Andy Jensen Shares Story Behind $50,000 Yellowbullet Nationals Win
Racing on Labor Day weekend can bring out some incredible stories and memorable wins, and while that was true at the 70th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, the same was happening 600 miles east at Maryland’s Cecil County Dragway, host of the 15th running of the Yellowbullet Nationals. Andy Jensen, the Pro Modified winner at the celebrated door-car-focused race, is hesitant to say he flat-out beat competitors like Melanie Salemi and three-time Yellowbullet Nationals winner Mike Decker Jr., but the fact is he walked away with the $50,000 victory for the first time in his career.
Jensen started the week testing a new set of tires, continuing a season-long quest to find the right tires for his single-turbo ’68 Camaro. He went back to his default tires for qualifying and posted a 3.736-second pass at 202.55 MPH to end up No. 15 on the final qualifying sheet.
“We put two runs on that [tire] and decided we better stop screwing around or we’re going to be lost on race day,” Jensen said. “So we went back to the tire that we normally had run earlier in the year and kind of half-ass found our way to make a decent run on Friday night. I wouldn’t say it was a great run. We were just trying to get down the track.”
That netted Jensen a first-round match with No. 2 qualifier Melanie Salemi, who coasted to a 6.114, while Jensen ran a 4.219 at 138.03 to get through a wild first round. In the second round, he used a holeshot advantage and a 3.748 at 200.68 to get past Chris Russo and his 3.664 at 206.73. Jensen grabbed an even bigger advantage on the starting line in the semifinals and managed a 4.078 at 184.77 to end Mike Decker Jr.’s three-year streak of Yellowbullet Nationals victories. Decker fought his way to a 4.355 at 126.96.
“The Deckers are tough,” Jensen said. “They have the best equipment in the world and they have the best tuner [Todd Tutterow] in the world in their back pocket, so obviously there’s a lot of pressure to try to beat that guy. Had he gotten down the track, I wouldn’t have beaten him. I hate to say I beat him because I really didn’t. Neither one of us did very well, but to cross the finish line before him was pretty gratifying.
“That whole Decker crew are always super nice to me,” Jensen continued. “They’re great people. Even after I won, he was a gentleman. He said, ‘Go out and finish it, buddy.’ He’s a top-shelf guy to race with.”
Jensen went into the final round against relative newcomer Bubba Greene, who was having a career-best weekend in his screw-blown Corvette tuned by Pro Modified legend Scotty Cannon. Greene used a pair of mid-3.60-second runs to take out No. 1 qualifier Jim Halsey in the second round and former Outlaw 10.5 standout Chuck Ulsch in the semifinals. Both drivers ran into issues in the final round, though, and Jensen made it to the finish line first with a 4.236 at 154.60. Greene coasted through to a 6.624 at 68.54.
“It was down a hole in the burnout so it didn’t burn out very good, then when I was staging the car, it wouldn’t even build a reasonable amount of boost, so I don’t know if I have a bad injector, bad coil, bad spark plug, or maybe a broken valve spring,” Jensen said. “It’s something minor, but it didn’t leave for shit and it just kind of muttered out of the hole. I basically just drove it down the racetrack and I got to the other end first. I had a mechanical issue of some sort in the final, so to win, I was like, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’ But we’ll take it.”
Jensen builds his own engines using CN blocks, CFE SBX heads, Jesel/Manley valvetrain components, a Moroso oiling system, JE pistons, MGP rods, and a custom intake from HRE. The Camaro, which was a former roots-blown NHRA Pro Mod, also utilizes a Ty-Drive unit with a Neal Chance converter, Haltech electronics, and Atomizer injectors.
Jensen was thrilled to win the race for his team, but as the engine builder and tuner, he was disappointed that the race wasn’t won on sheer performance alone.
“I’m not going to say we went down there and kicked everyone’s asses because that’s not the case,” said Jensen, who thanked longtime partners like Precision Turbo and Powermist Fuels. “We got some lucky breaks, and when the track got tricky and it became a pedal fest race, I was ready. I’ve been driving an ill-tuned race car for quite a few years. I’m not very good at tuning one, so I’m pretty decent at pedaling a race car because I do a lot of it. My ability to pedal an ill-handling race car is what won us that race. And, of course, my crew not quitting.”
The $50,000 payday will go a long way for a budget-minded team like Jensen’s, but he insists the funds won’t go entirely into fresh parts and fuel for the next race.
“That payday was obviously a big boost for my team,” said Jensen, who credited his wife, Tiffany, Mark Mont, Frank Tank, and Uncle John. “I’m going to share that with them because if it wasn’t for my crew, I wouldn’t be there. They work tirelessly year after year, most times being disappointed, and they never give up and they never ask for a penny, so I’m going to share my winnings with my crew because they deserve it and I wouldn’t have it without them.”
Jensen also praised everyone who came together to present the Yellowbullet Nationals, including promoter Monty Mikho and track owners Jim and Cathy Halsey.
“This race win is the most celebrated of my career, but I feel more humbled than excited about it,” Jensen said. “Yes, I built the car, took it to the race, and sat behind the wheel, but without the fans who spent their hard-earned money to watch us race; without the track operator who works his ass off to provide a constantly improving facility; without the promoter who seeks sponsor money and creates an entertaining event that thousands – even kids – look forward to every year; without everyone’s effort, there would be no race to win, so the celebration belongs to more than just the race winner.”
Jensen plans to get back out to the track soon to continue testing in preparation for the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association season finale, Sept. 27-28, at Maryland International Raceway. If those outings go well, Jensen plans to attend the PDRA Brian Olsen Memorial World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park in October.
“I think we’re starting to make some progress. A 30-plus-year buddy of mine, Kevin McCurdy, has been trying to help me out this year, trying to sort this thing out because I’ve been fighting it,” said Jensen, who also thanked Patrick Barnhill of PTP Tuning for help with the Haltech system over the weekend. “I’ve raced a clutch my whole life and now I have this converter deal and I’m kind of fighting with this thing trying to catch up to the guys who’ve been running converters for 10 and 20 years. He’s been helping me with the converter and the shocks and just trying to make the car work better and try to make it more consistent and faster because I know it can be much faster than it is.”
In addition to Pro Mod, the Yellowbullet Nationals featured several other heads-up and bracket racing classes. Nick Lacerenza took the Pro 275 win over Blaine Johnson, Josh Niermann won in Limited Drag Radial over Joe Newsham, and Connor Hartsock won in Ultra Street over Bill Trovato. Joe Albrecht picked up the 8.50 Index victory over Nick Tucci, Craig Walls was victorious in Warriors Outlaw over Jacob Naumann, Dylan Ammons collected the 10.0 Index win over Dennis Salvatore II, Don Teague defeated Vince Fourcade for the Top Sportsman title, and John Voshell Jr. took the Pro Dial win over Anthony Capirose.
Visit GoneDragRacing.com for complete results sheets from the Yellowbullet Nationals.
This story was originally published on September 5, 2024.
The post Andy Jensen Shares Story Behind $50,000 Yellowbullet Nationals Win first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
