Kevin Poynter

The 2009 NitrOlympX was Lex Joon’s last European race. Immediately after the German FIA round the MPM Top Fueler and all its spare parts and tools were shipped to America to make Joon’s lifelong dream come true: to race in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Two months later the 2005 FIA European Top Fuel Champion made his NHRA Top Fuel debut at The Strip At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, followed by the NHRA Finals at Pomona, the race for which he again tried to qualify in 2010. Although Joon wanted to compete in more NHRA races this season, customs regulations required the MPM Top Fueler to be shipped back to Europe. And, following a long trip around the world, on Friday April 8 the 8,000hp machine was back home again.


Sponsored by MPM Oil

Lex Joon pilot the MPM Oil Top Fuel Dragster  

The car received a warm welcome from Lex, his wife and team manager, Gerda, and Kevin Poynter, who had arrived in Zaandam from the US two weeks before the car. Joon met Poynter in 2004 when he was the car chief for Baca Motorsports. The two shared tuning ideas, stayed in touch and, when the MPM team decided to race in the States, Poynter was their first choice. Poynter, who has a few weeks off from work at home, will stay in Europe until the end of April and is hard at work preparing the MPM trailer and Top Fueler for events to come. “We’re regrouping at the moment to have everything ready when we come out again. The tune-up for the car was, ‘to let it go fast without breaking parts’. But if you don’t damage parts, they get too old and eventually still break, as happened at the last race in Pomona. We have a list of parts we need and we know exactly what we must have to race and go fast. There’s nothing special on that list but, as usual, it depends on funding as to when and where we race this season,” explain Poynter and Joon.

Lex Joon Racing and Poynter’s 334Racing joined forces last year and, for sure, wherever the MPM Top Fueler races, Poynter will be the tuner and crew chief.