Drag Illustrated Issue 129, January / February 2018 | Page 75
THE
CHAMPIONS
ISSUE
the world. My dad’s actually told me don’t do it.
He was right beside me when I went out there
and started racing. He enjoyed watching it, but
at the same time I’m sure it’s nerve-wracking.
The Jr. Dragsters are fast for what they are. I
think with anything, as the girls make laps their
confidence level improves. I don’t know that I’m
fully prepared for Amber racing in Pro Nitrous,
but I do know that that’s what she wants. And
I’ve told both of my kids that if any point they
decide they don’t want to do this, I’m not going
to make them do it. But right now I don’t have
that problem. They both beg to go racing.
It’s different sitting on the starting line and
watching them race. The seat-of-the-pants feel
in the car, you never think that you’re as far out of
shape as it looks from the starting line. I’m sure
there will be some tense moments like that, but
as long as she does the smart thing and respects
the car and respects what it is, that’s what matters
to me. Anything can happen at any point, but
we have to try to eliminate the things that can
be eliminated.
You talked about ordering a new car, another
Bickel-built ’69 Camaro with Pat Musi pow-
er between the frame rails. How hard was the
decision to start phasing out the car you’ve
been driving? It’s become one of the most con-
sistent race cars in all of drag racing over the
last few years.
That thing has been good since the start when
we brought it out in 2014. We’ve picked away at
it and do all of our own tuning. There’s always
input and help from the outside. Pat Musi has
actually become a good friend on top of being in
a business deal together with the engine program.
We share a lot of things and bounce ideas of each
other. The car has just been unreal good. I’d like
to be arrogant enough and say that the new car
will be just the same, and that’s my hope. I’ll be
honest and say there’s a little bit of a chip on my
shoulder that I want to prove that this car can
be just as good. I’m anxious. I’m nervous that it
won’t be as good, but I have a lot of confidence
in what Jerry Bickel builds.
Chris (Murray) and I have talked about how I
want to prove that this car is just as good. We’ll
see how it goes. We might just step all over our
toes, but at least – worst case scenario – the other
one is still sitting in the shop. If it’s back out by
Race 2, you might know why.
stages of deciding whether it will be all concrete
or not, but we will have a new surface for the year.
That seems li ke a pretty substantial early
investment.
We’re trying to put together one of the best
tracks in the country. There’s a lot to compare
to so I don’t want to say it’ll be the best, but
we’re definitely going to put it right there with
the best of them. I think it’s a facility that ev-
erybody already loves going to. There’s a ton of
room on the property, and some epic races have
happened there. That’s what I want – I want some
big events. We’re going to continue to support
our sportsman racers, but I also want some big
races. It’s going to be exciting.
gotta have that core business.
You’re now a few months into track ownership.
How’s it going?
We’ve gotten our feet wet for a couple months
and had a couple good races. My first race since
having VMP was the PDRA World Finals, and
that one was a home run. It was funny because
Dale Foley, the previous owner, he came up to
me and asked, “How in the world did you drum
up this weather report?” I said it’s beginner’s
luck, buddy.
We finished off the year really solid. Mr. Foley
put a lot into building a great facility, and he just
aged out, let’s say. He was ready to move on. But
the really cool thing was he wanted it to stay a
racetrack and that’s why we were able to get a deal
put together. We’re going to do some cleaning up
and painting, things like that. The biggest piece
we’re actually working on is the new track surface
that we’re trying to do for 2018. We’re in the final
How do you think this will compare to your
other business ventures?
It’s definitely a lot more exciting than elec-
trical. It’s got the pizzazz, it’s got the sexiness,
so it’s going to be fun. Everything comes with
work and everything comes with its headaches,
but I think at the end of the day it’s going to be
fun. It’s already a great facility, I just want to see
it grow. It’s about putting back into something
that’s consumed my life. I love the sport and I love
the people. That’s what it’s really about for me.
You entered the racetrack business with the
experience of a racer, businessman and sanc-
tioning body official. How do you plan to use
all of those different skillsets and standpoints
to improve the racetrack?
I’ll be honest – one of the first things I wanted
to see when we had our first PDRA event there
once I had taken over was seeing what the race-
track side of it experienced. There’s definitely a
lot to see from both sides. There’s expenses that
go hand-in-hand, but one of the biggest things
that we learned in the PDRA is that we have to
be aligned with racetracks that want to be in a
partnership. These races need to be promoted
You recently added “racetrack owner” to your
list of titles. What inspired you to buy Virginia
Motorsports Park?
It’s always been one of my favorite tracks. Not
that I had a real interest in being a racetrack
owner, but it’s something that drove me. I think
it’s something that will help me build on the brand
of the PDRA. We’re working towards being able
to have a team that has a core to build on. That’s
where it stemmed from when I started thinking
about it. It gives us a place to call home and have
a staff that works together. We’re scattered around
in multiple states, but at the same time you’ve
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