Dirt
Three Generations Strong
I
n the American melting pot, Louisiana natives add a unique flavor all their
own. Language, food, the arts, and philosophies are felt and appreciated by visitors
more so than understood. And when Louisianans
take to drag racing they bring their heritage with
them. Turns out, it can be a pretty successful
combination when applied to the 1320.
The Cummings family fleet can’t be missed
each time it rolls into various NHRA events and
big money bracket races across the country. Two
large haulers carrying seven elite race cars, all
emblazoned with the now-synonymous Moser
Engineering logo, demand attention. The family
is as much recognized by their longstanding ti es
with industry companies as they are their winning
records, both of which are impressive.
It started when the family patriarch, Larry,
was just a kid.
“One Saturday night I went to a place that had
dances and rock-n-roll bands of our era,” remembers the 69-year-old racer. “Some friends said,
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‘Those guys are going to race. Let’s go watch ‘em.’
I’ll never forget it. It was a ‘64 Chevelle and a
‘63 Ford that raced. When them things took off
I couldn’t believe a car was that fast. They were
burning rubber, squealing tires, and shifting gears.
I told my buddy, ‘One day I’m going to get one of
these cars. That’s what I’m going to do.’ I bought
a ‘66 Chevelle Super Sport.”
Larry modified the Chevelle until it wasn’t fit
for the street any longer. By 1972, he was running
a C modified Vega panel wagon. In ‘79 he made
the switch to a dragster and began running C/ED
and B/ED in NHRA. He turned to IHRA in the
‘90s when the organization debuted the 7.90 class.
It was during his tenure following that series that
both of his sons, Britt and Slate, began racing and
racking up championships.
It was also then that the Cummings developed
a friendship with the Mosers. Moser Engineering, founded by Greg Moser in 1982, sponsored
Pro Stock racer, Ron Miller and Greg’s son Rob,
at the time. With Greg busy helping out where
needed on the Pro Stock operation, the Cummings pitched in to help Rob and soon a friendship developed.
In 2003, a tragic plane crash took the life of the
company’s founder and his wife, Marianne. A few
weeks after the fateful accident the Cummings
family got a phone call wondering if they were
interested in running NHRA. Unbeknownst to
the Cummings, prior to the crash the company
had already been talking about sponsoring the
family race operation to run NHRA.
“IHRA catered to sportsmen racers back then,”
explains Britt, a former IHRA Quick Rod World
Champion. “We liked how we were treated in
IHRA, but the sportsman program was changing.
So we told them yes we would like to run NHRA.
The first race we went to under the Moser banner
was the first ever Moser Shootout at Richmond,
Virginia. Slate won it.
“The Moser deal has grown,” he continued. “We
were friends first. Then we were partners. Now
we’re like family. But at the end of the day, it’s
Issue 110
PHOTO: NHRA / NATIONAL DRAGSTER
The Cummings family legacy keeps growing
By Lisa Collier