GEARHEAD GETS GOING - When Scott Weney died of a brain aneurism in the pits of Bradenton Motorsports Park last November, Scotty Richardson feared that was it for their hopes of resurrecting the once proud and popular Florida Winter Series that included bracket races at Bradenton, Orlando and West Palm Beach.

"Over the years it had lost a lot of its prestige and luster so last year me and Scott, we decided we'd try to bring it back," explained Richardson, a multi-time NHRA sportsman champion and drag racing school operator who co-promoted the race with Weney in 2014. "We wanted to put it together where all the bracket racers from across the country could come and compete down here to see who the best of the best really is."

Richardson said he and Weney, a past IHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car champion and president of S&W Race Cars when he passed away, were feeling encouraged when last year's event drew nearly 150 entries to Bradenton--and then tragedy struck. Devastated by the loss of his friend and business partner, Richardson felt the dream was done until meeting with Jeff Stange of Strange Engineering this spring.

"Jeff knew me and Scott pretty well, but separately, and we both agreed we wanted to keep the race going in Scott's memory and in his honor," Richardson said.
That meeting led to the creation of the Gearhead Racing Series (GRS), with this year's Fun in the Sun being its inaugural outing. Stange said he expects to add at least one more event next fall, with Richardson in charge as the active GRS promoter. 

"I'll be helping to market, promote, show up at the events, and get involved with other manufacturers to help it along. Eventually we'll be doing bracket races, index races, events about this size with maybe 170 to 250 cars, nothing larger than that," Stange said in staging lanes at Bradenton. "We want to add another one next year and then we'll keep adding them throughout the country. We want to keep it where it's more of a localized thing, though."

Recognizing the changing landscape of drag racing, Stange said it's important for companies like Strange and other high-performance parts manufacturers and suppliers to adapt and service new customers.

"We want to involve and work with other manufacturers in the Gearhead Racing Series--including with our competitors. It's more about marketing and providing sponsors with a good place to come, meet their customers and work with them in a more laid-back atmosphere. That's really what it's all about. I don't like to use the term 'grassroots' too much, but it's old-school racing, that's kind of what it's all about," Stange said.

He emphasized the GRS will be designed to appeal most to racers who tend to stay closer to home, whether for travel costs or work-related reasons.

"The thing is, racers want to race and that's one thing I really like about the bracket racing. Like here, you have five chances to race, plus special events, so even if you lost one night you still have other opportunities to get out there and run your car," Stange said of the five-races-in-four-days format for Fun in the Sun this year. "But usually we'll try to keep things to a couple of days, maybe race on Friday night, all day Saturday, then go home on Sunday. We want to make it so people can afford to travel and race and have entry fees that are not outrageous and free tickets and we'll work with track owners who share that kind of philosophy.

"Really, it's all about growing the sport and not at all about short-term making money. For me, I'd like to see the sport grow long-term because when it grows, Strange hopefully grows, as well as other manufacturers. And I want to see other manufacturers grow, including our competitors."

For Richardson, the alliance with Stange and the Gearhead Racing Series offers the opportunity to continue an effort Weney undoubtedly would have supported, too.

"Last year was obviously not a great ending to a good storybook start and this year we're down about 30 cars from where I'd like to be, but the deal is that we want to kind of build a base that we can grow on top of," Richardson said. 

"The truth is there's too many end-of-the-year races right now, but we're going to be doing a few more things in the coming years to make this a little bit more special; add some more money to it, drop the entry fees, stuff like that to make it different from anybody else. Our goal from the very beginning has been to make something that's better for the racers."

GRANNY'S CHEVELLE - His grandmother bought Mark Mullen's pristine Chevelle new in 1966 and it passed through his older brother before Mullen finally got his hands on it in 1980 as a 14 year old. "I'm 49 now, so that's what, 35 years? I started driving it on the street and racing it when I was 16 and it's been racing ever since," said Mullen, who has scored multiple wins and even a couple of divisional championships in the car, most recently the 2013 IHRA Hot Rod Div. 2 title after winning five of eight races that year.

The classic Chevy currently carries a 427 built by Mullen and Herb Yancer at Competitive Edge Racing Engines in Sarasota, FL. Mullen, who lives about 40 miles south of the Bradenton track in North Port, FL, teaches auto mechanics at Suncoast Technical College.

His best result at the Fun in the Sun event was a quarter-final finish in the last of five races over the weekend.