Thu, 26 Apr 2007, 08:50 PM
Let's Hear It For The "Flash"
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By Bob Frey
Photo copyright 2007 Bob Johnson Photography
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Cody "Flash" Perkins
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For years, a lot of the big name drag racers all had nicknames. There was "Big Daddy" Don Garlits,
"Jungle" Jim Liberman, The "Blue Max," the "Professor" Warren Johnson and so many others. And while
those nicknames aren't nearly as prevalent today, there is one young driver who does go by
something other than his given name. Cody Perkins, who turned twenty-one years old at the Las Vegas
national event two weeks ago, is known by his friends and family simply as "Flash." "I started
running Jr. Dragsters when I was just a kid, and some of the other racers had nicknames. So, when I
was eight years old and got my Jr. car it already had Cody "The Flash" Perkins painted on the side.
I think it all goes back to the fact that I used to run a lot when I was a kid. I'd give my
stopwatch to my mom and say 'time me, time me.' Then I'd run as fast as I could to whatever finish
line I chose." Cody is still running but now he does it behind the wheel of the family's Top
Alcohol Dragster. In Las Vegas over the past two weeks he had mixed results. At the national race
two weeks ago he qualified well and beat Mike Austin and Ed Schmeeckle before fouling out against
Morgan Lucas in the semi-finals. Last week, at the Division 7 race, he also made the very tough
field and then he fouled again in round one against Brian Smith. "I had identical .007 red lights
at two consecutive races," he said. "We're still trying to figure out if the car was pulling the
front end straight up out of the stage beams or what. It's just not normal for us to see lights
like that." However, "Flash" is characteristically quick averaging a .030 reaction time throughout
his alcohol racing career. Cody and his family will use this week to work on the car before
returning to action at Fontana next week.
Cody "Flash" Perkins
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Like so many young people who are involved in the sport, Cody is a second generation drag racer.
His dad raced the family's dragster for a number of years before turning the driving chores over to
Cody. Although he is young and has that "dude" look about him, Cody says that he doesn't see
himself as the typical or prototype driver. First of all, he is maintaining a 3.7 grade point
average while working on a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Utah, which
automatically puts him in a very select group of drivers. "I'm a little bigger than most hired
drivers," he said. "At about 6 feet tall and two hundred pounds I don't have the body type that
most teams think is perfect for a driver. That's why I focus on learning the mechanical end of the
sport, that way maybe I can become one of those big time crew chiefs one day." Cody says that he
and his dad used to joke about who would drive the car. "Dad would hop on the scale and he'd say
'201 pounds,' and I'd get on and say '198,' looks like I'm driving this weekend." Truth be told,
Cody has been driving for the past season although his dad, Robert, may get back behind the wheel
real soon. "We have Frank Manzo's 03' funny car and we're close to finishing it. Then we need to
get his license crossed over and test. If dad wants to drive it he will, if he doesn't, I might,
but neither of us are sure since we've never raced that style of car before."
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As attractive as the driving part of the racing operation seems to be to most people, Cody admits
to having a real fondness for the tuning aspects of the sport, too. Cody joked that if he had a
brother or sister that weighed less, he'd put them in the car. "If a lighter driver would get the
car on minimum weight, it would make my tune-up look better," he said with a smile. "Luckily the
funny car's light enough we won't have to worry about that." But Cody quickly added that theirs is
such a family operation that he really couldn't imagine putting anyone behind the wheel who wasn't
part of the Perkins family. "I worked as my dad's crew chief since I was about sixteen and I would
go up to the starting line and check out the track along side of guys like Randy Anderson and Norm
Grimes. I learned a lot about how to run the car from doing that." When Cody went out and won the
first division race he ever entered in Montana last year, Norm Grimes was one of the first to come
up and congratulate him. "We beat Sean O'Bannon in the final and it meant a lot to me to have Norm
come over and congratulate me. I think Randy Anderson was more excited than I was after he heard
I'd won and that was really neat for me too."
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At the recent Las Vegas national event Cody and his team showed up with a completely new look to
the car. "We wrapped it just in time for this event so we can try to raise some awareness about the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). We know this young boy, Zachary Haarbrink, who is
just a normal, healthy kid who plays basketball and likes to have fun, then, three years ago he was
suddenly diagnosed with type 1 juvenile diabetes. It's really tough for any kid and we wanted to do
something to help." What they did was take part in a drag racing based fund raiser that generated
over $10,000 for the JDRF. "We were at Rocky Mountain Dragway and a lot of the racers got into the
spirit of the occasion," he said. "And as good as that event went we still wanted to do more." So,
along with Zac's mom, Laurie, they decided to wrap the car with a special design that would promote
the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on a national level. Laurie and Rodney Haarbrink, who
work at SignEFX, a company that prints decals, came up with a design that we thought would look
great on the car. They then went to Mactac, a company that supplies materials to decal companies,
and they decided to create a "wrap" for the car. "I've had quite a few compliments about how good
the car looked, so I have to thank Mactac especially for donating the high quality material. Most
people thought it was paint, it looked that good. This was SignEFX's first attempt at a vehicle
wrap, but from the way the car looks you'd never know it. It was in large part because of these
two companies that we were able to gain a lot of exposure for JDRF." Cody and his family plan to
keep the logo on the car at the rest of the races they attend this year. "My dad just said that
it's not fair for a young kid to have to go through what Zac is going through," Cody said. "So he
decided that we'll do whatever we can to help."
Cody "Flash" Perkins
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Competing with a supercharged car in today's Top Alcohol Dragster class is not easy but the Perkins
family appears ready to run with some of the best cars in the country. "We ran real well at the
national event and had a car that could have won the whole thing. We did find a little gremlin in
the ignition after the national event and then came right back at the divisional race and ran 5.36,
which was very good. The car's performance made a first round loss at the event really hard to
take." Now Cody and his dad and mom will spend most of the week working at the family business
before working on the car again over the weekend. "Our family owns a company called INESCO that
sells and services steam cleaners and pressure washers. The small company has been family owned and
operated for over fifty years now so I guess that makes me and my cousin Troy fourth generation
family members to work at the business. Recently we've added something new, we sell and service
waste oil heaters. With these, a company that generates a lot of waste oil at their shop can burn
it and use it to heat their business instead of having to pay those dreaded gas bills. It's also a
great way to recycle."
While Cody may not think that he is the typical driver, the Perkins family is a typical drag racing
family. By that I mean that they love drag racing and they work hard at it while running a
business, but they also realize what the real important things in life are. "We feel that Juvenile
Diabetes is a terrible disease and anything we can do to help find a cure is something worth
working for. Our ultimate goal is to get national exposure for the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation which we feel is a very worthwhile charity organization." The way their car is running
and with the amount of coverage they have received recently, maybe, with the help of the Perkins
family, juvenile diabetes could be defeated.in a flash!!
NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]
Jul 28- FEATURE- Jimmy Lewis
Jul 27- FEATURE- Did You Know? by Bob Frey
Jul 26- DENVER - Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Wrap Up
Jul 25- DENVER - Special Awards
Jul 25- DENVER - Sunday Wrap Up
Jul 25- DENVER - Championship Points
Jul 25- DENVER - Bonus Points
Jul 25- DENVER - Summary of Eliminations in Top Fuel
Jul 25- DENVER - Summary of Eliminations in Funny Car
Jul 25- DENVER - Summary of Eliminations in Pro Stock
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