NHRA rider Chip Ellis expands his drag racing horizons

One might think Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Chip Ellis had come to his senses and started racing four wheels instead of two. Then, with the flash of the amber light turning green, the 5.8-liter, supercharged Cobra Jet's front end leaped high in the sky and the bumper dragged the ground.

Just another day in the life of closet daredevil Chip Ellis, and he's fine being along for the ride.

Ellis, a six-time winner in NHRA Competition and ranked sixth in the championship point standings, made his Lucas Oil Sportsman debut racing a Super Stocker fielded by Roy Hill.

Racing a Factory Showdown Super Stocker in the "A" configuration, Ellis was 27th quickest after the first session with an 8.175 ET, 0.625 under his 8.80 index.

"I got my license the week before the U.S. Nationals," Ellis said. "I've been helping Roy Hill at his drag racing school from time to time and we do his engines at Competition Engine Services. He asked me if I wanted to come drive a car and I was like, 'absolutely, but I don't know how to drive a car, you will have to teach me.'"

Teaching novice drivers how to become seasoned drag racers is right in Hill's wheelhouse. Hill launched one of the first certified drag racing schools in 1989 while competing in the challenging Pro Stock division.

"We went out there the first time and made six runs," Ellis explained. "The car spun [the rear tires] the first couple of runs and then we worked on the chassis a little bit and got it to leave the starting line better. I made two good runs."

The Cobra Jet Mustang Ellis now races is a purpose-built drag racing car straight from the Ford Motor Company and designed by Ford Racing. His car is capable of 7.90-seconds in the quarter-mile, a full second slower than he races on two-wheels.

Don't be fooled, Ellis advises, the are two diametrically different beasts.

"I really can't describe it any better than to say I just got thrown to the wolves," Ellis said. "I've hadn't drag raced a car before and to do it on this level is one of those things that's really hard to convey how it feels.

Ellis admits he's had tunnel vision when it came to his drag racing, but this experience has definitely expanded his horizons.

"I'm copycatting Dave Connolly and Erica Enders by running two classes," Ellis said. "It's really exciting for me to learn from Roy Hill, a legend in the sport. For me is going to be about focusing on how to get this race car down the racetrack."

To know Hill is to have been yelled at by him, and it's not personal for the seasoned instructor, it's all about ensuring the novice is safe and will be ready when the monster challenge of racing on a national level presents itself.

"Roy gives you a lot of information," Ellis explained. "The one thing that he was telling me was, 'You're not being smooth with your feet.

"Okay, so we don't use our feet on the motorcycles, so that was the biggest thing for me. I had to get the hand-eye coordination, but obviously, my eye and feet coordination wasn't that good. That was the biggest difference and then sitting in the car. You feel the g-forces different than you do on a bike.

"On the bike, you feel it in your butt, but in the car, you feel it more in your back. The other thing that was weird to me was the car I was driving had a powerglide transmission in it, so we're only making one shift in the car, and it's dang near an eighth-mile before you make the shift. I'm used to first gear lasting 1.2 seconds; 6th gear is .6 of a second, and so it just was different. I had a little bit of issue doing a burnout. It's just because it was new."

Ellis said the one thing which didn't change in his new world experience was his drive to absolutely be the best he could be, and inevitably hopefully the best on race day.

"After I got the first run out of the way and I knew what to expect, I was OK, let try to be perfect," Ellis admitted. "For me, I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, so I wanted to do everything perfect. The toughest part is accepting that just doesn't happen. To say I'm excited is an understatement, it's a really cool experience."

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Bobby Bennett is the Publisher/Editor of CompetitionPlus.com, a leading independent online drag racing magazine, since 1999. For the latest in dragster news worldwide, visit www.competitionplus.com or follow on Twitter @competitionplus