Dr. Moon brings the "RAGE" home to Tennessee

04/27/05 - CLINTON, Tenn. – With a population of about 9,500 people, the rural hamlet of Clinton, Tennessee is home to drag racing legend and veteran engine-tuner, Howard Moon. Moon is leading the Pro Modified team of Tommy Lipar Racing and the “Dr. Moon’s Rage” ’57 Chevy into battle this weekend in the O'Reilly Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals at Bristol Dragway. The event is part of the AMS/TLR Pro Modified Challenge series.

While the moniker of “Doctor” is part of the theme of the Tommy Lipar Racing team, according to some, it is somewhat deserved. Moon and his wife are owners of an optical center in Oak Ridge where he employs several doctors, so the medical world is not foreign to him.

“Tommy [Lipar] and [series director] Kenny Nowling started calling me that, kind of a mad scientist thing -- like I’m out of control,” Moon said.

“I’m always out of control,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been doing this for a long time – so it just seems right.”

Out of control probably isn’t the best way to describe the finer points of tuning an engine. More like – extreme control. Moon’s teams have won three national championship titles, eight divisional titles, and he has been honored three times as Crew Chief of the year in the NHRA and IHRA.

His illustrious career began when he was just a boy, working on his father’s car. While in high school, Moon drove a small fuel-altered car to keep himself busy and learn more about the science of engines and the sport of drag racing. With a short stop in the waters of drag boat racing, Moon moved into the field of engine building and tuning.

At that point, recalled Moon, “I moved back to Tennessee to start working for Terry Mullins, and I haven’t left the state since.”

Moon and his wife raised their daughter in the town, and she has since joined the police force in Oak Ridge. “She’s a policeman – I mean police woman -- up in Oak Ridge,” the proud father said.

Currently, Moon is tuning the Pro Modified car driven by rookie Joshua Hernandez. After a thrilling win at Houston in early April, Hernandez has been eliminated in the first round in the past two weekendss at events in Las Vegas and Belle Rose, Louisiana.

“Josh spent a lot of time driving an alcohol funny car, and those cars are a lot different than a Pro Mod. We’re working with him to focus on a few things and trying to help him ‘un-learn’ some of the habits he got in the funny car,” Moon said.

Hernandez said, “I really consider it an honor to drive for Howard, and I’m working really hard to keep improving my driving. Every lap down the track I pick up new things, and, with one win to our name this year, we seem to be doing most things right.”

Moon responded, “Josh is a skilled driver – that’s for sure. These cars are difficult to drive, and he’s learning very quickly.”

Moon said that he looks for a win every time he’s at the racetrack, and this weekend is no exception.

“This is my home track, but I haven’t had really good luck here so far, so I really want to change that this weekend,” he said.

“I’ve only won up here twice, and I’ve probably been up here ten or fifteen times, so I’d really like to turn things around,” Moon said.

Racing begins at Friday, April 29 at Bristol Motor Speedway with qualifying sessions at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Qualifying continues Saturday at 1:30 p.m., with the first round of eliminations scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Sunday’s eliminations begin at 12:00 p.m.