Drag Illustrated Issue 153, February 2020 | Page 66

Todd “King Tut” Tutterow
TUTTEROW’S SON, TY, DOES
ALL THE WORK ON THE CAR’S
TRANSMISSION AND SPENT
HIS TIME THIS WINTER
DRIVING A PRO MOD IN
QATAR WITH HIS FATHER.
“We kind of had to start over with no testing
and it took some time to get back on our feet. We
struggled a little and then we got it figured out
toward the end of the year again.”
By then, Jackson had wrapped up the cham-
pionship, finishing with the most round wins
in NHRA Pro Mod history in a truly epic year.
Tutterow went to the final round at the last race
of the season in Las Vegas – which was preceded
by back-to-back semifinals – vaulting him back
into second.
It was a bittersweet feeling in some regards,
but Tutterow believes it’s only strengthened his
chances for 2020. “I feel like we should hit the
ground running,” Tutterow says.
If it happens, it will come in another car, as
Tutterow won’t be racing his current Camaro
during the NHRA season. He’ll race a new 2020
Jerry Bickel Race Cars Camaro with a Five Star
race body, a car that Tutterow actually designed.
Tutterow felt it was important to have a car per-
sonalized for his style and preferences, praising
the autonomy Bickel gave him during the unique
process. That means the motor is located where
Tutterow wants, along with other driver-specific
nuances, including wheelbase, wiring, body style
and other items.
It puts the onus on Tutterow, but he’s always
been the first one to bet on himself. The track
record speaks for itself and Tutterow hopes it
66 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
leads to major results in 2020.
“Based on what I have in the car now and the
one I crashed, I tried to put the two cars together
and make one great car,” says Tutterow, who also
designed the rear wing. “I’ve designed other cars,
but this is the first car Jerry ever built [specifi-
cally] for me. He was very open-minded, and I
think we’re going to have a great car.
“It was just a personal preference of how I want-
ed things and hopefully we’ll see a difference in
the performance.”
I
t would be unwise to bet against
Tutterow, who has thrived in any car in
virtually every series.
He has raced in Qatar since 2009, tuning
everything from hill climbers to Outlaw
10.5 cars to radial cars to Pro Mod cars.
Name a doorslammer class and he’s proba-
bly won in it or tuned somebody to a cham-
pionship in it, but the path to NHRA Pro Mod
was never a certainty.
He had raced sporadically over the years, at-
tending 21 races before 2018, but never with the
consistency to win a race, let alone be a threat to
win a championship.
But it became a priority in 2018, with Tutterow
racing the full season for the first time, finishing
ninth in points and advancing to a final round
and two semifinals.
It was an up and down year – Tutterow didn’t
qualify at three events – but a final round in Bris-
tol and a No. 2 qualifier in Vegas opened eyes and
created a new world of possibilities.
“I never really had the opportunity to do the
full schedule like we do now,” Tutterow says. “It
took almost the full season (in 2018) to get used to
the engine combination over a quarter-mile and
the track surface. When we finally got it (heading
into 2019), we made some good laps, and Stevie
and I had some really good races. Hopefully this
year we’ll get to see who’s got what.”
It’s as close as Tutterow gets to talking trash.
He’s been the model of consistency for decades,
a silent assassin who will take your soul on the
starting line, shake your hand on the top end and
then go back and do it again to the next person
an hour later.
Make no mistake, though, despite a quiet de-
meanor, Tutterow is as competitive as anyone
in the sport. He wants to race against the best,
push himself and his car to the limits and see
who comes out on top. Anything less would just
be a bore.
“The competition is so fulfilling,” Tutterow says.
“It makes you get up every morning. I want to be
the best and I want to run against the best. The
level of competition in this class, it pumps you
up, there’s no question about that.”
Issue 153