went to the grudge racing scene because everybody ’ s slower and I couldn ’ t keep up in class racing . We ended up winning the event – think I went like a 4.16 with ‘ Apocalypse ’. It wasn ’ t for a lot of money . I think it only paid like five or six grand , but the biggest reason we did it was to prove to people that we belong anywhere .
There ’ s a lot of haters out there , a lot of people who don ’ t give us credit , but we stay doing what we gotta do , and that ’ s all it takes . I don ’ t have to hire a tuner to come in and tune my stuff . Dad don ’ t have to hire a driver to come in and do it . If we want to get up and go racing , I don ’ t have to
May 2018
MIDNIGHT OIL
Primetime grudge races across the Southeast often mean late-night maintenance and celebrations in the Swanstrom pit area . call nobody and make sure I ’ m able to do anything or get permission to do something . Whenever I ’ m ready , I ’ m ready .
Is tuning something that interests you , or do you leave that to your dad ?
I help out a little bit , but he really handles that part . Whenever the car needs to come into the pit , I do all the servicing . I do have a crew : Joey Willard , Sean Burton , Dennis Rogers , Roderick Gregg , Tyler ( Swanstrom ) and my main man , our little crew chief , Bryan Geisler . They ’ ve been with me since the start . I keep my team nice and small . Whenever the car comes into the pits , we turn it all around while Dad goes inside the motorhome and goes over the tuneup . I ’ ve gotten to the point now where I can set them guys loose and they can turn the car around and I go up in the motorhome with Dad and we just talk about what we ’ re going to do for the next outing or next race . We come up with a solution and I go out there and make the changes and that ’ s it . Both of our inputs are put in before we go out there and make a deal .
Another area where you work closely with you dad is in organizing the No-Time Shootouts at Duck X Productions ’ Lights Out and No Mercy races at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta , Georgia . How did all of that start ?
We ’ ve always talked about throwing our own race , but I ’ ve always told Dad as much as we work and as much as we race , it would be hard to do our own race . I always go to Lights Out just to watch the race because I like to watch the Radial vs . the World guys . Donald Long , he lives 2 miles from my house – him and my dad grew up together . Me and Dad were talking about doing our own race and we decided to ask Donald if he ’ d be alright if we brought a 29 / 315 Extreme No-
Time class , meaning there ’ s only a couple rules to it . There ’ s No-Time cars only , any chassis you want as long as it ’ s got doors and it ’ s on a 315 tire or smaller . He thought about it for a couple days , called us back and we told him we could get him 16 cars . We got 16 cars to commit . Actually , 18 cars but the two alternates weren ’ t able to race . We ran the first race . Donald actually put five grand of his own money on top of the pot , so I think the pot was for $ 37,000 . We ran right behind Radial vs . the World . I tell everybody , the grudge game ain ’ t no slouch . Those are Radial vs . the World-caliber cars with no time on the board . We ran the first race and everybody seemed to like it .
Within one hour after the race being over with , we had a guy from RPM Transmissions , he called Donald and said he wanted to sponsor five grand for the following race in February . Donald called us , we called the racers and they all said they wanted to do it again , so we went ahead and put the race on at Lights Out . Then Donald came and asked us if we wanted to run a Sweet 16 No-Time Shootout at his Sweet 16 race for Radial vs . the World . We only got 12 cars to sign up for that , but we were still able to run at the Sweet 16 .
What is it about no-time racing and the Lights Out spectacle that works so well together ?
The reason we were able to get 16 cars in the No-Time thing and it was so successful is because of the environment . That race is so big that everyone wants to be there . Everybody wants to be a part of it . That ’ s why it wasn ’ t that hard to get 16 cars . Hell , we had 16 people with $ 2,000 deposits put up within 24 hours . And we ’ re going to continue to do it . We ’ re going to have another shootout at No Mercy in October . Same rules , same $ 2,000 buy-in .
DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 77
MIDNIGHT OIL
Primetime grudge races across the
Southeast often mean late-night
maintenance and celebrations in
the Swanstrom pit area.
went to the grudge racing scene because every-
body’s slower and I couldn’t keep up in class rac-
ing. We ended up winning the event – think I
went like a 4.16 with ‘Apocalypse’. It wasn’t for a
lot of money. I think it only paid like five or six
grand, but the biggest reason we did it was to
prove to people that we belong anywhere.
There’s a lot of haters out there, a lot of people
who don’t give us credit, but we stay doing what
we gotta do, and that’s all it takes. I don’t have to
hire a tuner to come in and tune my stuff. Dad
don’t have to hire a driver to come in and do it. If
we want to get up and go racing, I don’t have to
May 2018
call nobody and make sure I’m able to do anything
or get permission to do something. Whenever I’m
ready, I’m ready.
Is tuning something that interests you, or
do you leave that to your dad?
I help out a little bit, but he really handles that
part. Whenever the car needs to come into the
pit, I do all the servicing. I do have a crew: Joey
Willard, Sean Burton, Dennis Rogers, Roderick
Gregg, Tyler (Swans-
trom) and my main
man, our little crew
chief, Bryan Geisler.
They’ve been with
me since the start. I
keep my team nice
and small. Whenev-
er the car comes into
the pits, we turn it
all around while
Dad goes inside the
motorhome and
goes over the tune-
up. I’ve gotten to the
point now where I
can set them guys
loose and they can
turn the car around
and I go up in the
motorhome with
Dad and we just talk
about what we’re go-
ing to do for the next
outing or next race.
We come up with a
solution and I go out
there and make the
changes and that’s it.
Both of our inputs
are put in before
we go out there and
make a deal.
Another area
where you work
closely with you
dad is in organiz-
ing the No-Time
Shootouts at Duck
X Product ions’
Lights Out and
No Mercy races
at South Georgia
Motorsports Park
in Valdosta, Geor-
gia. How did all of
that start?
We’ve always talk-
ed about throwing
our own race, but I’ve always told Dad as much
as we work and as much as we race, it would be
hard to do our own race. I always go to Lights Out
just to watch the race because I like to watch the
Radial vs. the World guys. Donald Long, he lives 2
miles from my house – him and my dad grew up
together. Me and Dad were talking about doing
our own race and we decided to ask Donald if he’d
be alright if we brought a 29/315 Extreme No-
Time class, meaning there’s only a couple rules
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