AS ONE OF THE LEAD ENGINE BUILDERS AT FULTON , HALL NOW RUNS MANY OF THE MACHINES HE GREW UP CLEANING AND SWEEPING AROUND .
“ When I was in school , I didn ’ t want to be at school . I wanted to be at that shop ,” Hall says . “ I was that stupid kid that kept bringing pistons and rods and rocker arms and stuff to the school for a show-and-tell deal . I was that kid .”
if this man can teach me anything ,’ so the next day , I went back to the career center . I walked into the office and I told the dang principal , I said , ‘ Look , I ’ m not trying to be rude , but I don ’ t think this man can teach me anything that I don ’ t already know .’ I said , ‘ I want to take something that can teach me something ,’ so I dropped out of automotive class and went into welding .”
Hall continued bracket racing for some time before getting into big-money grudge racing . His biggest win ? “ Back in the day when I drove the grudge car for them boys up there , we ’ d run for a race at Virginia , one run for $ 60,000 . That was a good payday for me ,” Hall says .
Class racing was calling Hall , though , and with a different engine combination in the grudge car , he went to run Modified at an IHRA race at Darlington Dragway in 1996 . Fulton won four Modified world championships and 25 national events before retiring as a driver in 1987 , so the shop had a successful background in the class . But Hall didn ’ t quite enjoy the same experience his boss did , and his time in the class was short-lived , to say the least .
“ I hated it , but I sat in the bleachers and watched the Top Sportsman cars run ,” Hall says . “ And I said , ‘ That ’ s what I want to do right there .’ I never came back and run Modified again . I went home and changed my whole combination around . The next time I went out ,
I was running Top Sportsman with them boys .”
It was at those early races in his IHRA Top Sportsman races where Hall ’ s relationship with his wife , Alison , started . They ’ d met much earlier , as Alison ’ s dad , Jimmie Flynt , was a racer and would bring his motors to Fulton ’ s shop . At the time , Stacy was just “ the floor sweeper ,” and Alison was one of three giggling girls in the backseat .
“ We didn ’ t see each other for years after that , then I started racing Top Sportsman and she started helping me ,” Hall says . “ Me and her started hanging out at the racetracks , and one thing led to another , and then here we are 20-something years later .”
Another one of Hall ’ s nicknames also devel-
July / August 2022 DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 107