Chicago and CN Railway!

Todd Lesenko and the Worsham Racing team welcomed their newest sponsorship partner CN Railway during the NHRA O’Reilly Route 66 Nationals at Chicago.

Although the budding new partnership did not produce a victory their first time out together – some very positive strides were made towards the future.

At Route 66 Raceway,  Todd’s best run of the weekend 5.041 secs did fall well short of the super swift bump spot.   That result however is tempered by the fact Todd was driving a new race car that had never been down this race track.

“This is a new chassis for me and the body on the car is in fact one we acquired from DSR — it is the former Gary Scelzi Oakley Charger,” Todd confirmed. “The car did run some very fast short times but unfortunately we missed a bit in the clutch department this time out.  We did add a bunch of new parts to the car too — Chuck and I were dealing with an extremely powerful race car — in fact more power then  either him or I have had before.  Although we did not qualify we are looking for great things in the future.”

A major part of the team’s weekend was however some important guests and dignitaries who were part of the equation.   Firstly some senior management from CN Railway were on hand has guests including Jim Danielwicz — the VP of Mechanical — based from nearby Homewood IL.

Jim Danielwicz – CN VP of Mechanical (left) was on hand

“I was so pleased to have the opportunity to show and share our racing weekend with Jim and his people,” Todd added.  “Before the race I did a Q&A at the CN shops and actually got to drive a locomotive which was really cool.  The whole management staff at CN are very excited about all this.  Their company is know for diverse and innovative marketing strategy and our race team is fitting in as part of all that.”

Todd also had a second very special guest at Joliet — his good friend and former NHL Chicago Blackhawks player and now TV and Radio analyst Troy Murray.

Troy Murray (left) with NHRA President Tom Compton & Todd.

“Troy and I grew up nearby and played hockey together in Edmonton,” Todd revealed.  “To have him come out for this race to support us was just great.  He is not exactly mechanical gifted — but he was like a kid in the candy store in our pit area.   The fact that he came just after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup (Yeah Baby!) and having that team’s colour commentator here made it all that much more exciting and special.  It was great to see him on ESPN offering his comments about drag racing there too.”…….(BB)

Photos by:  Bruce Biegler