{ TUNER OF THE YEAR }
Steve Petty
T here ’ s a common factor that connects the 2021 world champions in three different classes and organizations : Steve Petty . While Petty JEFF PIERCE , BRANDON works with a number of the drivers and teams SWITZER , BOBBY LAGANA , AND that compete under the Proline Racing umbrella , he directly contributed to José Gonzalez ’ s
JAKE HAIRSTON
NHRA Pro Mod world championship , Kevin Rivenbark ’ s PDRA Pro Boost championship , 2021 , Petty uses a simple approach to get the and Ryan Martin ’ s Street Outlaws : No Prep most out of a range of different engine and power Kings title . adder combinations .
It was an incredible season for the Georgia “ I ’ ve learned a lot from working with Steve , native who ’ s no stranger to tuning drivers to race especially this past year ,” Pharris says . “ He really wins , world records , and world championships . tries to practice in the simplest windows that According to Daniel Pharris , who worked with people just overlook . He is the king of ‘ keep it Petty as his full-time tuner for the first time in simple , stupid ,’ and it shows . He doesn ’ t make
big swings . He takes what he knows and makes the smallest , minute changes . And the smallest , minute changes on such a high-horsepower car go a long way . That ’ s what I ’ ve learned from him , to make small baby steps . I think that ’ s just really why he ’ s good at what he does .”
Martin , who won his second consecutive No Prep Kings championship with his ProCharger-fed “ Fireball ” Camaro , praises Petty for being an invaluable tuner when he ’ s on site at the NPK races and an equally helpful consultant when he ’ s providing input over the phone .
“ Steve Petty , in my opinion , is the smartest tuner in the business ,” Martin says . “ I would put him up against anybody in the world . I ’ ve grown to be friends with Steve . Steve can ’ t go with me to all the races , but if I have a problem with my car and I can ’ t figure it out , he ’ s the man I go to to figure it out . He ’ s the guy that I call and go , ‘ Steve , I ’ m going this fast to the 60 foot and I need to go this fast . I don ’ t want you to tell me we can ’ t do it , I want you to tell me how we can do it .’ Every single time I ’ ve done that , he has helped me get where I need to be and get back to the front . Every single time .”
– NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
PHOTO : JOE MCHUGH
98 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 174