ISLE PROFILE
Mechanic brothers rise to prominence in funny cars
By Baxter Cepeda
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Tommy Okuhara, left, and his son, Darren Okuhara, work at the family-owned automotive machine shop where Skoal Funny Car green team mechanics Todd and Scott Okuhara learned the tools of their trade.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser |
"To see how it works, I guess," she said. "Scotty was really good with Legos — all of them actually."
As her sons grew, they would trade in their toys for tools, probably as a result of hanging around the family-owned automotive machine shop in Kaka'ako.
"They were really good with their hands," Helene said.
Now, two of her sons — Todd, 35, and Scott, 31, — have become mainstay mechanics in the National Hot Rod Association, the top professional drag racing circuit, and are believed to be two of only three from Hawai'i in the NHRA. Todd joined a team in 1993 and Scott in '96.
Two weeks ago, Todd was named interim crew chief while Scott services superchargers and oversees the Skoal Funny Car green team based in Indianapolis and driven by Ron Capps — currently in sixth place.
A funny car, whose exterior is a fiberglass replica of an ordinary street car, can cover the quarter-mile strip in four to five seconds, traveling more than 300 mph at times.
"Against all those fast cars, there's no one else I would rather have in my camp than the Okuhara brothers," Capps said. "They're very good at what they do."
Leong led the way
Roland Leong is the only other person in the NHRA from Hawai'i. Fittingly, it was Leong, who has been a driver, a crew chief and a team owner in the NHRA since the early 1960s, who gave the Okuharas their breaks.
Helene said Leong "really took care of them. ... They stayed with him."
Throughout childhood and at Kalani High School, the brothers played different sports but rarely stopped increasing their knowledge of cars and racing.
They helped their other brother Darren, 38, with a '68 Camaro he raced at Hawai'i Raceway Park. Their dad, Tommy, was part of the family crew, as well.
When Darren temporarily moved to the Mainland, Todd took over the family ride.
Todd won the HRP championship four straight years through 1992 with a '69 Camaro.
"That's how he (Todd) got recognized," said Helene.
Todd's Hawai'i streak ended with a surprise call from Leong.
The men did not know each other prior to the offer. Terry Amioka and Ed Brown, who competed against Todd in Hawai'i, suggested him to Leong.
"They told me, 'This guy is pretty good. Good racer,' " said Leong.
Leong, who became the first NHRA team owner to win Nationals and Winter Nationals in the same year (1965), invited Todd to join a Funny Car team called Hawaiian Vacation, sponsored by the state.
Todd a fast learner
"Roland told me that if I wanted to do this I had to be in California in three days," Todd said. "People want it so bad. They try so hard to get hooked up with a racing team — work for free, clean trailers — just to get their foot in the door.
"We were just fortunate that they came to us. I'm pretty thankful."
Leong said Todd lacked some experience with the bigger engines at first. But Leong saw his potential.
"I could tell he was a fast learner and had (some) experience — knew his way around the car," Leong said. "I was very happy with him."
The Hawaiian Vacation sponsorship ended in late 1993, leaving Todd with only a powerful friend in the sport who trusted his skills.
"Every now and then someone comes along that has natural talent — that's my explanation for Todd," Leong said. "He has natural talent."
Leong then put Todd in the running for another NHRA team, which he joined but did not like.
"Team chemistry is really important — we just didn't have it," Todd said. "I was just about ready to quit racing altogether and move back to Hawai'i."
Leong, who was an advisor with Don "The Snake" Prudhomme — the brothers' current team owner — during his final season driving, convinced Todd to stick with it. Todd joined Prudhomme's team for the end of '94.
Leong left to run an independent team and hired Scott, whom he had seen work during a visit to Hawai'i, for 1996.
"The way I see it, a lot might have the skill but not the passion or vice versa," Leong said. "They have both.
"(And) the right attitude."
Leong eventually lost Scott — for a while — to Todd's team in the mid-1996.
"We were looking for another guy and I knew his abilities and thought he'd be a good fit," said Todd, who was in charge of cylinder heads and ignition at the time. "When Scott came along it just made it that much easier.
"Phone bills shrunk."
Both spent most of 1997 in Hawai'i after a new team that they planned to sign with never materialized. Leong, whom Prudhomme signed as Capps' crew chief in '97, hired them for 1998, arguably the team's best season to date — Capps finished second with five wins.
In '99, Leong stepped down to work part time with other teams. Todd was interim crew chief until crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch came on.
Top pit position
The team finished second in 2000 and had solid '01 and '02 seasons.
The team was hot at the start of this season as Capps finished second and first and got invited to test with the International Race Of Champions, reserved for the most successful drivers in the top circuits. In early August, McCulloch was released and Todd assumed the top pit position.
"(Todd) just has to have confidence in himself," said Helene.
The question now is — will Scott become Todd's assistant?
"If he thought I would become a good assistant, I'd love to do it," Scott said. "I know me and my bro can work together. (But) I don't want to be handed the job."
"Scott would be successful even if I wasn't here," Todd, who had a son, Shane, in December, said. "He is one of the better ones out there.
"And I'm not just saying that because he is my brother."
What is certain is that the Okuharas will continue making NHRA fans of Hawai'i residents.
"People (in Hawai'i) that don't race go just to see them," Darren, who is happy running the Okuhara Machine Shop with their parents, said. "It's pretty amazing the position they are in."
