Follow-Up: Massey Back In Business At Don Schumacher Racing

In a surprising and complicated set of circumstances, Don Schumacher Racing has brought back its third Top Fuel dragster, with Spencer Massey once again behind the wheel.
 
Schumacher learned last summer that FRAM/Prestone would not return as sponsor of the Todd Okuhara-Phil Shuler-tuned car. However, the team owner said at the time that he would retain Massey and run the car in 2013 while the organization sought new sponsorship for that team.
 
Then in a Nov. 23, 2012, press release, Schumacher announced that Massey “is no longer part of Don Schumacher Racing effective immediately.  Massey will not return to DSR to drive the dragster . . . which finished third in championship points this past season.  . . . I have decided to go in a different direction.” The announcement said that the usually accessible Schumacher “is not available for further comment.”
 
That came in the wake of allegations of unprofessional conduct on Massey’s part at the NHRA awards ceremony at Los Angeles at which his teammates Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Jack Beckman (Funny Car) accepted their championship honors.
 
Despite rumors of specific behavior, no one has said publicly or on the record what such offenses were, and Massey privately denies at least one of those rumors. Schumacher never has addressed the situation, nor has any spokesman from DSR.
 
Massey has not spoken with the media since his dismissal, other than to send an e-mailed statement to online drag-racing magazine Competition Plus.
 
“I am grateful to have driven for such a great organization. Don Schumacher has the best of the best and it showed with our team the past few years. Todd, Phil and my entire crew gave me such a great racecar. It was the best. I hope to find sponsorship so I can get back to racing in the 2013 Mello Yello Drag Racing circuit,” Massey wrote.

 
He had agreed to an interview with CompetitionPlus.com but instead gave the statement with no further comment. He declined to speak with the media during preseason testing in South Florida, where he worked as a crew member with Sidnei Frigo’s team.
 
DSR announced Feb. 2 that Schumacher Electric Corp. will fund the dragster, beginning at the Feb. 14-17 Winternationals season opener at Pomona, Calif., while the organization continues to search for another major sponsor.
 
“The No. 3 Top Fuel dragster will be fully funded through the Don Schumacher Electric Corporation to promote the Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher, the next-generation battery charger that provides advanced charging technology and cutting-edge design,” team public-relations representative Jeff Wolf said.
 
“Money will come from Don Schumacher and existing associate sponsors,” Wolf said.
 
In last Saturday’s statement, Schumacher said, “I committed last summer to running this team in 2013 after Honeywell sold the FRAM/Prestone business to an investor and the decision of the new owner was to eliminate motorsports sponsorship. I committed to run that car in 2013 and will do what I committed to doing. And I want to keep that team together, because it has contended for the championship down to the last two races the past two years.”
 
Moreover, he said in the press release, “Were we not to field that team, it also would have cost about 10 guys their jobs, and I didn’t want that to happen.”

Tommy Johnson Jr. test-drove the dragster this past December in Florida and proved that it was in top shape with a best pass of 3.75 seconds at 325 mph.
 
Wolf did not offer an explanation beyond the press-release statement about why Massey was dismissed or why he was rehired.

 
However, the release said, “Schumacher and Massey decided in late November to go separate ways at a time when adequate funding had not been secured.” While the firing indeed did come at a time when the dragster had no funding, the tone of that announcement last November did not suggest that it was a matter of funding.
 
That leads critics to call the statements inconsistent with each other.
 
In an NHRA-sponsored teleconference Jan. 31, Brown said Massey’s “dismissal is just because it’s a lack of funding. Lost our deal with FRAM and Prestone. Basically it tore that team down because there was no funding to keep the team going. If FRAM and Prestone were still here today, Spencer would be driving that car at the end of the day, plain and simple. It’s one of those deals that we’re dealing with in drag racing, all forms of motorsports, it’s hard to keep all the funding going to keep these racecars going.”

Reporter John Sturbin pressed Brown, asking: “Antron, let me get this straight. You’re saying that Spencer Massey would still have a ride even after the incident last year at the NHRA banquet if he had sponsorship?”

Brown replied, “I’ll put my bottom dollar on it. At the end of the day, like he was representing FRAM and Prestone. That was his car he was driving. That car was funded. As long as that car was funded, he would still be here driving, without a doubt.”

Brown said privately and during the teleconference that he has spoken with Massey since the awards ceremony.
 
“Yes, yes. I spoke to Spencer at the test session in West Palm Beach. Actually, I spoke to him the day after (the awards ceremony),” Brown said. “I wasn’t there [near Massey], so I have no idea what was said or what was done or what happened. It’s just that he basically just apologized.
 
“Things got a little out of control where alcohol was involved,” Brown said. “At the end of the day we’re professionals in front of everybody, and that’s what he was apologizing about.”
 
It all begs the question of why Massey was fired in November.
 
“We’re not ready to get into details,” Wolf said.
 
He indicated that at some time soon the team or Massey will issue statements that he says will clear Massey’s name.
 
As the 24-race season begins on Valentines Day, Massey will return to Pomona as last year’s Winternationals champion.