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the finals. I said, ‘Lord
you got me this far, what we going to do.’ Butcher went red. We’ve run
probably eight or nine times after the last few years and every time
we’ve run, me or him one has been triple zero up until now. Every time
it’s four or five thousandths at the finish line. Me and Glen we’ve
had some good runs over the years. He’s a very tough competitor. All
of them are. You’ve got an elite bunch out there. You can’t take
nothing for granted. It was my day though. Honestly, I didn’t drive
good enough to win. I drove better than my opponent every round, but I
didn’t really drive good enough to win. The guy that messes up the
least is the one that wins. When it’s your day you can’t mess it up.”
It wasn’t until Thrift was on his way home with the PDRA trophy in tow
that he thought about the shaving causing a drag on his button.
Further inspection at home proved his suspicions correct. Although
Thrift’s reaction times could have been his nemesis, the consistency
of his RJ Race Cars ‘07 GTO, helped him through the rounds.
“The car was good now,” added Thrift. “It was unbelievable. It went a
.24 every time down the race track. It’s just unreal. Gene at RJ Race
Cars swears that’s one of the best cars they’ve ever built. It just
does whatever you ask it to do. It’s consistent whether I’m running
4.06 or 4.24. It varied like three thousandths in 60 foot the whole
weekend in Virginia. Makes it where you can concentrate on what you’re
doing.”
Thrift’s GTO is the same car Pete Berner drove to the 2008 IHRA Pro
Stock World Championship. Thrift is counting on the GTO having at
least one more Championship run left in it.
“I’ve been playing in the Quick 4, but I’m going to back down on that
for a race or two. I’m going to stay on my game, using two systems to
get qualified, then race on one and concentrate on going rounds. If
they ain’t careful I’m going to get it [the championship]. I would
love more than anything to be the first PDRA Top Sportsman Champion.
All of us want that, but I like the position I’m in right now.”
As much as Thrift wants that Championship he knows he’s got his work
cut out for him.
“Top Sportsman is the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life,” he
continued. “You’ve got to get a reaction time and drive the finish
line. You’ve got to know what your car’s going to run. It’s tough,
especially now with us having to run 4.20s just to qualify. I mean,
whoever would have thought you would have to go 4.20s to qualify for a
bracket race. In a door car. I remember when in Pro Mod - and it
hasn’t been that long ago - you were the man if you could run 4.15.
Now you have Top Sportsman cars bracket racing, running 4.0s. We’ve
got a good group of guys and we’re fast and that’s what it’s all
about.”
At the same event where Thrift earned his first PDRA victory, history
would be made as Aaron Glaser recorded the first sub-four second run
in Top Sportsman, securing the number one qualifier at the US Drags
with a 3.987 elapsed time.
“It’s my opinion that the PDRA, that’s your true Top Sportsman racers.
They’re the elite, the baddest of the bad. We had one go in the 3’s
for the first time at Virginia. That’s just what it’s all about. It
was hard for me not to. I seen Don Klooster go 4.02 right in front of
me at Martin and I had run 3.5 hundredths faster than him and I said,
‘oh boy there’s my three’. I reached up to the radio to tell Micky to
turn my third system on, but I had a game plan going into the race so
I thought ‘no, no stick to the plan.’
“The PDRA is doing a wonderful job. The fans love it. I can’t say
enough good things. The trophy is just phenomenal. I’ve got one from
every sanctioning body in the country. I got the Moser trophy and all,
but the PDRA is my favorite. And then to get a Championship jacket
with your name on it - you can tell they’re glad you’re there. They
really surprised me with the jacket. That just makes you wanna get on
board. The PDRA is where my loyalty is at.”
Along with the consistency of his car, Thrift pointed to PAR Racing
Engines and FTI Torque Converters and Transmissions as contributors to
his success. “Most of all I want to thank Mickie Miller, my crew
chief. He just loves the sport. He’s never drove a car in his life,
never even been in one. But he goes wherever I’m at. If I can’t pick
him up on the way, he lives nine hours from me, he drives to wherever
I’m at. He won’t let me give him no money or diesel fuel. He loves the
technical side. He keeps me safe and makes sure I’m in the groove and
heading in the right direction. And he thinks his driver is the
baddest one out there.”
Next week Thrift will make the long haul from southern Georgia to
Tulsa, Oklahoma to try and prove his crew chief right. With just three
races left on the PDRA tour, Thrift plans to make every round count
and be on top when it’s time to crown the inaugural PDRA Champions.
Photo Credits: Amy Rowe / RaceWorks.com / PDRA66.com
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