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Craig Sullivan, A
Sportsman Racer with
a Professional
Attitude
PITTSBORO, N.C.
(September 29,
2015): Most racers
count their biggest
wins by the number
of trophies or
oversized checks
lining their shop
walls. But for PDRA
Top Dragster racer
Craig Sullivan,
winning often means
something different
altogether. Although
he continually
finishes in the top
five of whatever
division he races,
his “big wins” can’t
be measured on the
track.
“I won the Jon Kaase
Shootout at Norwalk
in 2004,” Sullivan
told, recounting one
of his best memories
from racing. “That
was a special time
because my wife and
all three of my kids
were there. We’ve
been close to
several
championships in the
JEGS Quick 32
Series. We’ve been
second, third and
fifth, but anytime
that we can go out
with a new product
and start testing
and be successful
with it is a win for
us. When we launched
American Race Cars’
first hardtail Top
Dragster in 2011
there were a lot of
skeptics. But the
car was fast right
out of the box, and
it was consistent.
“The great thing is
when you can walk
through the PRI Show
and you’ve got these
vendors that come to
you and go, ‘We
really appreciate
your hard work.’ In
2013 I had three
vendors come up and
say, ‘We’re supposed
to talk to you about
marketing our
product. We need
distribution set
up.’ I connected
with Danny Vaca of
LAT Oil at the US
Nationals. We chose
LAT Oil because it
was something that
we felt we could win
with. We’ve been
marketing really
strong with Danny,
and we’ve come up
with a new product
or two.
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We’ve seen a sizable
increase in his distribution. We’re
going after more market share. Same
thing with Renegade Race Fuels. We
were able to get hooked up with them
two years ago, and we’ve increased
their market share. Those are the big
wins we see.”
It’s only partially true that winning
on the track results in greater
partnership with industry
manufacturers. For Sullivan, it’s as
much about making his sponsors look
good as it is about on-track bragging
rights. As the founder of Sullivan’s
Equipment - a 20 year success story -
this self-made man knows what it takes
to make it.
With one race left in the 2015 season,
the man who says he “works to race”
sits third in PDRA Top Dragster
points, a category he’s earned the
number one qualifying award for two
times this year. Although competitors
must often push the limits just to
qualify in Top Dragster, qualifying in
the top five is not something that
everyone believes is beneficial on
race day. Sportsman racers often opt
for a slower, and arguably more
consistent, tune up. Sullivan points
out that one of his main objectives in
qualifying at the top of the pack is
to get greater exposure for his
sponsors.
“We got out on a slow start because
the dragster we debuted this year was
a different animal than our 2011
American. This American Race Cars
dragster features multiple slip
joints, larger tubing than SFI minimum
requirements, and very narrow track
width to make it more aerodynamic, so
that we can pick and choose where we
want our line to be. We’ve
consistently gotten faster every race,
but we’re still tweaking on it to make
it go faster. I think we’ve still got
a lot left in the chassis and a lot
left in our engine program. We brought
the billet head and billet intake out
by VED, Visner Engine Development.
There were a lot of guys skeptical
about it, but we’ve shown it’s a
proven beast and very fast.
“Of course, American Race Cars has
been very good to us. Our engine
program is by Tony Bischoff at BES
Race Engines. We have the fastest Ford
nitrous car in the country. We’ve been
told that we’re the fastest nitrous
Top Dragster car in the country.
There’s a couple of guys that want to
dispute that. It just depends on what
day it is and where we’re at as to
who’s the fastest. Induction Solutions
does the nitrous on our car.
Hyperactive Performance Solutions
helps tune and maintain our EFI
program that we’re on. John Meaney at
Big Stuff 3, Renegade Racing Fuels,
and Abruzzi Transmission and
Converters are a few of our other
great partners. We really helped Marco
[Abruzzi] with his bolt together
converter. Mickey Thompson has been a
big backer with the R&D that they’ve
done with the 3195 tire. It’s put us
way ahead of the competition, and
Mickey Thompson has been able to gain
market share in the Top Dragster ranks
with how fast we’ve gone with the car
and how consistent it is. The faster
we go the better it makes everybody
that helps us look.”
Despite his laundry list of partners,
Sullivan hopes to continue upping the
professionalism of his program by
securing a major sponsor. “To be able
to run a professional series, like the
PDRA, is something else. Each class
has its own idiosyncrasies that you
have to go through to get where you
want to be. It’s not the most power
every time. We’ve done real well with
that in the sportsman level, even with
our Super Stocker.”
Although Sullivan’s plan is to keep
pushing the limits and going quicker
and faster (he has big plans for next
year), he certainly didn’t start off
going fast. He started at the bottom
and has worked his way through the
ranks since he was 16 years old.
“When I was a young kid my father ran
modified production Super Stock,”
remembered Sullivan. “He quit racing
and that was all I had ever known. So
when I got to where I could, I started
doing it on my own. I was 16 when I
started with a ‘67 Fairlane.”
Sullivan moved from bracket racing his
Fairlane to Nostalgia Super Stock
before eventually competing with the
JEGS Quick 32 Series and then Top
Dragster. Today, he still fields a
Super Stock Mustang in NHRA along with
his Top Dragster machine.
“Early in the year we concentrated on
just trying to go rounds. We didn’t
try to go after winning the race as we
were trying to get the new car
acclimated. Chad Crawford that was
with me early in the season and part
of last year got called back up to the
pro ranks. He’s the Car Chief for Dave
Connolly’s Top Fuel car. As soon as he
showed up at their place they started
going rounds and winning and
qualifying better. It was a pretty big
setback for us, when we’re shaking out
a new car to lose talent like that.
“TJ Strange is the Crew Chief now.
He’s been on for three or four months.
He’s going to be a long term
investment for me that we’ll be able
to build upon. It’s been a learning
experience going back and forth with
him on the tune up we’ve got. I think
we’re set pretty well for next year.
Halfway through the season we decided
to get started on next year and make
sure we’ve got our operating
procedures in place to be successful.”
Although Sullivan has his sights set
on next year already, he hasn’t
forgotten that there’s still one race
left for him to make an impact on the
2015 PDRA season. “The last race -
we’re going to go out and win it,” he
said confidently. “I don’t think we
can catch [points leader] Justin
Melton. We might be able to go around
Derrik Sholar. With the canceling of
the Bradenton race, that really put us
out of Championship contention. Then
my showing at Rockingham didn’t help
matters any either. But I think if you
can finish in the top two or three any
year it’s a pretty successful year.
“We’re going to come out blazing next
year.”
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.
Photos: Gary Rowe / RaceWorks.com
PRESS CONTACT: Lisa Collier
Professional Drag Racers Association
lisa@pdra660.com |
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