. “I begged, borrowed, everything, to get this car.”
Actually, he immediately lined up sponsors Pacific Pride and Betts Oil Co., the companies that provide gas for the transport and jet fuel.
In June, Hansen met Douthit at San Bernardino, Calif., to take possession and learn how to drive his new car - “top fool” Douthit called it. It took a couple of days. Douthit expected it to take weeks.
“He was so comfortable in the car,” Douthit said. “He was easy to teach.”
Jet cars don’t compete. They run exhibition passes, usually after the competition is over.
Hansen went to Las Vegas and St. George, Utah, in early July for his first public appearances. He has hit 241 mph and Douthit said eventually he should top out at about 275 to 280.
“I’ll make my 21st pass (tonight), my birthday party, my coming-of-age pass, you might say,” said Hansen, whose goal is 250 mph, a 6-1/2-second run. “It took a little bit of money and no common sense. I’m having fun and the car is paying for itself.”
Douthit, who hopes to hit 300 mph this weekend, said his family lives off the 52 exhibitions he runs each year. His son David is his crew chief and his wife Carol travels with the team.
At one time Douthit, who has raced since he was 7, ran Smokey Red the Wheelstander before switching to jet cars 10 years ago.
Douthit, like Hansen, said he would like to run a top-fuel dragster but can’t afford it.
Hansen described it best, saying it took a 55-gallon drum of $100 bills filled three times a year to compete at the top level of drag racing.
“This is the cheapest way to get into a fast-moving vehicle and have fun,” Hansen said.
Pit stops
Today there are sportsmen sessions before the Super Pro, Pro and Street Eliminations begin at 7 p.m. Pro qualifying starts at 8. Gates open at 10 a.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. Sunday. The first round of pro eliminations is at 1 p.m. Sunday.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo