Here’s some good news for fans of NHRA top fuel drag racing. Doug Kuch has signed on to be the tuner of the Foley Lewis top fuel dragster campaigned by Doug Foley and his business partner Tim Lewis. Kuch and Foley have had a longstanding relationship in drag racing and it’s been a rare sight to see Foley headed down the strip with anyone BUT Doug Kuch turning the screws.
The even better news is that the team will be returning to action on July 11-12 at the official re-start of the NHRA season at Lucas Oil Raceway Indianapolis. They’ll be throwing down with some heavy duty company that weekend so the addition of Kuch is a good one to make the team even more competitive.
Foley had been out of top fuel drag racing for about a decade before re-licensing last year. It has been a years long process to get the tools, people, and equipment needed to do it the right way. Running a limited schedule and picking their spots judiciously, the Foley Lewis team will be learning on every run down the track and those runs will yield great data with a guy like Kuch on the job.
Good news!
Crew Chief Doug Kuch Returning to Foley Lewis Racing
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 18, 2020) – Veteran crew chief Doug Kuch has signed on to tune Doug Foley’s Top Fuel dragster through the 2021 NHRA season, Foley Lewis Racing announced today. Kuch previously worked with Foley Lewis Racing during the team’s last major stint in NHRA Top Fuel over 10 years ago.
“We’re really excited to have Doug Kuch working with us again,” said Doug Foley, who made his return to Top Fuel in February after a nine-year hiatus. “We initially planned to use our first few races of the season to get back up to speed, then really get competitive in the later half of the year. Now that our season will be shortened, we need to accelerate our learning curve. We feel like Doug will help us accomplish that goal.”
Kuch first tuned Foley’s Top Fuel car in IHRA competition during the mid-2000s. He helped Foley win the 2004 IHRA Pro Rookie of the Year award, the same year he was named the Crew Chief of the Year. Foley won three IHRA national events that year with Kuch calling the shots. The duo then experienced success in the NHRA side of the world in the late 2000s, regularly qualifying well and winning rounds in part-time competition.
“Doug did great things for our team during our time racing together,” said Tim Lewis, team co-owner. “The car always went down the track, and Doug helped us run at the front of the pack in IHRA. I’m really looking forward to seeing what this team can do with Doug back in our corner.”
Foley and Lewis plan to run the two races NHRA added to the new revised 2020 schedule at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis, July 11-12 and July 18-19. The team will also compete at its home race, the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Sept. 18-20 at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.
“As a team based in the Southeast, the new NHRA schedule really affected our plans for the season,” Foley said. “Some of the races we planned to attend were canceled, and others were moved around to the point that it would make it hard for us to make it work. But we understand NHRA had some tough decisions to make, and we’re looking forward to getting back to racing.”
Foley and the Foley Lewis Racing team will race with continued support from Strutmasters.com, Red Line Synthetic Oil, DDP Roofing, Allan Industries, Burns Mechanical, Goodson, GRP Connecting Rods and TechnoCraft Cabinets.
