Stab the Pedal, Hang On, Keep it in the Groove, and Focus on the Finish

Stab the Pedal, Hang On, Keep it in the Groove, and Focus on the Finish

by Chris Bennett

Much of my life has been driven by the ambition to one day race a professional NHRA Nitro Funny Car.  It is very easy to sit at my desk while I type this out and look at pictures of the No Mercy Nitro Funny Car and not remember all of the struggle, tenacity, and persistence that it took to get to this point.  Some of my friends and family will read this and assume that I just leap frogged to this particular point in my life.  Little do they know that it has been an incredible journey and there were plenty of detours, pitfalls, and failures along the way.  I'd like to share some of those experiences with you.  

One week before my high school senior prom I implanted my dad’s 1966 Chevelle into a tree at about 80 miles per hour.  At 18 years old I thought my life was over, not because I was injured, but because I thought my dad was going to kill me.  I quickly came up with some story about why I couldn’t control the car, but the truth is, I was racing my friend.  I went to my senior prom with stitches all over my face and swelling that made me feel like the Elephant Man.  My life hadn’t even started, and I felt like it was over.  I didn’t know how I would ever recover from this devastation.  Looking back at it all these years later, it was simply a minor hiccup.

     

              I failed out of most of my classes my freshman year of community college.  I wasn’t focused on what I wanted in life and I wasn’t taking my education seriously.  Much like most 18 year olds, I was drifting and hadn’t found that thing that really made me motivated.  I thought it was more important to work my two jobs so I could fix up my project 1971 Camaro than it was to study for an upcoming Calculus or Physics test.  Somewhere deep inside me was a dream and a goal, but it seemed very far away and not within reach.  I knew where I wanted to end up but I had no idea what steps to take to get me there.  I floundered and often fell into deep periods of despair as I realized I would never achieve my dreams. 

              Call it what you will, but life has a way of putting things in front of you that allow you an opportunity.  A choice, a path.  For me, that was my co-worker, Hal.  He retired from the U.S. Air Force and took an interest in me.  He recognized the spark within me and spent time mentoring me.  Maybe he was guided by a force or intuition that led him to share with me his experience in the military or maybe it was just the right person at the right time.  I had a choice, I could ignore this old guy or maybe his years of experience were something valuable that I should take the time to listen to.  It’s easy for me to say all of these years later, Hal was a life-changing impact to my life.

              I now had a plan.  I was going to enlist in the U.S. Air Force as an aircraft electrical/environmental specialist, start taking college classes paid for by the military, and then I would be racing a nitro funny car within a couple years.  Wrong!  Life, isn’t that easy.  I was driven and I had my goals and vision back.  I finished top of my class in aircraft systems training.  Unlike the Calculus and Physics classes, I really enjoyed learning about aircraft systems.  It revitalized a childhood dream of being a pilot, and I felt at home among my fellow maintenance co-workers.  I went to my first duty station at Davis-Monthan AFB and talked my first supervisor into letting me enroll in college classes.  I was on my way and life had never been clearer.

              If my life would have had a navigation system it would have said, “next exit in 1 mile”…”Detour Ahead”.  Yes, that’s right, it didn’t work out the way I thought it would.  I met a girl, and three months later, I married her.  That doesn’t sound so bad, right?  Well, three months later she was pregnant.  I was only 19.  What do I know about being a husband and a father?  Nothing!  We weren’t right for each other, we never were, from the day we met.  She hated my goal of drag racing.  How was that ever going to work?  It didn’t work, and I was devastated.  We had moved to England and within a short period of time we were divorced and my young daughter was headed back to the U.S. with her mom.  I was only 21 and nothing in my life was working out the way I thought it might. 

              My young daughter is now 19 and she has recently struggled her sophomore year of college.  She is balancing her life dreams, relationships, and trying to find her wings.  It isn’t easy and this is an especially tough time for most people.  Life is not about this particular moment, good or bad, but it is more about the summation of the decisions you make.  If you keep focused on your main goal and ambition and be ready to correct back to course when needed you will find yourself standing in the winner’s circle of your life. 

              For those of you that have made it this far into my diatribe you might be wondering what any of this has to do with racing a nitro funny car.  It has nothing to do with it and everything to do with it at the same time.  I wasn’t handed the keys to a 10,000 horsepower carbon fiber monster.  It took me a long time to get where I am today.  I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way and my life has taken many wrong turns and detours.  Numerous people have come into my life at just the right time that have helped lead, guide, and direct me on course.  I still have a long ways to go, including finishing the license upgrade process so I can race at my first NHRA Mello Yello national event. 

              

             Maybe you’re pre-staged, maybe you’re staged, maybe the bulbs have flashed and you are already well on your way.  It might rattle the tires, it might kick the rods out, but as long as you keep pulling to the line you are winning the race.  Stab the pedal, hang on, keep it in the groove, and focus on the finish.

This is a tough time of year for a lot of people so be encouraging, loving, and supportive for someone who needs you.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!         

All It Takes Is Everything You Have

ALL IT TAKES IS EVERYTHING YOU HAVE

by Chris Bennett

Early Success

I acquired my first sponsor when I was 16 years old while working the drive-thru window at a local fast food chain in 1992.  As a brand new truck pulled to the cashier window I was impressed by the fancy lettering promoting their powder coating company.  With complete confidence, I passed the patron their bag of roast beef sandwiches and french fries while asking the question, “how would you like to sponsor a funny car?”.  That simple interaction at a very young age resulted in a rewarding marketing partnership that was happy to powder coat anything and everything our team dropped off at their shop.

Family Roots

I grew up in a racing family and it has always been the dining room table talk of what sponsors we were closing the deal on to go full time drag racing.  I envisioned at a young age my entire life changing with a single chance deal that would promote my father to the level of full time NHRA Nitro Funny Car owner/driver.  I embodied his devotion to believing in the little guy making the big deal and supported in any way I could; eventually securing small sponsorships myself.  Growing up in a racing family meant that we all sacrificed in order to buy the next needed part.  In fact, after graduating high school and being accepted to a few respected colleges, I was unable to attend because the cost to attend was beyond our family budget.  Therefore, I forged my own path by enlisting in the military.  I joined the United States Air Force and was trained as an Aircraft Electrical Environmental Specialist.

Work Hard, Don't Give Up

I bought my first dragster four years after enlisting in the Air Force and was excited to begin filling the sides of the car with names of my supporters.  Little did I realize just how difficult acquiring sponsorship would be.  I quickly realized that if I wanted to race, I would have to be the one to earn the money to do so.  I served my country, started small businesses, worked part-time jobs, and attended college at night.  I obtained my bachelor’s degree and applied to Officer Training School because the pay scale between an E-5 and an O-1 was a vast improvement.  Fortunately, this also offered me the opportunity to achieve another life-long dream of becoming a pilot.  I made more money, and I was able to race more.  I bought my first funny car while attending USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training.  When you hear motivational “experts” talk about hustling and grinding, that’s exactly what I did.  I often told myself that once I advanced to the next level, it would be easier to attract sponsors.  I advanced from alcohol funny car to nostalgia nitro funny car with little financial help.  I’ve put some deals together and I’ve gotten some help along the way, but never the life-changing sponsor we all hope for.

Faith

Sometimes things in life just fall into your lap like it's meant to be.  For the most part, I had given up on the dream I had since I was 8 years old to be a professional NHRA Nitro Funny Car owner/driver.  I had spent over a decade chasing that dream, hustling and grinding.  The harder I worked it seemed like the further the dream was sliding away.  As I was approaching my USAF retirement in 2015 an opportunity to purchase a professional funny car became available and I jumped at it.  I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I just believed.  I had faith that it would work out; it just felt right. 

Destiny

In less than a year we have built the No Mercy Nitro Funny Car and we have made successful early testing/license upgrade passes.  I was optimistic we could obtain marketing partners that would recognize the effort and sacrifice it takes a career military veteran to build something well above his means.  I was sure they would see the virtue of an independent team attempting to challenge corporate America multi-mega race teams.  Some have, and we are so thankful for their support.  I believe others will join us when they hear our story so please share it with your friends, family, bosses, and colleagues.  I believe this is our moment and it is a matter of time until someone recognizes our effort and believes in the No Mercy Nitro Funny Car team. 

My name is Chris Bennett and I am a veteran.  I served my country 20 years as an enlisted airman and commissioned officer.  My lifelong dream and ambition was recorded in a 3^rd grade assignment in which I proclaimed I would be a NHRA Funny Car World Champion.  I’m chasing that dream, one step at a time, not one step back.  I am the owner/driver of the No Mercy Racing Nitro Funny Car.  Believe in our dream and join us as we prove that anything is possible.  PERSEVERANCE, PERSISTENCE, NO MERCY!

www.nomercyfunnycar.com