JIM HOWE JR.
ing forced to pick and choose. We’re actually in
no-prep mode right now. We just got back from
running a no-prep race last weekend, and that’s
where our focus is going to be for the next few
months and possibly for the rest of the season.
Was the no-prep scene on your radar before
all this started, or was that move kind of
adapting to the circumstances?
Both. It was on the radar before. We can’t deny
the purses that no-prep races pay, and the exposure
that goes along with it. We had a chance to
do some no-prep stuff. We went and did a little
bit in 2018. Street racing and racing on marginal
surfaces was a big part of my history. We did the
Limited Drag Radial class in 2019 as a committed,
full deal for the year. We did very well and we’re
very happy with how we did. It was just time for
a change, I guess.
don’t conflict with our other schedules. We just
need more exposure and we need more money to
run for, so that’s what we’re doing. We’re chasing
that side of it now.
Speaking of exposure, your car is featured in
the Doorslammers 2 Drag Racing game. How
cool is it knowing kids and fans around the
world play that game as your car?
Man, that was an absolute dream come true.
Of course we didn’t have the graphics when I was
growing up that we have now, but playing video
games growing up and now having a car that
we put so much work into, to have it be put in a
video game, it’s really cool. We have fans come
to us and have us sign stuff.
My son, Jimmy Howe, is probably one of the
best Doorslammer video game racers in the country.
He does a lot of tuneups and stuff like that for
we run in, be it me, the guy who finished second
in points, or the guy who finished 10th in points,
the exposure to the little guy means everything.
We’re not out here making a killing running for
big purses in Limited Drag Radial. I feel like that’s
going to be one of the biggest downfalls of the class
in the future because it is so expensive to run at
the top. So that only leaves the marketing side of
things to help offset the costs. Without exposure,
you don’t get the marketing side of things.
We are our own worst enemies in this sport
because we don’t give the exposure [to sponsors].
We have to market ourselves. We don’t get the
exposure oftentimes that we need to in order to
procure marketing partners that are necessary
to do it at the next level.
I’ll tell you a story. Over the winter I went
and met with a Fortune 500 company that was
interested in getting into drag radial racing. I
“THE GUYS AT
DOORSLAMMERS
HAVE BEEN REALLY
GOOD FOR US.
EVERY MINUTE
OF EXPOSURE WE
CAN GET IN DRAG
RACING, WHETHER
IT’S OUR TEAM, OUR
CAR, OR JUST ANY
TYPE OF EXPOSURE
FOR THE SPORT
AND BRINGING IN
NEW PEOPLE.”
What was that no-prep experience like? How
does that set you up for the rest of the season?
It was a lot of fun. We put together a no-prep
team, a team of seven cars. We’re doing some
team races. We went and did JJ Da Boss’ race.
We won the team race at JJ’s race, and one of
our team members went on to win the big-tire
race. We had the fastest cars there. We had a
bunch of fun and made some good money. Now
we’re going to start taking our team around and
running some of these races.
Of course, Fastest in America, a Discovery show,
is on our radar. We start filming sometime in late
July, early August. We’re kind of strapped on the
schedule. We have to fit it all in, plus we’ve got the
Horsepower Wars out in California that my team
and all of us are going to do. Amanda is going to
drive that deal. Everything got bunched up on top
of each other, so now we’re scrambling for schedules.
We’re not leaving radial racing as a whole. We
will run Donald [Long’s] races and the races that
our fans at the races. It’s not uncommon to see
him sitting down with a fan working on tuneups
with their video game.
Ron Hamm and the guys at Doorslammers
have been really good for us and our program.
It’s all relative. Every minute of exposure we
can get in drag racing, whether it’s our team,
our car, or just any type of exposure for the
sport and bringing in new people, it’s obviously
what we want. We’ve got kids and young
men and women who play that game who’ve
probably never even been to a dragstrip before,
but now they get to come see us in person and
see what we do in real life. I can’t say enough
good things about the guys at Doorslammers
and what they’re all about.
What’s pushing you to try to get that exposure?
That’s not something that a lot of outlaw
teams are chasing.
Getting any type of publicity for the classes that
met with the president of the company in person
on multiple occasions. He searched out who we
were and what we were, and in our meeting he
sat down and said, “I’m just going to be honest
with you: I know who you are, but our marketing
people searched out who you are, and other than
the promotion that you did from your own pages,
we really couldn’t find a lot on you.”
He dropped the name of a bottom-rung No
Prep Kings series racer –not a household name
– and this guy is getting 25 million people a year
viewing his program and it’s documentable. They
can search this guy out and see what he’s doing.
From an advertising standpoint, that’s where the
money’s gonna end up going.
It was kind of disheartening because here I had
a company that was not only ready to put money
into our team, but also radial racing in general,
and that man couldn’t get the exposure he needed
to justify the dollars he was going to spend. We’re
hoping we can change some of that in the future. DI
76 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 157