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Stevie Fast Returns to Pro Nitrous Full Time in
2015
PITTSBORO, N.C. February 27, 2015: The 2013 Pro
Nitrous World Champion, Steve Jackson, is
returning to competition in 2015 and is hungry
to defend his 2013 title. After a wild ride to
the 2013 Championship and a trip to race with
the Arabian Drag Racing League during the
offseason, Jackson was handed a rude awakening,
when he, along with several other high-profile
teams, were suddenly dropped from Al-Anabi
sponsorship. This sidelined Jackson for much of
the 2014 season, prohibiting him from defending
his hard earned title.
“It killed me at first,” Jackson said of not
being able to defend his title. “The whole 2013
season was kind of a blur. It was really thrown
together. Even to be able to win that
Championship was tough. I had all knowledge and
thoughts that we were coming back to run in
2014. At the last minute our sponsorship and
funding got pulled. So it took me a couple of
months to even get started putting a new deal
together. I was pretty fired up. Disappointed is
not the word. Pissed off is. But it’s kinda the
way of the world.”
That new deal would come at the hand of Jeff
Sitton and SEI Oil Field. “After I won the
Championship in 2013 and after I got back from
Qatar, Jeff and I signed a deal to race together
in 2015. It took us half a year to get a car,
truck, trailer, engines, stuff like that,”
Jackson explained. Preparations included a
signature orange Jerry Bickel built ‘69 Camaro
with a Reher Morrison powerplant. “It took the
majority of the year to get everything in place.
Then we came out and ran the last two PDRA races
to get our feet wet with the new car and see
where we were at with our old powertrains. Our
main focus the majority of last year was
preparing ourselves for 2015.
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“For me, it’s hard to find someone to
work with that’s as passionate about
racing as I am.” Jackson continued. “I
love racing more than I like
breathing. So for somebody to partner
with me - sponsorship or otherwise -
you’ve got to be pretty into it.
You’ve got to be pretty hardcore. I
want to win and I don’t care what it
takes. If there’s a way to get out
front, I'll find a way to get us out
front. Me and Jeff work well together
because he has the same mentality.
Along with me and Jeff, we also have
my partner and best friend Phil
Shuler. I have been racing with Phil
for the last 10 years. He actually
owns the radial tire car that we won
Lights Out 6 with in Valdosta. He’s as
hardcore as the come, and doesn't mind
one bit chunking the crankshaft out on
the ground to win. Then we have Billy
Stocklin. I call him Big Swig. Hes a
genius behind the computer and helps
tune the Pro Nitrous car. He’s very
good at what he does and wants to win
as bad as I do. I try to surround
myself with people who have the same
mindset as we do.”
Although Jackson was sidelined from
Pro Nitrous for much of 2014, he
continued racing in other arenas. He
stays behind the wheel nearly year
round running grudge and radial
events. Recently he and his team won
the Radial vs. The World event in
Valdosta, Ga.
“I run just about everything with
wheels on it,” Jackson explained, “but
our 100% focus this year is on PDRA
Pro Nitrous. The grudge racing and
radial tire racing and other stuff
just fills in the gap. I would be at
the race track 365 days a year if
you’d let me. So running 10 events a
year is not enough to keep my plate
full. I grew up grudge racing, so I
kinda gotta stay to those roots. We
enjoy racing for money. If something
pays decent and the competition is
good, we’ll go. I like crushing people
most of all.”
Clearly illustrated by his passion for
racing - and winning - Stevie Fast
doesn’t back down easily and isn’t a
competitor to be taken lightly. His
return to PN competition late last
season was quickly met with a touch of
staging controversy with fellow
competitor Lizzy Musi.
“There were shenanigans at Rockingham
that had to do with the tree not
falling for a very long period of
time,” he retold of racing Musi at
Dragstock XI. “I stepped off the
throttle because I was on the two-step
for a very long time. As soon as I
stepped off the throttle, the tree
came down. We think it was just a tree
malfunction, but it kinda carried into
Virginia. I guess it’s because of my
grudge racing background, but I have
seen every sort of starting line game
there is. Hell, I invented half of
them. I embellish the fact that I’m
very hard to rattle up there. So at
Virginia when we did the burnout and
came back, she wouldn’t go in. She
wouldn’t light the top bulb and go in.
So I just put the car in neutral and
sat there. I told the guys on the
radio that I was just going to let it
sit there until it ran out of fuel or
caught on fire. After Rockingham, our
team owner Jeff told me, ‘Before you
go in, I don't care if the car is 300
degrees and on fire, if you’re not in
any immediate danger, you will not
stage that car until she stages.’
“It’s nothing personal. I actually
really like Lizzy and I respect her as
a competitor, so it’s not personal,
but it is what it is. The fans love
it. If it’s somewhat of a rivalry now
that’s good too. I don’t know if it
will carry into 2015. All I can tell
you is that last year I had a pea
shooter, and now I have a bazooka and
anybody that gets in my way, I’m going
to blast ‘em. If they’re coming to win
they better have everything lined up.
All their duckies better be following.
“It’s going to be good,” continued the
Georgia native, whose fast talking
rivals his performance on the track.
“Pro Nitrous is going to be the
hardest class to win. Everybody’s got
nice cars. Everybody’s got nice
motors. Everybody’s got good stuff. It
was already very difficult before.
This year will be the hardest, I
think, it’s ever been to win. I think
you’ll see a lot of different winners.
And that’s not me being modest. It’s
just that everybody who does this at
this level is good at what they do. I
talk a lot of trash, but if you have a
Pro Nitrous car that you run at the
PDRA, you’re pretty accomplished.
That’s just the way it is. I like to
think that we’re pretty smart. We’ve
got some good people behind us. Our
team owner believes in us. And if we
don’t win, it won't be for lack of
effort.”
Jackson is quick to point out that his
success, past and future, can be
greatly attributed to his crew. “I
want to thank my crew: My longtime
crew member Chris Johnson, Jack
Barbee, Jeff, of course, our team
owner and sponsor, Billy Stocklin our
tuner. Phil Shuler runs a Top Fuel car
for Spencer Massey as his day job, and
comes and hangs out with us when he’s
not racing. So he’s got it about as
bad as I do. It sounds cliche but I
have to thank all the people that make
all the parts and pieces that make
these cars tick. Sometimes they really
have to go out of their way. There are
times when you have to call vendors at
3:00 in the morning at their house and
try to get them to get up and make us
parts. Racing at this level is about
people. You have to know people. You
have to have integrity. If you don’t
take care of the companies that
support you, you won’t be racing long.
Money almost can buy you in, but it
can only get you halfway. You gotta
have some brains behind you. I feel
like we have a good ensemble of people
who not only have the brains, but
talent and passion as well. Passion is
the biggest thing. When you run out of
talent, passion will keep going. I
always like to say that I can overcome
any obstacle as long as it presents
itself to me.”
That passion has helped Jackson
overcome the loss of a major sponsor
to come back and fight for another Pro
Nitrous title in 2015. The season
kicks off with the Texas Nationals
March 19-21.
“This will be a good year for the
fans, I can promise ya that. I’m
excited about it. I’m fired up. I
enjoy the camaraderie at these things.
I’m very fortunate to be able to call
drag racing my day job. Very, very few
people get to do that and I’m just
thankful to be where I’m at. Looking
forward to seeing what everybody’s
cooked up over the winter. The winter
time is kind of exciting, everybody
trying to keep what they’re doing
hush-hush. Then everybody’s trying to
figure who’s building what, who’s
ordering what. Everybody wants to show
up at Dallas with something trick and
new. I’m looking forward to what’s
going to go down in three weeks. I
have a countdown app on my phone - I’m
counting down the hours until I get to
stage that thing. You’re going to want
to keep your eyes on that orange ‘69
Camaro.”
ABOUT THE PDRA
Based in Pittsboro, North Carolina,
the Professional Drag Racers
Association is the top sanctioning
body in the United States for the
sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The
PDRA’s professional categories include
Pro Extreme, Pro Nitrous, Pro Boost,
and Pro Extreme Motorcycle along with
Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Pro Jr.
Dragster, and Top Jr. Dragster. The
2015 PDRA schedule consists of ten
national events. For more on the
world’s premier eighth mile drag
racing organization visit
www.pdra660.com.
Follow the PDRA:
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram,
YouTube.
Photo: Chuck Brooks / RaceWorks.com /
PDRA660.com
PRESS CONTACT: Lisa Collier
Professional Drag Racers Association
lisa@pdra660.com
704.692.4636 |
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