FOR TODD VENE
J
ust days after the 2016 season
started at the NHRA Winternationals
in February, veteran Top Alcohol Funny
Car driver Todd Veney shocked the alcohol racing world when he announced via
his Facebook page that he would not be
returning to drive Jay Blake’s Permatex/
Follow A Dream Camaro. Instead, the
second-generation driver accepted an offer to
become a pit producer for the new NHRA on
FOX broadcast team. Veney always dreamed of
being the driver of a top-notch alcohol Funny
Car, but the offer to be a part of the historic new
television package was too tempting.
92 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
How the writer-racer
added yet another
line to his resume and
fights the urge to return
to the driver’s seat
BY NATE VAN WAGNEN
Drag racing is all Veney has ever known, and
that’s exactly why he was hired as a pit producer
despite having zero experience working in television. His father is the legendary Ken Veney,
who was the seventh-winningest driver in NHRA
history when he retired from driving alcohol cars
in 1985. Todd began campaigning his own IHRA
Top Alcohol Funny Car in 1995 before switching
to NHRA competition in 2000. He drove for
Jeff McGaffic from 2000 until 2002 and Blake
in 2003, then went back to fielding his own car
with Ken serving as the crew chief. The father-son
team won the younger Veney’s first NHRA divisional event in 2006, but Todd is perhaps best
Issue 112