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Category: Recap
Hutto Holeshots To Top 5 In Tulsa

JUNE 11, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPRING, TX. (Jun. 11, 2020): Justin Hutto drove his NGK powered, Mobil 1™ lubricated B/DA dragster to a strong top 5 finish at last weekends NHRA Divisional at Tulsa Raceway Park. The field of 21 Competition Eliminator cars at this event featured big names like Erica Enders (Pro-Stock World Champion) and Craig Bourgeois (Comp Eliminator World Champion).

Hutto outlasted all but three of the 21 competitors with excellent reaction times along the way. Hutto posted a .007 reaction time in the first round for a holeshot victory over Greg Kamplain. He went on to post .016 and .018 lights throughout eliminations before a violent fit of tire shake ended his campaign in the quarterfinals.

“I almost forgot how much pressure you’re under on raceday,” says Hutto. “You’ve got all these people working their tails off in preparation for just a few moments, and you just don’t want to be the weak link in things. I was satisfied with my performance behind the wheel last week, but I’ve already got a couple of things to try out differently for Houston. As my mentor Luke Bogacki says, your best performance is always on the horizon.”

Hutto also went to battle in Stock Eliminator with his 1969 Corvette Stingray, eventually coming up just short to former World Champion Jeff Lopez by 0.000 seconds (less than nine ten-thousandths of a second). 

Hutto and company are well underway in preparations for their next event at Houston Raceway, June 19-20. Stay tuned to huttoracing.com, @huttoracer on Instagram and Twitter, or @huttoracing on Facebook for updates on the teams journey to race wins and championships throughout the 2020 season.

About Justin Hutto Racing: Justin Hutto is a NHRA drag racer from Houston, TX. He began his racing career in 2008 at the young age of 10. In his first two races in a Jr. Dragster, Hutto accomplished runner-up finishes. In 2013, he raced in his first full points series, won three races, the most-improved driver award for the series, and his first championship. The following year he won six races, won the NHRA Jr. Dragster Top Performer Award (national recognition), won two more championships, and qualified for the IHRA World Finals- an invite only event for the top 16 drivers in the world.

In 2015, Hutto moved up to Stock Eliminator and runner-uped in his first IHRA race in the class- he won in his second. He also drove in the Jr. Dragster class that year and won seven races- including a double up victory in Stock and Jr. Dragster.

In 2016, Hutto made multiple final round appearances as he moved into the NHRA side of Stock Eliminator racing. In 2017, he won his first NHRA Divisional in Stock Eliminator and finished 12th out of 107 in the NHRA South Central division.

Since 2018, Hutto has moved up to racing a 195+ mph Comp Eliminator dragster, honored as a member of Drag Illustrated Magazine’s 30 under 30 list, made quarter and semi-final appearances in Comp and Stock Eliminator on the NHRA tour and won AA/SA class Wally’s at three NHRA national events.

His ultimate goal is to race 330+ mph Top Fuel Dragsters professionally.

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Hutto Gets Chance To Play at New Level

HOUSTON, TX. (Aug. 15, 2018): Justin Hutto was recently given the chance to drive a B/DA Comp Eliminator dragster by former chassis builder, John Green. Following Hutto’s tough start to the season in his father’s Champion Auto Parts powered AA/SA Corvette, this news created a refreshing atmosphere of excitement within the Hutto Racing team. On August 4, 2018, Hutto made his first runs in the John Green built dragster at Texas Motorplex.

“Coming into the licensing session, I was really excited to just get out on the track and feel the force of the car”, said Hutto.  “As we warmed the car up and got ready to run though, the nerves definitely set in. I knew I’d be fine, but just not really knowing what to expect got me a bit anxious. After my first squirt in the car, I knew I could drive it and be competitive. It was definitely a pull that didn’t feel natural, but I’m confident that it’ll become natural just like driving the corvette has become.”

Throughout the evening, Hutto made a total of three runs in the dragster while battling the infamous crosswinds of Texas Motorplex. On his final run of the night, Hutto was just shy of the 6 second zone as he let off the throttle in an effort to keep the dragster safely in the center of the track.

“After I got my confidence up with the first two runs, I really wanted to make a full pull down the track”, Hutto said. “The conditions just weren’t there and I believe I drove the car as hard as I could without being unsafe. When you’re dealing with 20+ mph cross winds and a 1600 lbs car making over 1000 horsepower, I think anyone would have a challenge getting it through there safely. Throw in the fact that we were running at night on a marginal track with 12 inch slicks, and you’ve got a recipe for a bad situation if you’re not careful. I still don’t have a full smooth run to compare to yet, so I’m really looking forward to making as many clean runs as possible in Great Bend. I’m also really appreciative of John Green and his entire family being so supportive throughout the day. I look forward to making them proud with my first win in the car very soon.”

Before this opportunity arose for Hutto, he was actively searching for ways to move up from Stock Eliminator as his goal is to race in Top Fuel. After seeing that John Green was looking for a driver, Hutto took action. He took his time to plan out how he’d make an introduction, then moved forward as professionally as he knew how to. Within two months of that initial communication, this new driver-car owner alliance was formed.

“I knew I wanted to continue on to a faster class this year to get closer toward my goal of Top Fuel, but I didn’t know how I was going to make that happen”, Hutto said. “To have this opportunity materialize at such a perfect time is seriously a blessing. I’m a faithful guy and I have prayed and applied my faith toward opportunities like this arising. I believe that this incredible opportunity is a result of my faith and the work I’ve put in to brand myself. I’m truly blessed to have been chosen for this.”

Both Hutto and Green have serious plans for success and look to prove that they’re a force to be reckoned with during their three race stretch beginning in Great Bend, KS., Sept. 27-30.

To keep up with Hutto and his journey to a professional career in the NHRA, you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram at the @huttoracer handle.

About Hutto Racing: Hutto Racing is a multigenerational Houston based NHRA team with a rich history within the sport of drag racing. Starting with Jimmie Hutto Sr.’s founding of Hutto Racing in the mid 1960’s, we have been a successful drag racing team for the past 50 years. Although Hutto Racing spans through multiple eras of the sport, the constant theme throughout the three generations of racers is a devotion to their passion and a resolute work ethic for consistent success.

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The Work Behind The Wally

Houston, TX. (June 27, 2018): From his hometown in Houston to Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Justin Hutto’s NHRA Heartland Nationals experience was absolutely action packed. This event provided Hutto the opportunity to win his first NHRA national event after losing at the NHRA Spring Nationals where he stacked a slew of stout reaction times between .000 to .011 seconds. Grabbing a national event win would be a huge step in the right direction for Hutto to achieve his professional racing ambitions. Although Hutto didn’t leave Topeka with an event win, he did leave with the Edelbrock Never Rest Performer Wally as a result of some serious work put in by him and his father, Jimmie Hutto.

“I didn’t win , which is what I show up to do at every race, but the TV time and additional exposure that came with the Never Rest Performer award still provided some solid momentum in my efforts to make myself as valuable as possible to Champion Auto Parts”, said Hutto. “After we lost, we also learned a lot from Todd Paton and Bill Grubbs about our new MSD Grid system and RacePak dash, so the weekend ended up being a solid investment in our future success. A turning point weekend like this which  would force us to upgrade some things and really dig in to find our problem was probably eventually going to happen, so adding this race to the schedule just allowed it to happen quicker and thankfully before the season ended.”

Challenge 1: The Schedule Conflict

Hutto’s chance to even compete at this race was almost stripped when Hutto Racing’s owner, Jimmie Hutto had other obligations conflict with the teams racing plans. After a some anxious strategizing by the younger Hutto, a plan was strung up to keep the teams Heartland Nationals hopes alive.

The team would test the car in Houston the Friday before race week and Jimmie Hutto would drive the rig to Heartland Motorsports Park the Saturday following that test session. Jimmie Hutto would then drive Justin’s daily driver- which would be loaded along with the racecar into the teams two car trailer- to Kansas City’s Airport and fly to his work destination for the week. Justin Hutto would then fly from Houston to Kansas City International airport, then drive his daily driver that was at the airport to Heartland Motorsports Park on Thursday. Jimmie Hutto would then fly back to Kansas City on Friday evening, then the father and son duo would finish the race and drive back to Houston together.

Challenge 2: The Test Session

When Friday’s test session in Houston was everything but successful, the teams elaborate plan to compete at the Heartland Nationals was further complicated. The elder Hutto acted fast by making major changes to the engine of the Champion powered Corvette and loaded the car on a prayer. Even loading the car came with its own set of problems, from the car losing all power, to the new RacePak system malfunctioning. After more than 24 hours of nonstop thrashing, Jimmie Hutto headed to Kansas from the teams Houston shop at about 11 PM Saturday night. Hutto made it to Heartland Motorsports Park after a blistering fast 1o hour dash to meet their gracious female contact- on Mother’s Day morning– that would allow them to park earlier than typically allowed.

Challenge 3: The Keys

Days later, Justin Hutto flew out from Houston to Kansas City. Once there, Hutto took a shuttle to the airport parking lot where he came to a heart wrenching realization. He’d lost the keys to his car and the motorhome- the trailer keys were also locked inside of his car. At this point, Hutto’s planned transportation to the racetrack was no longer accessible, and even if he did purchase a $95 Uber to the track, he now had no way of getting the racecar out of the trailer. Perhaps worst of all, he also had no place to stay for the night since he planned on staying in the motorhome at the track which was locked by the set of keys that he lost.

Frantically, Hutto went back to the airport and nervously told his parents the news. Then, he saw him…

As Hutto was searching for airport security, he noticed a gentleman wearing an NHRA shirt. That man would be a savior for Hutto in what seemed like a hopeless situation. Once Hutto explained his situation to this gentleman, he agreed to let Hutto ride to the track with him. Soon after, that same man came up with the idea to break into Hutto’s car at the airport after he noticed one of the rental car company employees carrying a Slim Jim- a tool used to break into vehicles. The keys to the trailer were in Hutto’s car at the airport, so once Hutto got into his car, all he had to do was figure out a way to break into the motorhome once he arrived at the track. To add a little more excitement to the situation, Hutto also had a phone interview for an internship during his journey from Kansas City to Topeka with this NHRA safety crewman.

Once at the track, Hutto tried to open every window on his motorhome that he could fit through to no avail. Then, without thinking much about it, Hutto tried to open a small window near the door of the motorhome and it was unlocked! By standing on a generator, Hutto reached his arm inside the motorhome just far enough to reach the inside of the door and unlock it!

After settling in and having some pizza delivered to the racetrack that he was quite literally stranded at, the young Hutto got his Champion Powered Corvette unloaded and ready for qualifying and class eliminations the next day.

Challenge 4: The Race

The first run down the racetrack was stellar for Hutto, especially considering that the team had no idea how the car would perform after the changes they made the week prior. A 10.055 run would put Justin 23rd out of 51 in Stock Eliminator and also make him the 2nd fastest AA/SA car in the field. After Q1, it was time for class eliminations- a specialty race at some NHRA national events where cars in each class within Stock Eliminator and Super Stock compete in a heads up competition.

As Hutto went up for first round of class eliminations against Will Carrell, another hurdle presented itself to the 20 year old. The car wouldn’t start due to frayed battery charger cords preventing the car from charging between runs. After the young Houston racer quickly took a battery from inside his trailer that’s used to power the lift and put it in his Corvette, he hurried through the pits to get to the staging lanes just in time for first round. Following a -.008 red light, Hutto’s class eliminations race was done, but a 10.17 run still gave him a data point to use for first round of the main event the next day.

After class eliminations, Hutto chatted with Alan Reinhart: the voice of the NHRA. The morning after Hutto shared his story with Reinhart, he got a knock on his motorhome door from NHRA officials notifying him that he’d been selected as the recipient of the Edelbrock Never Rest Performer of the Race award. This netted Hutto a Wally, additional exposure while accepting the award on the return road, and some TV time on NHRA’s Fox Sports 2 program.

During first round of final eliminations on Saturday, Hutto left the starting line with a competitive .025 reaction time, but problems set in shortly after. The same misfiring issue that’s been plaguing Hutto for 7 races at this point struck again. After the loss, the team immediately made a sizable investment in a new MSD grid system and installed a new Racepak Drag Dash in hopes of fixing the problem. Follow those upgrades, the team pinpointed their problem as a bad ground somewhere in the car which they’d successfully tackle at their home base in Texas.

Today, Justin Hutto is still incredibly hungry to win his first NHRA National Event and has definite plans to compete at the NHRA Fall Nationals in October to do so. To keep up with Hutto and his journey to a professional career in the NHRA, you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram at the @huttoracer handle.

About Hutto Racing: Hutto Racing is a multigenerational Houston based NHRA team with a rich history within the sport of drag racing. Starting with Jimmie Hutto Sr.’s founding of Hutto Racing in the mid 1960’s, we have been a successful drag racing team for the past 50 years. Although Hutto Racing spans through multiple eras of the sport, the constant theme throughout the three generations of racers is a devotion to their passion and a resolute work ethic for consistent success.