b'We sit down with IHRA Division 4, 6, and 7 Director Frank Kohutek and learn how he got to his current position in the IHRA and learn about his history in racing.Q & A 5 Questions with Frank KohutekIHRA Division 4,6, & 7 Director How did you get involved in racing?As an IHRA division director what is the most rewarding part of your job? What is the My interest in racing and cars came at an early age. Mymost challenging part of your job?dad bought me my first car on my 16th birthday, a 1967 Camaro. The rest, as they say, is history. From that dayThe most rewarding part of my job is the people. Most forward I basically would eat, sleep and dream aboutany racer will tell you we spend more time with other drag racing. racers than we do with our immediate families during the season. In doing that, your fellow competitors become You are currently the IHRA Division 4, 6 & 7family. You can wander thru the pits and get any part you Director how did that opportunity come about? broke that day from another racer. If you were fortunate enough not to break anything you might just wander overI raced on the IHRA Pro-Am tour and mentioned to Philto another racers pit and be just in time for a cookout.Gingerich (Division 4 Director) at an event in Sealey, Texas that I was interested in being an IHRA divisionThe most challenging part of my job is when I have to director and he had me fill out an application. Onetell a racer who raced his or her heart out all year to be day, while I was working at Redline Raceway, the trackthe champion and either didnt get an X number or let it services manager Tom Kreager came by for a trackexpire thru the course of the year. I have to call to inform visit. I took him on a tour of the facility and we talkedthem that although they are the track champion, they about the IHRA and what I personally liked and didntare not the Summit SuperSeries champion due to one of like and what I thought could make IHRA better. After hethose reasons. I would recommend that anyone who does returned home, he asked me to fly up to Ohio and meetrun in that program take a few minutes and go to www.with Skooter Peaco and the rest of the IHRA team andihra.com/superseries. The rules and guidelines for the was offered the position as Division 4 Director.series are posted on that page all year long.I have been with IHRA since December 2004. At one point in time Ive been the Director for DivisionsYouve raced and won many prestigious races; 2,4,5,6,7. As our member track count grew, it becameDo you still get the itch to drive when you obvious to me that I couldnt give each track the time necessary to provide them with the attention and toolshave down time?that I feel is needed. For me, building a foundation of trust and dependability is key to creating a long-termYes. I have raced since I was 16. The desire is very much relationship with our facilities. still there. I dont own a race car any longer but I am very fortune to have friends that do and are always willing to let me drive their cars on any given weekend. 22'