Even before the end of the championship, some riders have lost their jobs, while others like a bolt from the blue fell harmlessly in the form of offer of a place in the cockpit dregster competitive team. Today we tell about the main personnel changes that occurred after the 2015 season.
Before starting playoff team representatives announced that Alan Johnson Racing (AJR) due to insurmountable financial difficulties leaves the Cup at least until the start of next season. After that, the only driver AJR Shawn Langdon received an offer from Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) to take the place of the dismissed Spencer Meissen driving Red Fuel Dragster during the remaining six the events. Champion in 2013 a proposal with undisguised pleasure, and took the final stage of the national championship in Pomona brought Don Schumacher next Wally. More recently, it became known that Langdon extended his contract with the DSR, and the next season will be the company Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher. Thus, in the asset Don Schumacher were three NHRA champion in the class Top Fuel.
«We looked closely at Sean from the beginning of his speech in the class Top Fuel, and I was sure that his first title — a matter of time — explained his decision Don Schumacher. — At the end of the season I had the opportunity to meet with him as closely as possible, and after the stage in Pomona, I was finally convinced that the pilot is sure to become a member of our team. »
Winner of five titles in the Pro Stock class Jag Coughlin Jr. will replace the cockpit Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart of his former teammate Allen Johnson, the services of which bosses Mopar abandoned in favor of the defending champion Coughlin and NHRA Erica Enders Stephens. Elite Motorsports and Mopar have decided to unite and put up in the next year, two Dodge Dart, while the «Rookie of the Year» Drew Skillman and Vincent Nobile will continue to fight behind the wheel of Chevrolet Camaro. We can already say with certainty that the Elite Motorsports will enter the 2016 championship in the status of the strongest teams in the class, and the struggle between the four pilots it promises to be very tense and spectacular.
«Richard Freeman (team boss Elite Motorsports) gathered under his command developers chassis, engine manufacturers and the best mechanics — says Coughlin. — With such an impressive technical background, you can move mountains. And I'm really glad that I will fight for a new regalia in one cage with Erica. »
«At the moment I am in search of a new sponsor. And if I can do it, it would be perhaps the best achievement of my life — I said was out of the veteran Allen Johnson. — I really hope I can get the necessary financial support to continue their participation in the championship. But if I'm not lucky, I'll be gone from the sport on a positive note. »
It is worth recalling that the 2012 champion won his last event at the wheel of Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart in Pomona, and this was the final stage of the national championship and the last in the carburetor era class Pro Stock. Mopar experienced rider sponsored nearly twenty years, but now the management team decided to bet on younger, more promising, in their opinion, the riders.
«To have at its disposal the top pilots of our time — a great honor for me. We Jag been friends for a long time, but the right moment to join our efforts, fell only at the end of last season — shared his joy Richard Freeman. — Now everything went well, and we are very pleased that Jag will be part of our new program. »
In addition, there was a split in the team Gray Motorsports. Jonathan Gray immediately with hostility by the news of the changes in the regulations and stated that the 2015 season would be his last in the division Pro Stock. The pilot, who finished the championship in tenth place in the standings, has not yet decided on the vector of the development of their future career, but announced his intention to try his luck at the wheel of the car Pro Mod.
But his older brother Shane, despite the rumors about the resignation, in the end, decided that after all will participate in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series in 2016 as a standing pilot, but was also not happy with the coming changes.
«At the moment we are intensively preparing for the upcoming championship and try to make the most of the fact that in the new reality allowed the technical requirements for bolide» — commented Shane Gray.
Meanwhile, before the start of the next season is less than two months, and not the fact that the described changes will be the last.
