New partnership with VersaTran gives a boost to part-time Funny Car driver Dave Richards By Elon Werner

Richards broke onto the NHRA Funny Car scene at the inaugural New England Nationals in Epping , New Hampshire , and his first opponent was all-world Funny Car champion John Force . When Richards thinks back at that first race , a smile creeps across his face .

“ I could easily have gotten overwhelmed by everything that weekend , but I just wanted to take it all in ,” says Richards , who earned his nitro Funny Car license in January of 2013 . “ I kept reminding myself to enjoy this . Every run that weekend got a little bit easier , from staging to driving , and even just being in the car . I felt more and more comfortable , and that gave me a little more confidence . Having my first race against

John Force was just a dream . I am so glad my mom and dad were there too . My dad passed away in 2020 , and without their love and support , there is no way we could carry on this family tradition .”

Since that magical Sunday morning , Richards has raced a handful of races just about every season with mixed results . The team normally competes in four to six races , but in 2016 the team attended 10 NHRA national events . Heading into this season , Richards had re-evaluated his program and was looking to make a more organized and concerted effort to compete with the help and support of his brother , veteran racer , and team owner Paul Richards .

“ It ’ s a struggle to race at this level and to keep the finances right ,” says Dave Richards . “ It makes you second-guess why we keep doing it , but we keep doing it because we love this stuff . Our program over the years has been up and down , but it ’ s getting back better again . We ’ ve learned a lot of how to try and run the team , and me and my brother , we ’ re doing better at it and figuring out the smart way to do things . We got hooked up with Randy [ Gloede ] and VersaTran , and things are looking positive to do more and more in the future . We want to come out here and not just be here to be here . We want to come out here and race and win .”

The relationship with VersaTran , a sister division to Scag Power Equipment , came about through one of Richards ’ long-time sponsors and a surprising opportunity to be an honorary crew person for eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher .

“ One of our longtime sponsors , Southern Lawn Equipment , is the biggest Scag mower dealer in South Florida ,” Richards says . “ He called us for Gainesville this year and he is feeling guilty because he was invited to be Schumacher ’ s honorary crew member in Gainesville . I told him you gotta go and enjoy the VIP experience . While he is there , he is talking with Randy Gloede , who ’ s the CEO , and my friend said that he helps another Funny Car team . Randy being the guy that he is , said , ‘ I want to meet him .’ They came down , we

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID HILNER AND RICK BELDEN

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