A look at why Stevie Fast is the best thing for Drag Racing since the 90's
/That title in itself is a huge statement now isn't it? Well the fact of the matter is that the reason it's such a huge bold statement is because it's true. The fact is that Stevie Fast, like him or hate him, is the best thing to happen to drag racing since Pat and Tony had it out in the 90's!
You may scratch your head a little and wonder why it is that I would say these things. It's simple really, name me one personality in drag racing that has talked as much smack, been as flamboyant, been up in your face, made you laugh, all the while backing it up with real on track performance in not only one class, but in two. With not only one type of power adder, but multiple setups. There isn't a single person you can think of is there?
Stevie really started to become a household name years ago in his days with ORSCA and nothing has really changed since then. He has the ability to make your blood boil if you are a fan of the guy in the other lane, but he has the ability to make you laugh when he posts videos on the internet. His interviews are legendary, and for someone at such a young age to make such an impact on a sport that has been around since the first two cars, that's saying something. He has already won in grudge, Pro Mod, Radial, and smack talking.
Rivalries in any sport are great, but they are even better when the competition is on the same level as you. No one likes a rivalry game where one side sucks and the other side walks in, donkey stomps them, and walks out. The Yankees have the Red Sox, The Packers have the Bears, The Lakers had the Celtics, and then there was Pat Musi and Tony Christian. That was a rivalry for the ages in drag racing. And yes there have been others, but in the last 25 years there hasn't been a better one on a bigger stage than those two. They told ya what they thought and if you didn't like it then too bad.
Stevie Jackson is cut from the cloth of a Tony and Pat. He loves the competition of racing and he loves to win. He will call you out and make you look like a fool. In a day and age of political correctness, Stevie Jackson is the person in charge of revolution. It might be a grudge race or it might be a Pro Mod race in PDRA. Heck, it certainly might be in the Shadow version 2.0 coming to Georgia in October as well.
Stevie, along with Keith Haney and Jay Cox have single-handedly put nitrous pro mod racing back on the map. Their back and forth on social media, in interviews, and on the track has made that class one of the biggest attractions in drag racing. He puts butts in the seats no matter what track and no matter what car he is driving.
Recently, Stevie was in Bristol, TN consulting with the 2x NHRA Pro Stock World Champion Erica Enders and her team on their EFI program. For those that don't think that's a big deal, you might want to rethink that. having someone of Stevie caliber from the outlaw world go over there and help them, just solidifies what he is capable of.
Stevie is a winner, and that's the way he thinks. He is never resting while waiting for the competition to catch up. He is out there looking for ways to stay in front of the competition. Whether it's parts, testing, tuning, or finding business partners for racing, he is out there hustling. He's not out there worried about hurting your feelings by something he says, or whether what he says is "PC Enough". He is there to win!
So what makes him so different than the rest of the drivers out there? The answer can be given in one simple word...Robot. Stevie is not a robot like a lot of others out there that never want to offend anyone, that want to play it safe. Stevie is off the cuff 100% of the time. When you do an interview with him, you never know what you are going to get, but you can bet it's going to be good! While yes, there are some other characters out there today, there is nobody like Stevie. You want to make drag racing interesting to the general public? Figure out a way to clone Stevie, along with a few others. You will have mom's and daughters running for the hills.
It is refreshing for someone to have the run what ya brung and hope you brung enough attitude. There are a lot of teams and drivers that could learn from Stevie. There are a lot of businesses that would also gain from being on board with Stevie. Outside of NHRA, I don't know of a single drag racing team except EKanoo Racing, that has such a large social media following as well (And trust me, I follow these things).
We know there is a lot going on in the Stevie Fast camp for not only 2016, but as well as 2017. Stay tuned though, because I think the GAPP band is starting to get tuned up like a Jimi Hendrix guitar right before Woodstock. Hold on tight and watch what happens.