but the appeal of those classes wasn’t
there for us personally The PDRA is
all about heads up
racing, and we’ve spent many years in
different heads up arenas. So then we
started thinking that if we are going
to heads up race we want to do it with
something unique. That led us down the
road that ended with a meeting with
Mr. David Elsberry, new owner of
Montgomery Raceway Park.”
Huddleston continued, “We originally
went down to look at a pair of cars
Mr. Elsberry had for sale. The first
being a ‘63 Corvette he had and the
second being the original Lowmad.
After some discussion we had pretty
well settled on the ‘63 ‘vette, even
though in our eyes it lacked the ‘curb
appeal’ of the older Lowmad. That was
when Mr. Elsberry pulled back the
cover on the newer Lowmad we’ve all
seen compete in Pro Extreme. After
some discussion about it, he was kind
enough to offer her up to us as the
next ‘Caretakers’ in its storied
history. As a family we knew
immediately that this wasn’t an
opportunity we could pass up. We
certainly want to take the chance to
thank Mr. Elsberry for giving us the
opportunity to carry on the Lowmad for
years to come.”
Huddleston bought the car nearly
turn-key and had a mostly ready made
Pro Boost operation within a few
hours. “I literally thought I was
going to buy a rolling car and have to
go get a motor and transmission and
all the other stuff. By the end of it,
I had purchased the majority of the
car. We went from Sunday morning not
having the main piece needed to run a
race team to Sunday evening having the
majority of what we needed in one
purchase. And for that to happen three
days before the PRI starts - well,
some of us work well under pressure,
so here we are.”
On the business side of things,
Huddleston Performance will increase
their sponsorship level and maintain a
greater presence at PDRA events.
“We’ve been a supporter of various
series and races for a long time,”
Huddleston explained. “While we always
want to be a major sponsor of in the
Junior world, we really wanted to
branch out in a way that didn’t feel
like we were ‘preaching to the choir’
so to speak. We still want to support
those races, but we want to hit the
untapped markets as well. With the
PDRA’s ticket model, it draws a person
that maybe can’t purchase a new Pro
Mod, but very well may be interested
in a Junior Dragster for their young
driver. It seemed like it would be a
good fit for us. And it turns out
that’s correct. We get asked questions
that only those who haven’t been
around the sport a lot would ask. The
truth is you want those questions to
be asked because that tells you the
guy you’re talking to is new, and we
just get inundated with that when we
go to PDRA events. So it’s been a
really good fit for us. One thing I’ve
got to say is that we’ve really been
welcomed by the PDRA bunch. I feel
like we’re a very small fish in a very
big pond and nobody treats us that
way. They’ve put a good organization
together. This one is the real deal.
“For 2015 we have upped our sponsor
level. We’re now sponsoring one of the
TV spots next season. I can speak for
everyone in the shop when I say we’re
excited about this opportunity to grow
our exposure through the PDRA. To be
able to take Junior Drag Racing to a
place it has never been before is
thrilling for all of us at Huddleston
Performance.
“I feel like it’s a great connection,”
Bo added. “Many of the junior racers
we come in contact with hope to one
day compete in a professional class
with the PDRA. They have the dream of
growing up to be a Pro Mod driver.
That’s a big part of the draw for
starting out with the PDRA for them.
So to now have a former junior driver
in Thomas living the dream, so to
speak, is pretty cool.”
The Huddleston family plan on testing
the Lowmad in February in preparation
for the PDRA season opener at Texas
Motorplex March 20-21.
For more on Huddleston Performance,
visit their website:
http://www.huddlestonperformance.com
or check them out on Facebook at
www.Facebook.com/HuddlestonPerformance.
For more on the world’s premier eighth
mile drag racing organization visit
www.pdra660.com.
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PRESS CONTACT: Lisa Collier
Professional Drag Racers Association
lisa@pdra660.com
704.692.4636
Photo: Gary Rowe / RaceWorks.com /
PDRA660.com