IT ’ S A HECTIC SCHEDULE , ALONG WITH A FULL-TIME JOB , BUT MARINIS ’ MIND IS ALWAYS ON RACING .
A LOVE OF RACING HAS LED MARINIS TO SUCCESS HE NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE .
“ I ’ VE RACED DIRT BIKES , JET SKIS , CARS , EVERYTHING ,” MARINIS SAYS . “ IT ’ S ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT TRYING TO GO FASTER . YOU NAME IT , I ’ M TRYING TO MAKE IT FASTER .”
a few short years ago , and Marinis ’ tutelage has been instrumental in his rapid ascension .
“ There ’ s a lot of things that are special and unique about Dean ,” Green says . “ Where we ’ re at , Dean has so much to do with it . Without him , I wouldn ’ t be here . Pat [ Musi ] and Dean working together , we ’ ve done well .
“ He ’ s a super-smart guy , he knows his stuff and he ’ s been racing his whole life ,” Green continues . “ He ’ s such a competitor and wants to win so bad , and he ’ s more ate up with drag racing than anybody I know .”
Green jokes if there ’ s a drag race somewhere , he can expect Marinis will be there driving or tuning someone . But it ’ s been a special journey for Green in 2020 after his brutal crash at Indy in 2019 , where he suffered a major back injury .
With racing on hold in NHRA Pro Mod due to the COVID-19 pandemic , Green slowly got back in the groove , making nearly 50 test runs in his nitrous-fed Bond Coat Corvette before the NHRA season resumed .
When it happened , Marinis was ready . Green advanced to the final round of the first event , but rain postponed the championship round to the final qualifying session at the U . S . Nationals .
He chased down Jason Scruggs at the finish line with a run of 5.823 at 250.09 , setting off an emotional celebration at the scene of Green ’ s horrific wreck a year earlier . It was meaningful for Marinis , who has treasured every moment of Green ’ s success .
“ He ’ s a winner by nature . He wants to win , he wants you to succeed and that fits in well with this team ,” Green says .
Thanks to Green , the gears in Marinis ’ brain worked overtime this summer as well .
Green made his nitro Funny Car debut and while Daniel and Tim Wilkerson handled crew chief duties for that first foray , Marinis was a keenly interested observer .
It was all about soaking up the knowledge at that first race , but Marinis called it the next possibility and if it ’ s speed he ’ s after , the lure of a 330-mph Funny Car might be impossible to resist .
“ There ’ s a long way to go on that , but my wheels are turning already ,” Marinis says . “ It ’ s a learning game and it ’ s just something that is at a whole other level .” But … “ That ’ s the next frontier ,” Marinis says . “ I ’ m always trying to think of ways to do whatever I can to make things faster .”
Funny Car might be the next bold step he takes , but Marinis is completely focused on his numerous tasks at hand right now . It ’ s tuning multiple nitrous cars in a number of different classes and racing when he has the opportunity .
With Green fourth in points and just a round out of first in the NHRA Pro Mod standings with four races left , there ’ s also a chance to help lead Green to a world title .
That ’ s more than enough motivation for Marinis , who has no plans to slow his unbelievable pace . He loves every aspect of it and if there ’ s a moment where he would question that , Marinis has a simple indicator to determine if his love for the sport has wavered .
“ I take a lot of pride in putting in the work ,” Marinis says . “ I like being able to put it all together from bumper-to-bumper . The day I give 95 percent , that ’ s when I call it a day .
“ We ’ re never done . The day we ’ re done trying to advance this thing , it ’ s time to hang up everything .”
For now , Marinis is nowhere near that and he remains as driven as ever to be an innovator in a sport built on eye-popping performance .
The job is complex and it requires detailed intricacies , constant work and an ultra-attentive eye , but the end goal is simple .
“ More wins , more records , all that is what I ’ m going after ,” Marinis says . “ I can never get enough wins , never set enough records . It ’ s always about getting better , going faster .”
And striving to be , well , perfect . DI
76 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 160