BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Dec. 22, 2016) – A triumvirate of nitro tuning talent will serve as co-crew chiefs in 2017 for Terry Chandler’s Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car with driver Jack Beckman at Don Schumacher Racing.
Dean Antonelli joins John Medlen and veteran U.S. Army Top Fuel assistant Neal Strausbaugh at DSR. It will be the 10th season for Strausbaugh, third for Medlen and first for Antonelli at DSR.
Antonelli, 52, served as general manager at John Force Racing the past two seasons after being a crew chief and assistant crew chief at that company where he spent 12 years working under Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly. Antonelli was an assistant crew chief on four world championship Funny Car teams.
“We’re very excited to have Dean join DSR,” said Don Schumacher, whose DSR organization owns 293 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event titles and 16 series championships.
“John Medlen is one of the smartest guys in drag racing and he’s worked with Dean for many years. Terry and I expect very big things from our Infinite Hero team.”
Strausbaugh, 34, will start his 17th season in professional drag racing and 10th at DSR. He has spent his tenure at DSR working as the assistant to DSR crew chief Mike Green with the U.S. Army team that won the 2009 and 2014 Top Fuel world championships.
Strausbaugh, a native of Hillsboro, Ill., lives in Danville, Ind., with his wife, Lacey, and their children, Camden, 6, and Kinlee Mae, 1. He worked with Green on the Funny Car driven by Tommy Johnson Jr. at Don Prudhomme Racing and Darrell Gwynn’s New York Yankee dragster. He also worked on crews for Chuck Etchells and Cory McClenathan.
“Neal has learned from the best and is one of the brightest there is in the pits,” Schumacher said. “He has earned the opportunity to be a crew chief and he will get even better working with Dean and John.
