NHRA Summit Nationals: 'Adrenaline junkie' Chris King lives for the excitement of being a full-time firefighter and a Funny Car competitor

NORWALK — Be it on the racetrack or in his adopted hometown of Chicago, when Chris King sees flames, it is time to go to work. When King climbs into his Funny Car during an NHRA event, flames shooting out of the exhaust pipes can be a sign that everything is running as it should, with the excess fuel burning off due to high temperatures. However, as a Chicago firefighter, when there is fire, King knows there is danger that must be combated. "Obviously, I'm an adrenaline junkie," said King, who is competing this weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park. "I run into burning buildings when people are running out, and then, I strap myself into a 12,000-horsepower bomb. The excitement level of both of the jobs is something you can't really describe. It's just a huge adrenaline rush, just a euphoria feeling that you have to experience to understand. "It's the ultimate high, the ultimate low, the ultimate excitement, the ultimate rush ... and it is the same thing with firefighting. Every call you go to is different. Every scenario is different, and you never know when you're going to be in a near-miss, life-or-death situation, so it's what I'm accustomed to. It's what I like, it's what I thrive on. It's the thrill, the energy to see excitement and the unknown." Despite the increased workload of holding down a full-time job as a lieutenant in the Chicago Fire Department, King is not one to run away from a challenge. King started his firefighting career in his hometown of Racine, Wisconsin. However, King wanted to work for a busier department in a bigger city, and moved two-and-a-half hours south to Chicago, where he works in the downtown district with many high-rise towers in his coverage area. "Working in the CFD, we average 3,000 to 3,500 runs a day, and that's pretty much some small departments' annual run volume," said King, who arranges trades in his schedule to have the availability for race weekends. "Needless to say, there's not a shortage of excitement in Chicago. A lot of fires, a lot of accidents and, obviously, lots of shootings and medical runs and things like that, so it is pretty intense, but that's what I like. "I wanted that thrill of the big city excitement and the business to go and do things that I just wouldn't have been able to do at a smaller department." Currently, as a newly promoted lieutenant, King goes into what is called a "relief pool." There, he rotates houses across the downtown district, which covers parts of the south and west sides of the city, in addition to those famous high-rise buildings in Chicago's skyline, and the lakefront, too. With certifications in many disciplines, King is qualified to be an engine lieutenant, run a truck company or help in heavy rescue and other special operations, including rope, confined space, hazardous materials, building collapses and water rescue. "It's nice to do because you do see some things in the city that you haven't seen before, but what's kind of bad about it is, you don't always know the players that you're getting," King said. "Some guys are really good, and some guys aren't, so every day is a mystery to how good of a crew you have, and then you can pick your day and train them and work on things that they might be lacking or a little deficient on. It's interesting, but it's challenging all at the same time. And again, that's why I like it." King's oath to take care of others expands far beyond his work at the firehouse. While balancing the work of a full-time firefighter and NHRA drag racer, King founded a firefighter training company — King Training Innovations, LLC. — which he creates equipment "to help streamline" processes and "make firemen better." "With public safety nowadays, the fires aren't as frequent as they were," King said. "Even in Chicago, we don't have as many fires as we used to, so having good quality training available to you that replicates what really happens at a fire scene is imperative to hone the skills and confidence to be successful at a fire." Along with training future firefighters, King works with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, Silent Hero USA and the Ignite the Spirit Fund, the latter of which is based out of Chicago and Milwaukee. All of the organizations King partners with help either the families of firefighters killed in the line of duty, those in need of care for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and current firefighters who are "down on their luck." Also, King pays tribute to the 343 firefighters who were lost in the World Trade Center attacks Sept. 11, 2001. The number on his Funny Car is 343. "I've been a fireman for 29-and-a-half years, so I was a fireman on 9/11, and we actually were on standby to go out there as a relief crew to help out with their recovery and rescues," King said. "Everywhere you go with firemen is a brotherhood, sisterhood. It's a big family, so to support the guys that gave everything on 9/11, I just thought it was a great number to run on my race cars, a tribute to those guys that gave all. "What's really cool about it is I get firemen hitting me up on social media, firemen that come to my pit ropes and they want to talk and say, 'Thank you for what you do. We're firefighters, and we're supporting you.' It doesn't matter if I'm winning or losing. I've got the entire country, first-responders, veterans, police, military, everyone supporting me." That support King receives from first-responders around the country keeps him going in the toughest of times, be it at the firehouse or on the racetrack. King runs a reduced schedule compared to other teams because of the availability of funds. As a small-budget team, King serves as "the owner, driver and the bill payer" all in an effort to make his dream of racing a Funny Car at the highest levels a reality. If given the chance to run a full schedule, King believes he has a team that could challenge the top drivers in Funny Car. "I'm realistic," King said. "I know I'm not going to be No. 1 qualifier, but we will go out there and make a respectable run. The key to drag racing is making sure your car goes down the track. If I can successfully get my car down the track and be consistent, I can win rounds and win races. "This sport is all about people. If you get the right people lined up and make the right alliances, you can make it happen. Of course, it takes dollars, and they say, 'It's cubic dollars,' so if I could find the right partners that believe in my story and believe in what we're doing, with a little financial help, we could take this to the next level and be competing for a championship." Contact Matt Florjancic at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.