The Chris Applegate Story

by Barbara Intelisano
3/9/04

ome passions are just impossible to let go of. Such was the case for my husband, Len, and his passion for drag racing. It had been many years since Len participated in the sport, but a few years ago, a couple of friends nudged him into building a car, "just for fun".

Well, one thing led to another and before you knew it, he had an order in for a one-of-a-kind Jerry Bickel-built Super Stocker, but that is a whole other story.

Len figured that he was past his prime with his driving skills, so he looked for a young, talented driver for this new and exciting car. One young star got tired of waiting for the car to be completed and approved by NHRA for competition. Another had talent, but just not enough driving experience, so it was decided that Len needed to get his license back if this car was ever going to get down the track.

Len signed up for Doug Foley's Drag Racing School and that is how we came to be at Atco that lucky weekend of June 24, 2003.

We had put in a very hot, very busy day with John DeBartolomeo, the instructor, and had just sat down for dinner, when Tom Hart, a friend, pointed out this young girl who was changing from street tires to racing tires on an '87 Mustang. What caught Tom's eye was the skill and confidence with which she wielded that lug wrench. She really knew what she was doing, and Len and Tom figured she was wrenching for her boyfriend or husband. (How's that for chauvinism?) Their curiosity got the better of them and they went to see if the Mustang was an automatic or a stick shift; it was a stick.

Our new car was a stick, and we had learned over the years that drivers with the skill to drive one well in competition were few and far between. Tom Hart talked to several of the officials at Atco Raceway regarding Chris's reputation in the bracket racing arena and was pleased to hear she was highly regarded both as a person and as a competitor.

The guys were actually a little intimidated by her as she was a regular competitor and quite often a winner at the track. Her dream was to become a professional in Motorsports. Shirley Muldowney, the Top Fuel driver, was her inspiration. Chris's dream was to compete in Top Fuel.

I was standing next to her when Len asked if she would be interested in taking our car down the track. I could see that she was scared and nervous and excited all at the same time, but she never missed a beat and said, "Are you serious? Sure!"

That evening we only had the opportunity to make one pass down the track, but Chris did such a great job that we made arrangements to meet at Lebanon Valley, NY the following weekend.

Over the weekend at Lebanon, we got our first glimpse of Chris's attitude. She asked us if she didn't measure up to our expectations for the driving position, could she still be on the team in another capacity.

Every time Chris buckled up, she drove the car faster and faster at every meet we went to. We entered every divisional meet we could drive to from Lebanon Valley, NY to Cleves, OH and from Bristol, TN to Englishtown NJ, with Numedia, PA and Atco, NJ in between. Chris needed to get seat time and to accumulate the required points she would need to enter the car in NHRA National events and in particular to race at Indianapolis in the fall of 2003. Chris always drove well and she qualified in the upper half of the field and occasionally even in the upper 25 percent. This accomplishment alone is one that drivers with many more years of experience could only dream about doing.