6/6/03

On a visit to "Drag Digest" in 1966 Suzy suggested to the newspaper owner what was lacking in drag racing was a social column dedicated to the people behind the sport. "Suzy's Scrapbook" was the result of that conversation and Suzy has been dedicated to "bringing the human side of racing to the forefront" ever since. In 1968 she moved her "Suzy's Scrapbook" gossip column to "Drag News" and was with that publication for several years before going to work for "National Dragster." While at Dragster she wrote "The Social Side" of drag racing and several human interest stories for editor Michael Dougherty. In the '70s Suzy wrote a series of articles for National Dragster, "Women In Drag Racing," which featured the private lives of the women who were the backbone of the sport; drivers, wives, sisters and the mothers. Along the way Suzy has written for "Drag World," "Drag Times," and wrote several feature stories for various programs and magazines. In the early 1980s Suzy was the publisher of the "Sand Paper" which was the official newspaper for the National Sand Racing Association. Her responsibilities ranged from taking the photos, writing the stories, laying out and pasting up the newspapers to selling and designing the ads. "As long as you don't take it too seriously, gossip can be a lot of fun. But you'd better watch out," she states, "it can also be addictive."

wo hot rumors circulating in the pits at the Chicago NHRA race are of special interest - first, "Crash" Gladys may not be doing too many more finish line interviews. Way too many fans, race car crews and especially sponsors are vehemently complaining about her screeching voice and the content of her questions. One major sponsor was overhead saying "She's got to go, I'm calling Compton (NHRA President Tom Compton) Monday morning," just after Gladys had asked Whit Bazemore to "shake your booty for us" following one of Whit's passes. Second, there is no guarantee that Alan Johnson, Jr. will be Tony Schumacher's crew chief for the full season because he's trying to put his own "deal" together. For those of you who remember the Johnsons, his parents "are still living at the ranch and doing great." Many of Don Schumacher's competitors felt that he should have waited to announce the firing of Wes Cerney for a more appropriate time, not on live TV, but you can't argue with success as Tony took home his first win of the season.

Although Whit Bazemore is very shy about sharing his private life with outsiders we have learned that Michelle got him a Apple i-Pod for his birthday which he uses while working out on his stationary trainer. "He's been loading some of his favorite music into it, 'Tool,' and 'Rage Against the Machine.'" Michelle also does a considerable amount of volunteer work for the Major Taylor Association, which is a non-profit group that supports the Velodrome in Indianapolis. She and Whit are joined in Indianapolis by their two cats Suki and Hiro. Suki "adopted" Michelle at an L.A. bike race and Hiro is a Russian Blue that "found" her while she was running on a path the weekend of the '02 Nationals.

Tim Richards, Kenny and Brandon Bernstein's crew chief, purchased a lovely Hawaiian sculpture for wife Kim LaHaie-Richards' recent birthday. When Dick LaHaie was complimented on his daughter's mechanical skill he grinned and said, "We grew up together." That explains that . . . At Todd Okahura's (Don Prudhomme's assistant crew chief) recent surprise birthday party held at a famous Downtown Indianapolis, Indiana Japanese restaurant, two-year-old Donovan Dixon stunned the waitress by asking for "more shu-she please." Apparently the precocious son of NHRA World Champion Larry Dixon, Jr., loves both rice and sushi and isn't afraid to speak his mind. According to Linda McCullough, Todd is an easy man to buy gifts for because he's an electronic "nut," so everyone bought him gift certificates from Best Buy, including Linda and Ace . . . Despite recent cataract surgery Mrs. Dave McClelland created yet another "N.H.R.A. World Championship Quilt" for the D.R.A.W. auction featuring Larry Dixon, Jr., John Force, Jeg Coughlin and Angelle Savoie. When the doctors removed her bandages Louise discovered she wasn't happy with the quilt results and made some last minute changes before the Chicago race. John Force out bid everyone and took the prized quilt home for a whopping $10,000.00. Watch for more D.R.A.W. auction news in next months column . . . After Josie Kalitta underwent a sonogram she and Top Fuel driver husband Doug discovered their second child, due in July, is a girl. As yet no name has been chosen.

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