Drag Illustrated Issue 120, April 2017 | Page 40

Q

& A By

Danny Topol

Brandon W . Mudd

If you ’ re reading this , odds are drag racing isn ’ t something new . As such , you know our sport is filled with interesting people ; people who make drag racing great again with innovation and passion . Danny Topol is one of those folks . A drag racer , a tattoo shop owner , as well as the promoter for the West Coast Hot Rod Association , the Las Vegas resident has some ideas on how to improve the on-track product .

And he wasn ’ t shy about sharing those ideas .
What makes the West Coast Hot Rod Association different from other series ?
Our program is a little different with being grudge eighth-mile . There ’ s no times with an insta-green tree . Now if you run brackets , it ’ s a traditional quarter mile with a regular tree . With our thing , it ’ s a card draw . You might not be the fastest guy , but shit , you could get some easier rounds and not have to face that number-one guy in the first round in every race where you qualify like we used to have . There ’ s some differences in ours . Drag racing has to change a little bit because it ’ s getting boring . If you do the same thing over and over , it ’ s going to get stagnant . So what we do different is card draw , insta-green tree , eighth-mile , very loose rules .
With that situation with the scoreboards being off , honestly the fans don ’ t know if you ’ re a tenth or twotenths behind . And when you ’ re going 4.0s , 4.10s , you don ’ t know that you ran a 4.20 and the guy in front of you ran a 4.0 flat and become disheartened because , God , I ’ m doing everything I can , but I ’ m a little bit behind here . And some people don ’ t like that , so they end up getting discouraged and stop . Whereas , when you ’ re racing something in the street , let ’ s face it , you don ’ t know if you ’ re a tenth or two-tenths behind if you ’ re hauling ass . I think it gives you that perception that you ’ re still competitive and you are in a lot of instances , especially when you ’ re not going up against the number-one guy in the first round .
How did you get started with the West Coast Hot Rod Association ?
Basically , I ’ ve always raced . I grew up in a racing family . About seven or eight years ago , me and my wife , Michelle , who ’ s heavily involved , we went out and helped Tim Rigby and a gentleman named Tim Hubbert , who owned it at the time . They wanted to hand us money for coming out and helping and we said , ‘ No , we just wanted to be involved .’ That ’ s how it started . We gave them a hand for a couple races and then at the end of that season , Derrol Hubbard was going Pro Mod racing and the opportunity came up to own 50 percent of West Coast and we ended up owning 50 percent . This year , we ended up getting the other 50 percent , so we ’ re now the full owners of the West Coast Hot Rod Association .
What are the differences between running on the West Coast and running on the East Coast or South or Midwest ?
That ’ s a great question . They probably don ’ t want to read this part , but the West Coast stands out for the wrong reasons . We stand out for the lack of cars , lack of car count , lack of support . So that ’ s a great question , but kind of a shitty answer . What I ’ m trying to do with West Coast Hot Rod and all the sponsors we have behind us and racers is change that and get it back to where it used to be , back in the ‘ 60s and ‘ 70s when the West Coast was where drag racing was . If you were anybody , you ’ d come to the West . Now , if you ’ re a big-name guy , most of them want to go East .
The problem in the West is , geographically , we have calendars . You guys ( in the East ) have tracks very close to each other ... so more people are going to build cars and race and things like that . The racing on the West is , weatherwise , better than most because we can race all the way to the week after Thanksgiving . And we can start back up at the end of January .
Drag racing promotion can be such as thankless profession . What keeps you coming back for more ?
I think the big difference with West Coast Hot Rod versus a lot of series , especially the bigger ones , like one that starts with an N and ends with an A , they don ’ t know their racers . I know my racers because I am a racer . Our slogan is ‘ For Racers , By Racers .’ When you come to our races , I don ’ t care if you ’ re in Pro Mod or if you ’ re in Pro Bracket . We treat you like a king , we put you on a pedestal because let ’ s face it , not everyone can financially afford to race anything , much less a drag car . There is value in your time and your income . It requires both to be able to race .
I know people who spend five percent of their income and they ’ re very wealthy and can afford to run Pro Mod and I know people who spend 25 percent of their income to run Pro Bracket . So what makes that guy that only spends five percent of his income in Pro Mod any more valuable or more important than the guy who spends 25 percent of his money to run Pro Bracket ? I treat them the same . All of them , I treat them like kings , from Pro Mod to Pro Bracket . We have very good payouts and we have a lot of fun at our races .
I mean , the biggest thing in the world is , if you ’ re not having fun , you ’ re going to stop doing it . There ’ s no reason to keep doing it if you ’ re not having fun . DI
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