Modern top fuel teams are a far cry from the quaint operations of old. A well coordinated effort between a bunch of crew guys that see the engine getting torn completely down between runs in times that can dip well below an hour blow the old “we don’t take the heads off” routine into the weeds. Now as good as the men and women are that work on these things, they physically cannot strip an engine and build it again in less than three minutes…unless you factor in the magic of modern technology. That’s what happens here. A fixed camera above the car recorded the crew movements in a hyper-lapse style format and the whole thing looks pretty awesome if you ask us. Leah Pritchett’s crew is as good as any of them out there and the one thing you can really see through watching this film is the fact that there is not one wasted step or movement when they are working on the car. Arms and hands are moving, crossing, and reaching, but it is all organized and everyone knows their role.
One of the reasons so-called “part time” teams have a big problem competing in the sport of top level drag racing anymore is because they do not have the week in and week out practice and work that these guys do. It is one thing to race your dragster a couple times a year. It is entirely another to do it for months on end including testing and other events like these guys do. There is no replacement for the practice, repetition, and skill that these teams have. A new guy in the mix can throw the whole thing into a mess. It is a mechanical ballet like none other in motorsports.
