NEVER SAY NEVER: SCOTT TIDWELL GAVE JASON COLLINS A SHOT — AND THE ALABAMA RACER DELIVERED
Scott Tidwell noticed worth in Collins lengthy earlier than NHRA Pro Mod grew to become a part of the dialog.
At first it was testing. Helping with automobiles. Making lapses. Collins grew to become the type of driver skilled racers belief as a result of he understood what a race automotive was making an attempt to inform him even when the factor was doing one thing ugly.
Sometimes particularly when it was doing one thing ugly.
“I started driving and testing some cars for Scott,” Collins stated. “He actually bought one of my old Outlaw 10.5 cars from me, which was the red car that they ran in Pro 275 for a while. And I don’t know, I started just doing some driving for him, just testing really.”
That relationship finally was Collins driving Tidwell’s blue Camaro through the radial racing growth, and the outcomes got here nearly instantly.
“For whatever reason, it all worked,” Collins stated. “The very first race, we didn’t even test before we got it going and ran it up at the first race. And then went on to, I think we won every race but one that year in the Radial stuff.”
Even then, Collins nonetheless wasn’t sitting round believing NHRA Pro Mod was ready on him.
He grew to become the reliable racer across the store. The man groups trusted to shake down automobiles and make troublesome runs. Collins laughed recalling one stretch the place he drove 4 totally different automobiles on the identical day.
“I think the most passes I made, I think I made 20 laps in one day,” Collins stated. “I drove David Mallory’s car and I drove Jose’s car and I drove two of Scott’s cars all the same day.”
Then got here the RJ Race Cars machine Collins jokingly known as a “military car.”
“I told them it was a military car if it would go left, right, left,” Collins stated. “And they ended up finding what was wrong with it. But for whatever reason, call it ignorance or stupidity or whatever, I could poke it down through there.”
That’s the type of factor veteran racers discover.
Anyone can drive the clear ones.
The precious drivers are normally those keen to wrestle the troublesome automobiles with out tearing tools up within the course of. Tidwell saved placing Collins in race automobiles as a result of Collins saved proving he belonged there.
“Scott’s allowed me to do things that I thought I’d never do in drag racing,” Collins stated. “I really got to give some props to him for that.”
That line carried weight coming from Collins as a result of by his personal admission, there was a degree the place he stopped believing any of this was realistically coming collectively.
