When Brandon Lambert was eight years old, his life changed forever. He came face to face with his destiny at U.S. 41 International Dragway in Morocco, Ind. to watch his first NHRA race.
“I was hooked ever since,” Lambert said, who is now the hauler driver and bottom end mechanic for Don Schumacher Racing with Spencer Massey’s Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher Top Fuel dragster team. “It’s exhilarating. The car takes off at the green light, you smell the nitro-methane and the burnt rubber. It’s sensory overload. You feel how loud it is. Your eyeballs shake in your head, it’s intense.”
It’s that intensity the 32-year-old of Speedway, Ind., has dreamt about being a part of for years. Growing up in Beaverville Ill., Lambert and his two brothers lived the “small, farm-town” life.
“I was baling hay, picking pumpkins, stuff that every small-town farm kid does … fishing, swimming in rivers,” he said.
Watching his dad drive a truck and growing up in a farming community sparked his interest in trucking. Lambert said he began hauling grain for farmers locally and eventually got into the Monster Jam circuit, hauling the competitive rigs “from sea to shining sea.”
His work with Monster Jam was his ticket to the big leagues of drag racing.
“A lot of the NHRA guys have kids who like Monster Jam,” Lambert said. “I’d hook them up with Monster Jam tickets, they’d hook me up with NHRA tickets.”
Last fall, Lambert got a call from Don Schumacher Racing with a job opening.
“I had to do it; it’s pretty much the dream,” Lambert said. “I get to build cars that go from zero to 330 mph in 1,000 feet.”
Aside from hauling the dragster, Lambert does bottom end work. Though he tinkered around with things growing up, like the family lawn mower -- yes, he was grounded for tearing that apart -- he trained with team members, he said.
“I’m the guy that pushes the pistons out when they (the racers) push them back down,” Lambert said. “Every lap we tear the motor down … and put it back together in about 60 minutes.”
Massey, who has had 18 career wins, is right there in the trenches with his team, as are most NHRA drivers, Lambert said.
“There are hours and hours everyone on the team puts in to make the car run for four seconds. Spencer worked for 12 minutes all year,” Lambert said with a laugh, explaining the team calculated the time Spencer was in the driver’s seat. But all kidding aside, Massey “is there when we’re there till the end of the night.”
And when work is done for the night, they find an adult-style go-kart track to show off their racing skills … or lack thereof.
“We go go-karting a lot and it usually ends up with multiple people wrecking each other,” Lambert said. “I’m somebody that gets into the wreck or starts it.”
Though he’s still new to NHRA, his favorite moment was his first win with the team in Las Vegas in 2014.
“In the winner’s circle, they drowned me down with Mello Yello pop. When you’re a new guy, a rookie on a crew and you get your first win, they basically dump pop on you,” he said, adding “it’s very sticky.”
As a CDL holder for 12 years, Lambert has driven some rough tractor-trailers, which makes him im appreciate the team’s 2015 Freightliner Cascadia even more.
“It’s got the same kind of options you’d get in a Dodge Charger or a Dodge Ram,” Lambert said. “It has heated/cooled seats, satellite radio -- they’re plush inside, luxurious.”
When he’s not hauling Massey’s dragster, Lambert can be found working on local farm equipment for friends or chilling out on his pontoon boat with his buddies.
“We drag people around a little on tubes, do some fishing … float around on rafts, just hang out. Drink nothing but bottled water of course,” Lambert laughed.
Lambert hopes to stay in NHRA and boost his career … maybe even in the driver’s seat.
“I would love to end up being a highly respected crew chief. That’s many, many years from now, with me being so new,” Lambert said. “I’d love to drive one at least once. I think once I did it I’d be hooked for life.”
Q&A with Brandon Lambert:
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you? I guess my dad for bringing me to a drag race when I was little, and getting me addicted to drag racing.
What is your favorite decade? My favorite decade would be the ’60s and ’70s because muscle cars were everywhere … everything was built so fast.
Which actor would you want to have lunch with? I’d probably say Will Ferrell … I just like to laugh and it would just be nonstop laughter to sit there and have lunch and shoot the breeze.