THE RISE OF LIL GANGSTAS
Gunner and Poland are on a mission to grow Lil Gangstas into a class that can be found racing on any given weekend at tracks all over the country.
“ LIL GANGSTAS HAS REALLY BEEN
ABLE TO SHOW THAT PEOPLE CAN
COLLABORATE.” pointed out the support they’ ve received from Bardstown, Kentucky-based Brian Tooley Racing.
“ Getting partnered up with BTR has been incredible,” Poland says.“ We say support the ones that support you, and that is a prime example. BTR actually set up a mini points series inside of the Speed Promotions deal, and a blue-collar guy got a full sponsorship and won a ton of money from that. Every single thing we do, they’ re right there to jump on board and help in any way they can.
Gunner also shared credit with John Sears, founder of the X275 class and the Radial Tire Racing Association, for his role in the development of Lil Gangstas.
“ John Sears has been the best mentor we could possibly have for our class,” Gunner says.“ He’ s really our secret weapon in our back pocket. He’ s helped us navigate how to have these discussions. We’ ve called him countless times and he’ s always there to answer our questions.”
Sears’ s creation continues to inspire Gunner and Poland as they consider what comes next for their class. It starts with thinking about what’ s best for their racers, but the sport as a whole also weighs on their minds.
“ X275 was a class that changed drag racing for the better, and I think Lil Gangstas falls in the same line of that,” Gunner says.“ I would love to leave a positive impression on drag racing. We’ re starting to see guys who are saying,‘ I’ m building a Lil Gangstas car.’ To me that means you’ re doing something right. Guys are going out and they’ re focused. It’ s attainable. My buddy just put a car together and it’ s a stock pistons / rods / crank LS with a camshaft and a nice turbo, and it is gutted, but it goes 5.29 every time. It’ s really consistent, and they have maybe
$ 12,000 in their car.”
Maintaining the grassroots nature of Lil Gangstas is critical for Gunner and Poland. While Gunner says they’ ve discussed a national points series, he says it isn’ t really in the spirit of the class. That doesn’ t mean they’ ve ruled it out, but they’ re instead focused on working with promoters who can incorporate the class into more events. Winners of local Lil Gangstas races can qualify to compete at bigger events on the national stage.
The Lil Gangstas formula has proven itself at the gritty tracks of Texas and earned its way into some of the most impactful events on the national stage. Now, Gunner and Poland are on a mission to expand its footprint even further, creating opportunities for racers, promoters, manufacturers, and fans to enjoy the class.
“ We want to keep the buy-ins low and really stay in our demographic,” Poland says.“ They’ re large payouts and they’ re just getting bigger and bigger because we get more support. If you have 50 cars in a class with a $ 200 buy-in, then you put $ 5K or $ 10K on top, that’ s life-changing money to a lot of these guys. Hell, half the time the cars they’ re driving aren’ t worth the amount of money that they’ re winning. We want to stay true to the rules, stay true to what built the class, and continue to move forward.” DI
130 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 196