My pick for Racers of the Week are Jody Burgess and his wife Shelley, from Levin, New Zealand. Jody and Shelley were recommended to me by our friends and former Racers of the Week Arran Brattle and Pauline Lane. Thanks, Arran and Pauline!
Jody is one of the most popular and respected drag racers in the NZDRA. His Jester Racing operation includes 3 cars: His '48 Fiat Topolino fuel altered, Shelley's '65 Chevy Nova "JestHer", and their newest acquisition, a blown Chevy-powered front-engine dragster. Jody has his own businesses in Levin; aside from his main gig as a welder and fabricator, he has a business called "Tat-Extract", which is a tattoo removal service. It works. He's great. He has a tattoo on the underside of each forearm. The one on the right says "Inhale The Future" and the one on the left says "Exhale The Past". Jody has been awesome to chat with, as his sense of humor, his outlook and his colorful personality have made my work not just easy, but enjoyable.
He's been running that Fiat for a long time. It's a winner. It's also quite a handful to drive. I saw a few pictures of it sideways, and a few with the front end hiked up like it was on a hydraulic jack, heading for the wall. He reeled it in, but he said there was a certain smell in the cockpit and a warm feeling in his pants...Jody said it has a 95-inch wheelbase but after all the years of driving it, he still never knows what to expect when he punches the go pedal at the green.
He's going to run the new front-engine 187" wheelbase dragster that he brought in from Arizona this year, but he told me if it poops itself, he will return to the fuel altered. Shelley's '65 Nova with the chopped top came from Oregon and she has done an outstanding job driving it. Before the dragster makes its debut at the track, Jody took it to Arran Brattle's D-zine Signs shop and had a beautiful metalflake and candy-apple red paint job with cream-colored scallops. They told me it looks real hot rod. We're looking forward to seeing what this car does on the drag strip!
Jody and Shelley, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!
Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss!
Back to you, BP.