Drag Racing Online

Things didn't change much when he left Bandy's group. Sosenka had established a reputation as a drummer that allowed him to work in a variety of shows and in the studios. The only places Sosenka didn't play was bars. The pay was only occasionally good there, and considering that a crowd at a Texas road joint on a Saturday night might be a little boisterous, one could understand shunning the beer joints.

The first drum set that Don owned outright.

"I've always loved playing the drums," he said. "I used to love to listen to Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich and they were two of my biggest influences. I thought that for awhile there when I was playing all the time that I could come close to those two.

"My main thing was never a big drum solo. I liked to lay down the beat, drive the band, and punch it up. That's what I do best. I like to see people on the dance floor. Still do, although I've made a bigger investment in my racing operation, I still play six or seven times a month."

Within the past few months, Sosenka made a pretty big step up when he bought the 1999 "NitroFish" Pontiac Firebird, and that has kept him busy learning the ins and outs of what is close to a state-of-the-art operation. We say "close," because Sosenka still doesn't use a computer to gather information. He tunes it by ear, crews it, and really does it all on the car, although he's thinking of making a concession in his approach to the car.

"I still tune by looking at the plugs and all, but I can see myself getting a computer sooner or later," he admitted. "I guess I've just been too lazy to put one in the car."

Because of the new car, Sosenka looks to book a more ambitious schedule than he did this year. Outside of less than a half dozen NHRA national events, Sosenka only ran match race dates at Red River Raceway in Shreveport, La., Marion, Texas (outside of San Antonio), and U.S. 131 Dragway in Martin, Michigan. One of the reasons for the thin schedule was that he spent the first four to five months of the year waiting for parts.

He didn't sit idly by, though. In the off time, Sosenka backed up a C&W outfit called Bubba Littrell and the Melody Mustangs and is featured on an album titled "Corpus Christi Wind." In addition to that, he did studio work to help get the car ready. Off of these recent efforts, it looks like one way or the other, Sosenka plans to keep on doing what he likes best "playing music and racing cars."

Editor's Note: For a review of "Corpus Christi Wind" see Off the Track in this issue.