W
DAN
FLETCHER
ithout planning, we may have
never seen
Fletcher
driver,
ithout
planning,
we the
may
have at never seen Fletcher the
least
the
version
that
has
driver, at least the version more
that has more than 100 wins,
than
100
wins,
three
world
ti- Stock, one in Comp),
three world titles (two in Super
tles (two
in Super Stock,
several
divisional
titles, one
and in
victories in six different
Comp),
several
divisional
titles,
categories (Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp,
and victories in six Super
different
Gas categories
and Super (Comp,
Street). Su
But racing has always been Fletcher’s life,
growing up at the track with his father and later
racing with him, and he was intent on having no
regrets when it came to his dream.
The story is well-known – Fletcher quit his
9-to-5 job at Xerox to become a full-time, profes-
sional racer – but it wasn’t some hasty decision,
made on the fly after a bad day at the office. Yes,
he admittedly was the guy who hated his job and
just wanted to race, but Fletcher put in the time
and the research for it to be feasible.
By the time his daughter, Taylor, was born in
December of 1995, Fletcher’s plan was in place.
The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 allowed
Fletcher the ability to take 13 weeks of unpaid
leave, which was going to be his dry run of trying
to become a full-time racer.
The trial run meant bringing the kids along,
often duct-taping their Little Tikes wagon to the
back of a 3-wheeler to ride through the pits, but
Fletcher and his family made it work. It was suc-
cessful enough that Fletcher felt confident with
his decision, but he waited and finally pulled the
trigger in early 1997 after winning in Phoenix and
then in Gainesville.
“I called Xerox and in so many words, I said,
‘I’m out,’” Fletcher remembers.
When he left Xerox, where he was making
roughly $40,000 a year, Fletcher had an orange
Camaro, three children, a wife and no sponsors.
But, he also had a plan he believed in.
“I had a business model I thought could make
work,” Fletcher says. “I felt confident that I could
win one national event a year, runner-up this,
round money that, win an IHRA event, and I
could gross say $60-70,000 and my expenses
might have been $15,000.”
By then, Fletcher knew he could win. After
posting a runner-up in his first career NHRA race
in Montreal in 1991, Fletcher broke through for
his first victory in Columbus in 1994, beating Greg
Stanfield in the final round in Super Stock, which
suddenly gave him more money than he ever had.
That meant being able to run the Western
Swing the same year, and that quickly turned
into a landmark moment not only for Fletcher’s
career but also NHRA Lucas Oil sportsman rac-
ing. With three different people transporting
Fletcher’s car on different legs of the trek from
Denver to Sonoma and then Seattle, Fletcher
burned through sick days and vacation time, fly-
ing back and forth to each race. But Fletcher was
incredible on the track, winning all three events
in Super Stock to become the first sportsman
racer to ever sweep the Western Swing, heading
home with more than $60,000 in the process.
He flew back from Seattle and was met with
a hero’s greeting from family and friends, and
Fletcher knew he was made for this. His plan
was about to be put in place, taking the chance
of a lifetime to fulfill a dream.
“It was magic,” reminisces Fletcher, who swept
the Western Swing again in 2013. “That was the
whole deal for me. I won four national events
just like that, I was the first (sportsman racer)
to sweep it, and the rest is history. You couldn’t
With 103 career
victories, Fletcher’s
goal is reaching No.
2 on the NHRA’s
all-time wins list.
78 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 133
MOVIN’ ON UP