My pick for Racer of the Week is Robin Orthodoxou, a hairdresser from London, England. Robin was recommended to me by his son, Darren. Thanks, guys! I had an awesome chat with Robin last week. He called me when he heard I was looking for him on Facebook! We had some laughs and exchanged information, and I got some great details on him and his hot rod.
Robin built, drives and maintains a '27 T altered that is an amazing piece of machinery, engineering and talent. He built the chassis himself in his shop. He's raced the car in different forms and configurations going back to1994, and he's upgraded it regularly to where now it is powered by a 632 cubic inch Steve Schmidt Big-Block Chevy. He is a regular competitor in comp eliminator at Santa Pod, and over the years his team "The Chaos Brothers" has also earned the nickname "Entertainment" from the safety marshalls whenever he pulls up to the line...
The car has had an incident or two, the most serious of which was when Robin was running a torqueflight hooked up to a Gapp & Roush Cleveland back in 2014. Coming off the line at 8,000 rpms, the transmission totally detonated right between Robin's legs. He only suffered a bruised foot, as the tranny blanket did its job, but the explosion took out parts of the body, bent the steering shaft, and even bent over the clutch pedal.
After that, the team switched over to a Liberty 5 speed and never went back to an automatic. Not long after that happened, the Cleveland threw its rods and it, too was history. That car had run a best of 8.48 at 158. Robin decided the next step was to go with a big motor, but a new chassis had to be built in order to certify with that combination, so the car that's there now is the new version of the old hot rod.
His first love is Funny Car, and what he built with the new motor is a hybrid between a Funny Car and Pro Stock.
As well as seeing pictures of Robin sideways in an identical position to one of Willie Borsch's wildest runs (Robin also drives with one hand...people say he's crazy...I can't understand why), I watched an extremely dynamic 4-panel video on YouTube of Robin making a pass in the car, and when it barrelled through the traps at over 190 mph, all 4 wheels were up off the ground! He has run a best ET of 6.95 at just under 195 with the car, and he has a best 60-foot time of 1.01 seconds.
This guy means business, and his championship seasons of 2014 and 2015 have him standing as one of the most popular and respected sportsman racers in the UK.
Robin, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!