NHRA's 2022 Rookie of the Year brings youth to new team merger.
Caruso’s crew chief last season was two-time Pro Stock champion Jim Yates, but she’s moving forward with Rob Downing and Dave Connolly as her tuners. Caruso, whose high point of the season was her No. 1 qualifier/runner-up performance at Houston this spring, said she’s learned so much from Yates “on the driving side of things.” And she said she’s “looking forward to continuing to develop with the guidance” from her new team members.
For Anderson, Caruso’s addition amounts to beefing up his arsenal. He already had taken on unapologetically ambitious young racers Glenn and Koretsky on his KB Racing team, and he knows that Caruso is cut from the same cloth.said of Glenn and Koretsky, “They both are very talented, and they both have no problem whipping my ass. And they love it. They’re not afraid of nothin’, not afraid of anybody. I’ve got no problem with that. That’s how you’re supposed to be. I’m certainly not mad about it.
Anderson knew that Yates simply was trying to prepare her for reality. But Anderson said as early as mid-season, “You absolutely got to have that. She’s taken it well. Her success hasn’t come in piles, but she’s taken that well. She hasn’t gotten shook up because it’s not coming as fast as she wanted it to. She’s done well. I think she’s kept her head in the game.”
Years ago, Anderson said he didn’t want to be “that guy” to “lose to a girl,” namely eventual five-time champ Erica Enders, when she earned her first victory – before doing just that. He has gotten over that, and now he has another aspiring young woman right inside his organization. And she, like Glenn and Korestsky, wants to beat everyone in her path to a title. And by supplying her with arguably the best horsepower in the class, he has become a little like Funny Car’s John Force.