LITTLE ROCK — Arkansan finds home in UAE
It was a long road that brought Rod Fuller back to the seat of an NHRA top fuel dragster, one that took him halfway around the world.
Fuller, of Rogers, competed in an NHRA event for the first time sinceSeptember when he made the field for last Sunday’s Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Sonoma, Calif. He lost in the first round afterqualifying seventh, but it failed to curb his enthusiasm.
“It’s great to be back, certainly,” Fuller said Thursday from Denver, where he will race in this weekend’s Mopar Mile-High Nationals. “We’re definitely excited about the future.
This is a great team and operation.”
Fuller’s team is based in the United Arab Emirates capital city of Abu Dhabi, where he now lives.
In January, Fuller and fellow driver Tommy Johnson Jr. were hired by Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management to help introduce drag racing to the oil-rich country. ADMM owns the $400 million Yas Drag Racing Centre, which is part of the sprawling Yas Marina Circuit complex, the host for this year’s seasonending Formula One race.
The team’s long-term goalis for Fuller to again race full time on the NHRA circuit and to develop a team for United Arab Emirates drivers to compete in the United States as well.
“My biggest job is teaching the people over here how to drive these cars,” said Fuller, who has seven career top fuel victories. “It is an incredible opportunity.”
In 2008, Fuller finished one round shy of winning the top fuel world championship - Tony Schumacher surpassed him in the final race of the final event of the year. Less than a year later, Fuller was without a ride.
“Basically, you can parallel what happened to me with what happened to the American economy,” he said. “My car owner [David Powers] was a home builder and my main sponsor [Caterpillar] was based in construction. When the economy went bad, so did I.
“After that, it was impossible to find sponsorship to go racing.
From nearly winning a championship to nothing, that was me.”
In addition to being extremely well-funded, Fuller’s new team also has plenty of top-notch experience. It is supported by parts and personnel from Don Schumacher Racing, the team of seven-time top fuel champion Tony Schumacher, and Fuller has been reunited with his former crew chief, Lee Beard.
Fuller said after Denver, he will race in the U.S.
Nationals on Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis and at Charlotte, N.C., on Sept.
16-19. Afterward, the car and team will return to Abu Dhabi for winter events.
Fuller’s first run in theUnited Arab Emirates was during an exhibition in March, when he clocked a run of 3.873 seconds at a tick over 499 kilometers per hour (310 mph), the fastest run ever outside the United States. The people, Fuller said, were mesmerized by the 8,000-horsepower top fuel cars.
“They told me that after the run, the people were just deathly quiet,” he said.
“They just stood there for about five or six seconds.
Then they erupted, gave me a standing ovation when I came back.
“Our sport has a future over here.” Rilat injured
Former American Sprint Car Series champion Travis Rilat of Forney, Texas, and acrew member suffered serious burns last Sunday after an illfated incident in Sedro-Wooley, Wash.
The crew member, AustralianTyson Perez, died in a Seattle hospital Wednesday morning.
A report in the Skagit Valley Herald said the two had lit a 55-gallon barrel on fire after pouring 4 gallons of methanol, a racing fuel, into it, then sitting on top of it in attempt to get a “barrel ride.” The ensuing explosion shot one end of the barrel more than 120 feet away.
Both men were flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Rilat, the 2003 ASCS national champion, suffered second- and third-degree burns overapproximately 70 percent of his body and is expected to remain at the Harborview burn unit for two to three months. Perez’s injuries were more severe, and he was removed from life support Wednesday morning.
Rilat raced last Friday and Saturday in an ASCS event at Elma, Wash., and was scheduled to race with the series this weekend in Cottage Grove, Ore.
In last Saturday night’s event, 2000 ASCS champion Wayne Johnson of Oklahoma City suffered a severely broken leg in a crash. He has since undergone two surgeries in Seattle and is expected to make a full recovery.
Last laps
Former Little Rock resident John Edwards and co-driverAdam Christodoulou of Great Britain finished second in the Rolex Sports Car GT Division at Millville, N.J., last Sunday.
It was theirfifth consecutive top-five finish, a string that includes a victory at Lakeville, Conn., on May 31 and another second-place finish June 19 at Lexington, Ohio. ... Late models will race at two state tracks tonight.
Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway will host the final night of a two-day event with the O’Reilly Southern United Professional Racing series.
Also, Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove will conclude Round 4 of the Isle of Capri Late Model Series event.
Sports, Pages 24 on 07/24/2010