And in a sport dominated by corporate sponsorship, being an independent Top Fuel owner/driver places Baca firmly on the United States Endangered Species List between the California Condor and the Northern Spotted Owl.

But unlike the California Condor, this California native has managed to flourish in his environment. 

Married to wife Michele with two children, Baca owns and operates All State Contract Floors, a flooring business serving builders and contractors throughout California.  And in addition to those time-demanding commitments, he’s also competing in the full 23-race NHRA POWERade schedule in Top Fuel.

Drag racing has been such an important part of Baca’s life that the second-generation Top Fuel driver proudly proclaims, "I came from the womb to the drag strip; when I came out I was smelling nitro."  Baca’s father, Dennis, raced throughout California and most notably won the 1977 U.S. Nationals and the 1977 World Finals.  The early imprinting of the smell of nitro and the sight of watching drag racing legend Don "Big Daddy" Garlits has remained with him ever since.

Baca’s drag racing career began in Top Alcohol Funny Car in the late 80s and he earned his first win in 1989.  In 2003 at the age of 45, he competed in his first full rookie season in Top Fuel, finishing an impressive seventh in points.  And although Baca’s rookie stripe might have had some gray in it, he said that being a 45-year-old rookie had one distinct advantage: "Experience."  That’s a quality that neither corporate sponsorship nor cash can overcome.

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For 2005, Baca said that experience once again will be the key to his success as an independent owner/driver.

"You look around here [In the pits], and what teams haul ass: they have an old guy," Baca said.  "And I don’t mean that negatively.  There’s not a whole lot of new young guys that are running like the old guys.  I think with my father coming back, and Larry Meyer, we have a lot of combined knowledge on how these motors run.  And the old guys are different than us new guys because they understand the combustion motor probably better than you and I.  So from that perspective, we feel that we have what it takes to compete with those guys."

Just because Baca says that his team can compete with the other corporate teams doesn’t mean he would turn away corporate sponsorship.  While drag racing fans know that the Top Fuel machines run on nitromethane, Baca knows they really run on cash—and lots of it.

"Do we like using our own money?  No," Baca said.  "Do we wish someone would come along and give us a hand?  Yes."

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So why does a race team that finished seventh in the points in 2003, and 13th in the points in 2004—despite running only 16 races—not have a major corporate sponsor? 

Well, that’s a question that Baca still is asking himself.

"It’s really amazing to me if a new sponsor comes along and they don’t consider our team," Baca said.  "I actually get insulted.  So then I wonder what the heck is going on directing these potential sponsors.  They [NHRA] say they don’t direct people; I disagree with that.  If you are head of this machine, the worst thing you can have is five, eight car teams."

The conversation quickly turned as David Baca the Top Fuel driver became David Baca the business man.

"I believe as a business man that I would much rather have 22 single-car teams, or 18 single-car teams and four, two car teams so that I have a healthy sport," Baca said.  "The worst that can happen is if one of the bigger team owners says ‘I’m done.’  But I’m not here to run their business.  I do this for fun."

And few things in drag racing bring Baca more enjoyment than beating those multiple-car teams on Sunday. 
 
"It’s great to knock off the big dogs," Baca said.  "That’s why a couple of my buddies nicknamed us ‘the spoiler.’  When you think about it, that’s kind of what we are: we are the spoiler.  We are here to spoil the day.  We are here to cause you conflict.  I’m the guy that’s going to throw that spoke in your cog; I’m the guy that’s going to make you go over the handle bars."

Don’t think that Baca is content with the role of a "spoiler."  Until the NHRA starts handing out a "Wally," prize money, and championship points for that moniker, it just isn’t enough for him. 

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"Do I get upset when we don’t go the whole mile out here?  You bet your ass," Baca Said.  "That’s the competitive spirit in me." 

It’s that competitive spirit that Baca inherited from his father, Dennis.  And although the two didn’t associate for what Baca only describes as a "spell," they have since repaired their damaged relationship.  As important as it is to have an "old guy" on your race team, Baca said it’s more important to have your "old man" by your side.

"It’s a sad scenario when two people don’t settle their differences, and one of them passes," Baca said.  "And then you wish you could have settled something with someone, but you didn’t.  Fortunately for me and dad, that’s not going to happen."

What independent owner/driver David Baca hopes will happen is that a major corporate sponsor will eventually join his family operation.  It’s important to note that Baca has acquired Don Steves Chevrolet as an associate sponsor for his team.  Don’t recognize the sponsor?  Well, there was another struggling independent racer years ago that carried Steves’ sponsorship before he became drag racing’s Goliath.  His name?