T H E D R AG I L L U S T R AT E D I N T E R V I E W
Scott
Palmer
By Nate Van Wagnen
Drag racing’s nitro rebel opens up on big money,
going 300 miles per hour in a Pro Mod
and doing things simply because they’re cool
A
light Bay-area fog blankets the picturesque grounds of Sonoma
Raceway as Scott Palmer and his small band of nitro outlaws pack up their pit
area. It’s Monday morning after the 29th annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals
and the Scott Palmer Racing (SPR) group is one of the few teams still on the property, joined only by a handful of the late-round finishers who are servicing their
equipment before moving on to Pacific Raceways for the final leg of the Western
Swing. Palmer is still buzzing over his first-round win over 2013 Top Fuel world
champion Shawn Langdon. It was the part-time team’s second round win of 2016, a year that’s already
seen the Missouri native reap the rewards of a major program overhaul that began exactly one-year ago.
Palmer recorded a career-best elapsed time of 3.872 at Topeka this year and is the highest ranking part-
Dr ag Illustr ated
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