Steve Collier from Collier Family Racing is returning to the seat this weekend for the 64th NHRA Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway, following a horrific Top Alcohol Dragster blowover at Heartland Motorsports Park earlier in the season. This marks Collier’s first action since the blowover.
“The recovery process has been difficult for me. Sitting around trying to heal was just flat boring. I should have blisters on my fingers from a laptop and my cell phone,” chuckled Collier. “My family has been there every step of the way in this process. I am ready to get back to racing. That first burnout is going to be a relief.”
The Collier Family Racing team from Benton, LA, has an entire fleet of cars that will be in competition this week in Indy, yet, all will be focused on Steve’s return to the seat. Custom seat cushions have been made to assist in absorbing the impact of launch and 180 mph laps Collier will make this weekend.
“We wanted to take extra steps to try to make it comfortable. It’s a race car, so I know it won’t be perfectly comfortable, but we have done our best to achieve,” stated Collier. “We are excited to be back in competition for the remainder of the 2018 season.”
The team is evaluating the Top Alcohol Dragster as the 2018 season comes to a close, as the Top Alcohol Dragster was destroyed in the blowover. However, the determination in Collier leans in the direction that they are not done yet.
“We are not ready to commit yet to our plans for 2019 in TAD. Right now we are focused on Jack (brother), Koy (son) and myself being in the Top 10 in the national standings, as well as strong divisional standings,” Collier smiled. “We know the competition saw our potential in Topeka before the blowover. They know we are capable, we know we are capable, we will see.”
Currently, Collier Family is building strong holds in the points battles in Super Comp and Super Gas. The Big Go is going to be big for the points battle.
This story was originally published on August 29, 2018.