On the run with George Scott, driver of the Turbo Technology Chevrolet Camaro Super Gasser

Drag racing has always been a part of my life. During the era in which I grew up, cruising and working on cars was what we kids put our energy into. It was either work on cars and race them or get into trouble. We chose to race, and growing up in Southern California, we had Lions Drag Strip and Orange County Int’l Raceway to keep us occupied. I met my wife, Jolene, through my passion for racing.

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I have only been racing for about six years and was fortunate to have won the 2002 Northwest Division Super Gas championship. Though I didn’t win a race, much less advance to a final round, consistency was the key to winning last year’s championship. No matter if it is the first or the final round, in Super Gas you are always racing the timing system. Hitting that dial is key. On race day, you need to tune out who is in the other lane and just race your car in your lane. Because of the setup that we run, I believe that forcing the other racer to break out helped me gain those valuable points. Because our car runs big speed, about 170 mph, I can chase down the other guy.

Dialing the car and making it run consistently on the 9.90 dial can be a bit intimidating. Normally, because we can run the big speed, the driver in the opposite lane is out in front of me right until the end. Knowing that I am coming from behind can force them to push their cars to the stripe and subsequently break out. My being able to run the big speeds and having a consistent car can be credited to family and friends.

My wife is my crew chief, and our daughters are the crew. My engine is one of a kind and was built by my friend, Mike Ferderer. Mike is very well-known and respected in the drag racing community, and I will admit I was a bit intimidated by him. I knew of him but had never approached him at the races, even though we race in the same division and in the same class. I finally worked up the nerve to talk with him and ask for some advice on how to set up my car. He was gracious and offered his help. At that race, we went a few more rounds than what we would have gone on our own, and I began going to him more often. Mike is so knowledgeable; he probably has forgotten more things on how to set up a race car than I will ever learn, but that is what motivates me to race. People like Mike and other Sportsman racers I meet at NHRA events make it all worth it.

The camaraderie of drag racers is like nothing else in the world. No matter if it is a divisional race or a national event, I always make a new friend by the end of the weekend. Normally, wherever you are pitted, someone next to you or in front of you will come over and introduce themselves and offer to help sometime during the course of the weekend. If I have a broken part or need some assistance, someone that I just met always offers a spare part or some advice - it never fails. The nature of drag racing is that one minute you are being helped by the guy pitted next to you, and a half hour later you’re pulling up to the water box ready to race that person. All racers want to win, but no one wants to win because their opponent is back in the pits with a broken race car. I think we all would rather win or lose knowing that we won fair and square and it wasn’t handed to us cheaply.

Racing is a great family diversion for us; my girls are even considering taking up bracket racing. The girls do not compete in the Jr. Drag Racing League, but when the time is right, they will get into their own bracket cars. All of my daughters - Dana, Tiffany, Ashley, and Stephanie - know a lot about cars. I am willing to bet that they know more about cars and drag racing than most of the boys at their school.

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