Drag Illustrated Issue 129, January / February 2018 | Page 72

THE
CHAMPIONS
ISSUE
What have you learned in business that you’ve
been able to apply to racing?
I think with anything it all starts with work. I
tell my kids that every day. I think anybody can
have everything they want, it’s just all about how
much you’re willing to work for it. That’s really
the extent of it. I think whoever works the hardest
is who gets there.
You’ve got to surround yourself with good
people because one of the biggest challenges I’ve
probably had as a business owner is delegating.
Judy accuses me of being a control freak, but it’s
not as much about control as it is wanting to have
my fingers on things. I found that with the PDRA,
I found that with the racetrack – I get involved
and I have this great plan that I’m going to let
people get involved – and I do – I’m much better
72 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
at it today than I ever was, but as we’ve grown I’ve
realized I can’t do it all.
That’s what’s taught me that you need to have
good people. You need people who have the
same common goal that you have. That’s what
it takes. I can’t do it all by myself, and anytime
that I’ve tried, one part is successful and the
other one will suffer from it. You go to work
on the other one to make it successful, then
the first one suffers. You’ve got to have good
people, and that’s what I’ve tried to do here
in the last four or five years – surround myself
with a good staff, surround myself with people
who care for what we’re doing and are willing
to put in the work to get there.
On our racing team, it’s the same way. It’s a
family deal, so we all obviously have the care for
one another, but even Chris Murray, my main
crew guy, he prepares everything, gets the car
maintenanced and loaded so I can just hop in the
truck and go. At the racetrack, we share duties
there and do everything we can to help each other,
but he’s a big, key part of the deal – doing the
maintenance, looking for problems and having
the drive to continue to be better and faster.
I spent many, many years going to races and
not qualifying or wondering how these other
guys continue to stay up front and run so good –
probably guilty at times of thinking, “It’s just not
fair; they’re doing this, they’re doing that.” Now
when I look at it, I’m happy to say that we’re on
the other side of that. And I know you never stay
there forever, but that’s the big challenge now...
how long can we stay on top?
Issue 129
Q&A
For our annual Champions Issue,
DRAG ILLUSTRATED spoke with
Franklin to learn more about his path
to success in business and racing