THE INTERVIEW ISSUE
‘STEVIE FAST’ IS DOING HIS
HOMEWORK
The defending NHRA Pro Mod world champion
explains how he’s using the extended
offseason to make his team even better
By JOSH HACHAT
Photograph by TARA BOWKER
STEVIE “FAST” Jackson has
been able to get his Radial
vs. the World fix during
this ongoing COVID-19 public health
crisis, but the reigning NHRA Pro
Mod world champ is still waiting to
scratch that Pro Mod itch.
He’ll finally get that chance in July when
the NHRA Pro Mod Series finally starts its
2020 season. It will be an absolute hectic pace
with 12 races between July and the end of
October, which will be a daunting challenge
for even the likes of Jackson. But Jackson has
remained steadfast in his belief we need highspeed
Pro Mod racing back – if for nothing
else so team owners and drivers don’t get used
to the alternative.
“Anything that’s fun is dangerous and costs
a lot of money, so we don’t need Pro Mod race
team owner A to sell his race operation and go
bass fishing, or go on the golf tour,” Jackson
says. “Once you do that, you cannot race at
this level, I don’t think, and definitely not be
successful. At the end of the day, drag racing
will survive, but it’s going to be different for
the rest of this year. We’re going to all have to
adapt Jackson talked with Drag IllustrateD
about how his team has become more efficient
and why it was important not to furlough or
lay off any of his staff.
After the crash (at the World Doorslammer
Nationals in March) you’ve had a lot
of things to work on. Do you feel like you’ve
made the most of this time?
Nobody wants to go through this. I would
rather us not have to go through this and have
no race car than to be where we’re at, and it’s
definitely testing our resolve. We are using our
time wisely to get our NHRA car repaired and
get ready for competition. At the end of the
day, we’re a race team and we’re supposed to
be on the track.
This down time gives you time to tinker
and explore making changes. Do you feel
like that will pay off once we do get back
to racing?
We won’t know until we get back on the
racetrack. There’s a lot of stuff I’ve done to
that effect in the offseason. We were geared up
and ready to race. This additional downtime,
yes, I’m exploring ways to be more efficient.
The majority of our time has been making
the racing operation itself more streamlined
and more efficient.
It’s going to be harder to race this year than
ever before. We’ve been trying to foresee problems
we’re going to have when we get going
and making sure we have enough engines and
enough parts so we’re ready to go.
When you talk about making the race
operation more efficient, what factors into
that and what changes do you make?
Everything from the time we start loading
in the shop to the time we’re unloaded at the
shop, I’ve looked at it. I’ve spent a lot of time
on different things. I didn’t furlough my guys,
I didn’t cut their pay, I didn’t send them home
during this and we’re going to continue to
do that, but in order to do that you’ve got to
find stuff to do.
So we sat down and made a spreadsheet
with everything that’s a pain in the ass about
drag racing. One example is, the biggest pain
in the ass of setting the pits up at the track
is the awning. It is labor-intensive, it takes
about 30 minutes, it’s heavy. What I’ve tried
to do in this off time is everything that makes
my guys tired and doesn’t make that race car
faster, I’ve tried to make it easier.
I built an awning rack that mounts to the
wall that pulls the entire awning on a cart on
wheels at one time. This is something I never
would have done had we not had this. We
put all new lighting in the trailer, made new
service carts for all the toolboxes. It’s not really
one major thing, it’s a bunch of little stuff to
ensure when we hit the ground running, we’re
ready to go. If I can keep my guys healthy and
not worn out, the race car will end up in the
winner’s circle more. That is my theory.
You mentioned not having your guys
go on furlough or having to lay them off
during this time. How important was
that to you?
It’s my No. 1 priority and it’s the No. 1 thing
I will not bend on. Everybody says our team
is like family. Well, times like this shows you
how much your actions stand behind your
words. I can’t jump up and down and say
this team is my family, and then two weeks
into this deal tell them they’re fired. I’m not
going to do it.
I told them as soon as this started I’m going
to pay them their salary until I go broke and
then we’ll all quit racing together. It’s a huge
financial undertaking, but you cannot replace
the talent that I have. A lot of teams that have
let people go are going to find out that the
thing that made these race cars run is people.
Yeah, they need money and parts and a
good driver, but the people that take them
apart and put them together, that’s what
makes cars win. Being fast helps you to win,
but having the right people in the right spots,
and knowing they have your back when times
are down, that’s what enables you to win. DI
82 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 157