Drag Illustrated Issue 129, January / February 2018 | Page 70

THE
CHAMPIONS
ISSUE
“I think the worst
thing is thinking
that you might
have to peel the
number one off
the window.”
“My day’s work is really a combination of all
of the companies,” Franklin says. “I don’t think
there’s any possible way of saying today is for
this company, tomorrow is for that company – it
doesn’t happen that way. The work just comes
as it comes.”
Franklin seems to thrive on work. Maybe it’s
the work itself, but the more likely explanation
for Franklin’s continuous undertaking of busi-
ness challenges is the overwhelming reward of
seeing them through to success. It all started
when Franklin left his high school job, working
the counter at a local auto parts store, to get into
the electrical trade. When he realized that wasn’t
paying enough to cover his increasingly expen-
sive racing habit, he started his own electrical
business with one employee in January of 1997.
Today, Franklin Electric wires up around 1,500
new homes in Maryland and Virginia every year.
The success of Franklin Electric and SmartCom
gave Franklin the confidence and freedom to ex-
tend his reach into drag racing. When the ADRL
folded at the end of 2013, Franklin was one of
the five racers who banded together to form the
Professional Drag Racers Association. The PDRA
ownership group, headed up by Jason and Mitch-
ell Scruggs, brought a level of stability to outlaw
eighth-mile drag racing, something the scene
70 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com