Brian Thiel, a rice farmer from Pleasant Grove, CA (north of Sacramento) is competing in his first full year in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in the Funny Car division. Brian and his wife, Randi own R&B Farms, a 4,000 acre rice farm in Northern California.
In between the 2009 and 2010 seasons Brian set out to build a first class drag racing team to compete in the Full Throttle Series full time. Veteran crew chief Johnny West from Chandler, Arizona, joined the team half way through last season. The 2011 season will be the first full season for Brian Thiel Racing in the series. After a bit of a rough weekend at the 4-Wide Nationals in Myrtle Beach, Brian currently sits in 18th place in the points standings. His best weekend so far was at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida where he made it through qualifying to round one of eliminations on Sunday.
Brian Thiel’s farming background has helped him secure sponsorship and promote the agriculture industry that he loves. Brian had this to say before last weekend’s race: “As a newly established team, performance is number one, and Johnny West and my crew are working very hard to get the Lucas Cattle Company entry some round wins this upcoming weekend. It is also equally and personally important to me that we promote brands and companies that we truly believe in, such as the National FFA Organization, Lucas Oil, Case IH, and Lucas Cattle Company.” Brian and his race team always encourage all NHRA and agriculture involved fans to stop by the Brian Thiel Racing pits and say hello.
Here is a short interview Brian did after last weekend’s racing.
We will continue to follow the progress of Brian and his race team towards the Auto Club Road to the Future (NHRA rookie of the year) award.
For more information please visit: Brian Thiel Racing.
N&S Tractor from Merced is one of Brian’s long time local sponsors. To support them please visit them in Merced, Turlock, Dos Palos or by visiting their website: http://www.nstractor.com/.