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Jay Cox Sits on Top of Pro Nitrous Points as Season Nears Halfway Point
PITTSBORO, N.C. (June 19, 2016): Although a relative newcomer to PDRA Switzer
Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by MoTeC frontrunners, Jay Cox has found himself
right at home in the winner’s circle this season. With four races complete, Cox
has been in three finals, securing wins twice. This has been enough to put him
in first place, just over 400 points ahead of Travis Harvey.
The Carolina good ‘ol boy says he never dreamed he’d be in this position. “When
I was playing baseball I used to tune in and watch all these guys running Pro
Nitrous,” told the former minor league player. “I always dreamed about doing it
and never thought I’d have a chance. The first PDRA race we went to I had a
little 800 cubic inch motor. Just to qualify and be able to run with these big
name people - that fulfilled my dream. I never imagined being able to run up
front.”
Although Cox says the thought of being a viable contender against the biggest
names in Pro Nitrous was far off, that never kept him from talking a little junk
once he got in the game. In fact, the Flatout Gaskets Nitrous Wars, which have
been as much about talking the talk as walking the walk, have fueled Cox and car
owner Bryant Marriner to work continually harder to be on top. Now that Cox is
winning, he’s putting his money where his mouth is.
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“It’s hard for people to talk junk to you when you’re winning. Tommy Franklin
and Stevie Jackson are probably the two I talk junk with the most. Nothing
personal, but we always like to get into it. And rightfully so; we tend to run
each other a lot. I love the smack talk. All it does is make me work harder.
Anybody that wants to talk, I encourage it. Bring it on. There’s been a lot of
nights this winter I ain’t went home. I stayed in the shop and worked all night
because of something somebody said. The more they wanna talk the faster we’ll
go.”
Over the winter, Cox picked up a new 945 cubic inch motor from engine builder,
Charlie Buck. After a win at a preseason event in Bradenton, Fl. Cox says his PDRA season started off slower than he would have liked, with a semi-final and
runner up finish at the season opener and Spring Drags. Cox got what he was
looking for at the next two events, however, and has set himself up for a
championship battle in the last half of the season.
“Without Mr. Bryant it wouldn’t be possible,” Cox thanked. “He supplied me with
the best stuff money can buy. He let me get anything I thought we needed,
nothing obsessive, but whatever we needed to compete. It’s kinda been up to me
to make it run. It’s really worked out really well. I’ve had a lot of help from
a lot of people. Rick Jones and RJ Race Cars, Mark Micke Transmissions, Marty at
Neal Chance Torque Converters have all worked with me ever since we started
running Pro Nitrous to fit my style of racing. They got me pointed in the right
direction and got me whatever I needed to run the car the way I like to run. I
had a lot of help when I first started coming up from Charles Carpenter and
Billy Stockton. If I’d get a little lost or out in left field they’d point me in
the right direction. Brandon at Switzer Dynamics does a lot for me in the
nitrous department.”
Cox also thanked Marriner’s company Bryant Industrial Crane and Rigging, Buck
Racing Engines, Hoosier Tires and Leggett Logging. “Charlie [Buck] went out on a
limb these last two weeks, investing a lot of time and money, pretty much for me
and Chris [Rini, who also runs PN]. I think we’re on to a lot of good stuff.
Every time I make changes to the car it’s responding. We went 201 in the heat
and we haven’t tore up anything in the last two or three races. It’s just going
to get faster from here on out.”
Cox and Bryant both thoroughly enjoy the class and it's ultra tight competition,
especially sitting from their current vantage point in first. Their program has
come a long way in the short time they’ve been partners. Cox relates how the
friendship came to be:
“I was at the drag strip and heard this awful noise coming by. I mean, it was
flying. There was a big, stand-up, three-hundred-sixty-nine dollar NAPA battery
charger with wheels on it, and they are dragging it 30 miles an hour through the
pits. I run out there and stop him and say, ‘Hey man, wait a minute. You’re
dragging your battery charger. It’s hooked to the car.’ He jumps out, wraps the
cable around it and says, ‘Hold this. I’ll be right back.’ They make a run. They
come back. I look at him and said, ‘You got the fastest battery charger in the
world.’ Ever since then me and him hit it off. He went to a couple races with us
and got to liking it. The more he liked it, the more he wanted to get involved.
I had home built stuff. My motor was from Charlie, but it was 100 cubic inches
smaller than everybody else. I had a car we had built ourselves. It worked good
and ran good. Bryant would talk a little junk. Other people would talk a little
junk. They’d outrun us. We would get something a little better and then go
outrun them.
“With Bryant what you see is what you get. He don’t hide nothing. He tells you
exactly how he feels. He will jump right up and get in your face in the middle
of church if he wants to. Loves to stir the pot. Even in my hometown where
everybody knows me and they watch us on the Live Feed, I come home and the first
thing they say is, ‘Bryant was doing back flips on the starting line!’ Bryant is
good for drag racing. He brings that excitement and extra little bit of effort.
“It’s hard not to get along with Bryant. That’s the one thing that’s kinda
unbelievable for me - since day one he’s never told me what to do. Just have fun
and win. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I made mistakes last year that cost us
some money and hurt us a little bit. He never got mad at me. That takes a lot of
pressure off. There’s enough pressure racing against the fastest guys in the
world.”
Although Cox handles driving and tuning, he is quick to point out that his
success would not be possible without several minds coming together. Crewman
Dennis Bennett and Cox’s father make up the team effort with Marriner. “I can’t
take credit for none of it solely myself,” Cox adds. “Tuning one of these cars
and running fast is honestly pretty easy. But to go out there and run PDRA with
the fastest nitrous cars in the world is very difficult. Without three or four
minds coming together it would be really hard and stressful at times.”
The stress level and the smack talk are both likely to increase as the PDRA
nears the halfway point in its season. As the points battle plays out round by
round the world’s top Pro Nitrous competitors will be gunning for each other,
fighting to be top dog in one of the toughest classes in all of drag racing.
Watch Cox and Bryant defend their points lead at the upcoming North-South
Shootout at Maryland International Raceway, July 14-16. Tickets and full event
information can be found at www.pdra660.com, or watch online via the Motor Mania
Live Feed.
Photo: Gary Rowe / RaceWorks.com / PDRA660.com
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 2016 PDRA schedule consists of nine
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.
PRESS CONTACT: Lisa Collier
Professional Drag Racers Association
lisa@pdra660.com
704.692.4636 |
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