TZ: Give us a little background on what you do and how you got into drag racing.
AS: My dad started drag racing in the late 70’s. In 1983 I went to my first race at Green Valley Raceway in Smithville, TX. It was a super Chevy event. I raced with my dad until age 12 when I got a junior dragster and I ran those until age 17 and then started bracket racing at 18. I’ve raced anything from low 12 second V8 muscle cars to low 8 second super comp cars. The fastest I’ve ever been in the 1/8th was a 4.97@129 mph and the quickest 60 ft was a 1.11. In May of 2000 I opened up Honda Heaven. I continued bracket racing but I started street racing Hondas at the same time. Eventually the two merged and I started racing my street car.
TZ: Since you own a Honda and Acura salvage yard do find it easier on your wallet when you have to replace parts?
AS: In the beginning it was but my car is so far along now that everything is expensive and the only thing it helps me out with is spare transmissions.
TZ: Your car has been MIA up until the Bristol race, were you still working some things out?
AS: We did an extensive amount of testing over the off season which proved that a 26 inch tire and 700hp was too much for the stock driveline. So we went to the Competition Clutch carbon clutch since it is less aggressive than the Tilton that we had and we went with the entire Mark Williams driveline to minimize breakage. After we got all of that ironed out is when we went to the Bristol race.
TZ: Besides driveline parts have you changed anything else this season?
AS: We’ve gone through a few of the same Precision turbos but that’s about it.
TZ: You went a very impressive 10.1 at Bristol and then the turbo crapped out on you. Do you think the car is capable of faster than that in its current state or are you using the broken turbo as a chance to upgrade?
AS: We went back with the same turbo because we had a spare but we definitely think the car has more in it because the car just kept getting richer and richer and we think it was just losing efficiency.
TZ: So what made you choose to run the T4/ SFWD class?
AS: Honestly I started out running T4 because I started with a street car and it just grew into a car that I took to the track and that’s the class that it fit in.
TZ: T4 seems to be the class to be in this year. St Louis had over 20 cars trying to qualify. Do you see the class growing even more next year?
AS: Yeah I think it will grow, I think more and more people will start to get into it because it is more affordable than the other classes. it’s the only real entry level class besides the bracket classes.
TZ: Do you have an E.T. or mph goal for your car this season or are you just playing things by ear?
AS: I’m playing things by ear but I’d like to see a 9 second pass by the end of the year.
TZ: Any shout outs or thank yous you’d like to give to anyone?
AS: I gotta thank my dad, my partner philip wight, and of course Tony Palo and T1 Race Development for always making sure the tune is perfect, and my girlfriend for being supportive and letting me play.
TZ: Alright Allen, thanks for your time and good luck with the rest of the season. I know 9’s are in your near future.