Roselle police officer also drag racing champ

When Scott Phillips' engine broke down during the first event of his drag racing season this summer, he feared it was a bad omen.

Even with local sponsorships, the sport costs thousands of dollars in travel and equipment for racers like Phillips, a Huntley resident whose full-time gig is Roselle police officer.

"I thought, 'Oh my gosh, this is how the season is going to go,'" he said.

As he debated whether to sink the money into the engine or just give up, Phillips thought of his brother, Paul, who died at age 40 in 2008 from ALS. A year later, his younger sister Rebecca also died at age 40 from a brain aneurysm.

Both were fighters.

"When my brother's body started getting weak, he said he was going to fight the disease, keep trying and not give up," Phillips said.

"So I was sitting in my trailer looking at this white board full of math formulas for tire friction, racing stats and other numbers, and right in the middle of it I wrote, 'Do not give up. Do not stop trying,'" he said.

That inspired tenacity paid off when Phillips, 51, was named champion this fall of the Midwest Super Comp Series. The series of 16 races draws dozens of drivers to compete throughout the summer for purses of about $1,000.

"It's a rush," he said. "When I realized in that final race that I would be the series winner, I was cheering and yelling inside the car and almost forgot to hit my brake."

Phillips spent his summer traveling to tracks in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and other states to race his dragster down a quarter mile track at speeds close to 170 mph. But the Midwest Super Comp is more about precision than raw speed. While getting to the finish line first is part of the goal, drivers also aim to complete their quarter-mile run in exactly 8.9 seconds. The closer they come, the more points they earn toward the event and their end-of-the season standings.

"You've got to cross that finish line first, but not go faster than that 8.900," Phillips said. "If you go faster than that, you lose, even if you finished first."

Rich Kwasiborski, a longtime Midwest Super Comp board member, said Phillips' win is a huge feat for a man who has spent a decade acting as his own driver, often doing his own repairs, and working year-round to stay in top physical shape so he can handle his roaring vehicle.

"Even though it's a hobby, per se, the people that do it are very adept at it," Kwasiborski said.

Super comp drag racing also demands a lot of brain power in math and physics strategies, as the difference between winning and losing can be one-thousandth of a second.

Phillips, a former DARE officer, said he would often tell students their school lessons could apply to thrilling hobbies like his.

"I used to tell the kids that math, decimals, basic weights and measurements and simple physics all have to do with drag racing," he said. "You need to understand basic friction for your tires, which can affect the outcome of the race, and the understand the viscosity of the oils so your engine so will run the best."

Phillips' brain power, automotive muscle and tenacity earned him 3,914 points for making it through the most elimination rounds this year, and that earned him the overall title.

Phillips was honored at a banquet last month, where he received his trophy and a purse of $1,000 plus auto supply gift certificates. Kwasiborski said that money cannot begin to cover what a racer spends to participate, nor can the new sponsorships Phillips might gain from his new title.

"If anyone goes in this to get rich, they're in the wrong spot," he said.

Phillips could also advance to the next level of racing, called top dragster, where cars reach speeds exceeding 200 mph. But he said the fuel and expenses are prohibitive.

Plus, Phillips and Kwasiborski agree super comp drag racing isn't about the money at all.

"What makes it special is you've done it among your friends and gained the respect of your peers," Kwasiborski said. "They know how hard it is to do what Scott did."