By K. Richard Douglas
For anyone who has ever pointed a car down a quarter-mile straight-away and accelerated at high speed to the finish line, the experience is exhilarating. The powerful sound, shaking and rumbling of a car made for the drag strip, the feeling of being pushed back in your seat upon acceleration and the end of the strip, fast-approaching make for a unique, adrenaline-rush experience.
It should come as no surprise that people with mechanical and technical skills should make the foray into this exciting sport, where compression ratios, flow rates, gear ratios and spring rates, all require a special knowledge. Drag racing would seem to be a natural fit for a biomed; a person who has just the right set of critical thinking skills for the sport.
If you asked Richard Marshall, CBET, CRES, a regional operations manager for HSS, based at the company’s corporate office in Denver, Colorado, there is no doubt that he would agree.
Marshall is a good example of a biomed who has proven that the dual skill sets of working on medical equipment and building a drag racer go hand-in-hand. Not only is drag racing a good fit for a biomed, but just working on cars may be second nature for those used to working with tools and diagnostic equipment.
“I first got interested in working on cars when I was about very young. My dad had always worked on the family vehicles when I was growing up so I spent lots of time tinkering and helping him,” Marshall remembers.
“Once I got my license, I was always trying to do something to the car I was driving. My first car was a 1974 Dodge Dart that wasn’t in the best shape. I would spend many hours working on getting it running right, and seeing if I could make it just a little faster. My second car is the 1981 Firebird that I race today. I bought it knowing it needed some work, and spent what little money and time I had working on it,” Marshall says.
Evolving Drag Car
“I have only raced my Firebird. When I first started racing, my Firebird would run about 14 seconds in the quarter mile. After countless engine, transmission, suspension and rear end modifications, it currently runs 10.97 at 115 mph in the quarter mile,” Marshall says.
In drag racing, two cars normally compete going down a quarter mile or 1,320-foot drag strip. At the start of the race, the two cars “pre-stage” and “stage” as an infrared beam signals the cars position. A sequence of lights on a pole (Christmas tree) light to show that both cars have staged and are ready to race. In some types of races, one slower car is allowed to leave the starting line first.
“I am currently running a small block Chevy motor bored and stroked to a 383 cubic inch. It has 13:1 compression and a Holly 830 carburetor. I have a Turbo 350 transmission with a transbrake,” he adds.
The Firebird has survived to go through many iterations to become a much faster car than it was in the beginning. Work continues though as every modification and tweak can gain that tenth of a second that is so important. The latest modification was a Ford 9-inch rear end with 4:30 gears.
“I finished the 9-inch install a couple of weeks ago and was able to participate in the final race at Julesburg Dragstrip this past weekend. The car ran consistent 11.06 at 121 mph and I was eliminated in the third round of competition due to a bad light on my part. Addition to the roll cage and a possible switch to E85 (special fuel) are planned for the winter,” Marshall says.
Marshall’s love for the drag strip isn’t new. He started out by going to Bandimere Speedway with his dad or with some friends and watching the races.
“It was always so interesting to watch the races and then watch the crews work on the cars to get them ready for the next round,” he remembers. “After watching a few times, I decided to take my car to the High School Drags. One trip down the track with my adrenaline pumping and I was hooked.”
Manager and President
On the job front, Marshall has worked his way up at HSS after starting out in the field.
“I have been a Biomed since 2008 when I graduated from DeVry University. I started as a Field Service Engineer for HSS and over the last eight years, I have worked up to being the Regional Operations Manager for HSS. I currently manage 40 technicians all over the state of Colorado in multiple locations,” Marshall says.
Besides working out of HSS’s corporate office, Marshall spends a lot of time traveling to accounts to meet with technicians and customers.
“I am currently responsible for the biomed activities in all of Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico,” he says.
He is also responsible for multiple business units throughout the Rocky Mountain Region.
“This includes approximately 40 technicians. It involves working with customers on contract renewals, additional services, budgeting and capital planning,” Marshall says.
Just as the Firebird has evolved, so does Marshall. Along with his CBET and CRES, he is working on an additional certification.
“I have signed up for the CHTM certification test and will be taking that in December,” he says.
Marshall has other skills besides drag racing and his skills as an HTM professional. In 2010, he won the Colorado Association of Biomedical Equipment Technicians (CABMET) essay contest and earned a trip to the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference, which was in Tampa that year.
Today, he is CABMET’s president. His term will end on January 1.
“After that, I will continue to serve on the board for one year to ease the transition of the new president,” he says.
Revving up the career and the Firebird are all in a day’s work.