Elyria native Wayne Waite will never have to experience an earthquake to feel the ground rumble under his feet.

He feels it every time No. 1-rated Top Fuel driver Antron Brown fires up the Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster.

The dragster can do a quarter mile in less than five seconds.

The massive 8,000-horsepower engine is eight times as big as the 1,000-horsepower engines that power NASCAR racers, Waite said.

“When he hits the throttle we’ve measured the ground and it’s like 2.5 on the Richter scale,” Waite said. “It shakes the ground really bad.”

“It’s a real bad gasoline smell — it will choke you if you get a big whiff,” Waite said, who has become adept at holding his breath.

But any hazards related to working on a nitromethane-powered dragster are nothing to fret about for Waite, a 2001 graduate of Lorain County Joint Vocational School.

He has landed a dream job as one of a dozen crew members on the leading team in the Top Fuel division of the National Hot Rod Association, Waite, 28, helps build motors on the dragster and is responsible for short block assembly. It takes patience and skill and 14-hour days are not uncommon.

Before each pass — when the dragster takes off like a bolt of lightning — Waite bolts on a freshly serviced cylinder head that must be completely level.

Everything has to be calibrated within miniscule tolerances. Brown’s life literally depends on Waite and other members of his crew getting everything right.

Besides being “very thorough,” Brown called Waite “a really great guy.”

“I have yet to see him miss something and put something together wrong,” Brown said. “It takes every guy on your team to function, and you’re only as strong as your weakest link.”

Waite said it is really exciting to be on Brown’s crew — especially since his driver leads the Top Fuel standings by 199 points over five-time defending champion Tony Schumacher.

Most recently, Brown steered Mike Ashley Racing to a victory July 26 at the FRAM-Autolite Top Fuel Nationals in Sonoma, Calif.

The win completes a rare sweep of the Western Swing Tour, including victories in Denver and Seattle.

“Antron Brown became just the fifth Top Fuel dragster driver in 22 years to sweep the Western Swing,” Waite said.

Waite, the son of Steven and Mary Waite of Elyria, said he’s grateful for his good start at the JVS. He said he knew right away that the Auto Tech Program offered him everything he needed to be successful, but “I never thought it would lead to something this awesome.”

While at the JVS, Waite said he ranked fifth in his class of about 20 and is grateful to instructor Darin Lewis for keeping him focused. He said the JVS also showed him how to work in a team — an important component of working on the hot rod circuit.

After graduation, he worked as a Ford technician for Mike Bass Ford and Pallotta Ford before another former Ford worker Dave Sears persuaded him to seek a job on the racing circuit.

Waite joined the Matco Tools crew after the 2007 NHRA season following a two-year stint at Doug Herbert Racing, where he built short blocks, serviced the bottom end and drove truck.

Before joining the Herbert camp, Waite spent three seasons working on Bobby Martin’s Top Alcohol Funny Car in Pennsylvania.

While with the NHRA, Waite has traveled all around the country.

He also met his fiancee, Gabrielle “Gabby” Roach, who also works for the NHRA. They plan to wed this fall between the NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas and NHRA Finals in Pamona, Calif.

After the season ends in November, Mike Ashley Racing departs for the Middle East to compete against other Top Fuel dragster teams in the Arabian Gulf country of Qatar, where the prince is a huge fan of the sport.

Waite said he is looking forward to seeing that part of the world, even if it might be a lot different from the United States.

“It’s all about promoting our sport,” Waite said. “It’s been a tremendous year for us. It’s loud. It rattles you. I love it.”

Waite, who now lives in Brownsburg, Ind., said he has no desire to ever sit in the driver’s seat, even for a lark.

“It goes so fast you get tunnel vision,” he said. “You only see what’s ahead of you and the crowd becomes a blur.”

Brown, who transitioned to top fuel two years ago from Pro Stock Motorcycles, said driving a dragster is really a trip.

“You hear the roar and rumble and it rocks back and forth — it takes off pretty hard,” Brown said. “You reach four or five G’s and you feel your eyes pull back in your head and your stomach hit your backbone.”

Matco Tools Dragster

• Horsepower: 8,000
• Length: 33.5 feet
• Fuel type: Maximum 90 percent Nitromethane
• Career-best speed: 331.94 mph
• Driver: Antron Brown
• Crew: Twelve-member crew includes Wayne Waite of Elyria
• For more on Antron Brown’s race team, go to www.mikeashleyracing.com.
• To see videos of the car racing, go to www.youtube.com and search for Antron Brown.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

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