But, unlike many artists, Jef's link to the sport is more than simply one of enthusiasm. He has been involved since an earlier age then most of us due to the fact that his father Jerry was one of the better known dragster pilots in the Midwest during the slingshot era of the 1960's.

"My father started out street racing, but he became best known when he drove the "Guzler" entries out of Chicago, both on fuel and gas. Later, he wheeled a second fuel car for Chris Karamesines when that was popular, and also drove for the team of Hirata and Hobbs. In 1965 , the team bought one of the old Dodge Charger funny cars and he drove that , too."

Now, simply being the son of a former digger pilot does not make one an artist, but Jeff's exposure to the sport and some of it's biggest names, who would sometimes stay at the family home while on tour, made an impression on him. As he began to hone his natural talents, encouragement from his father Jerry, and mentor Kenny Youngblood gave Jef the incentive to begin marketing his work, starting with a tribute to Karamesines, titled "Golden Greek".

Any quality endeavor requires time and forethought, but Jef has been prolific in producing work, which included four major pieces in the last twelve months. Not surprisingly, the process of formulating a quality piece of artwork is more than simply waking up one morning and mixing paint hues.

"Sometimes the project is just an image in your head of how a certain car would look, an angle. A good photograph can be an inspiration as well. To begin, I do multiple sketches to get an idea of how I want it to appear. Once I'm happy with this, I begin doing a line drawing which I then transfer to the canvas. when I first get started, I'm really into it, but it can get tedious as the job moves into the finer points. Often, it's easiest to just take some time away from the project to regroup; toward the end , though, it is exciting to see the finished project emerge."

His latest work includes a nighttime image of Don Garlits doing a massive fire burnout (which became the cover art for the second volume in the Garlits pictorial trilogy, Garlits `72, and a long, narrow vision of Gary Bolger riding out a rare, "heated" version of family friend Dale Creasy's Pontiac funny car (released as a limited edition of 250 lithographs under the title "Memphis Blues". Jef Caudle is interpreting the nitro-driven wheel his own way, and carrying on a unique family legacy to the sport of drag racing.

By: Geoff Stunkard, Quarter Milestones