Drag Illustrated Issue 179, November / December 2022 | Page 108

CHEVY

FLOYD

■ FORMER JR . DRAGSTER racer Chevy “ Hollywood ” Floyd confesses he didn ’ t really hit his stride until he got into “ big cars ,” starting out in bracket dragsters before stepping up to his father ’ s Camaro in local 4.70 index races . He won a handful of races and finished second in the 4.70 points series in his first season .
After that strong debut season , the Floyds purchased a ’ 63 Corvette that Tommy Mauney built in 1995 for Mitch Stott . The car traded hands a few times , eventually ending up as John Lyman ’ s second “ Lil ’ Red ” Corvette . Mauney updated the car with the latest technology several years ago , then the Floyds picked it up . It currently sports a 521ci Brad Anderson Hemi topped with a 14- 71 supercharger . The combination is versatile , allowing Floyd to run anything from Farmington Dragway ’ s Mad Dawg 4.50 index series to Piedmont Dragway ’ s Big Dog Shootouts and PDRA Top Sportsman .
“ I want people to know how good Tommy Mauney ’ s stuff is ,” says Floyd , 24 . “ It ’ s pretty crazy that we can go out there and run 4.50s with the same motor , same transmission , same gear , everything else , and we throw a pile of weight on it and change superchargers , and maybe tweak the four-link a little bit , and we can go out there and run 3.90s , maybe 3.80s .”
Floyd ’ s biggest accomplishment this season was winning the Mad Dawg championship at Farmington . Organized by Mark Joyce and Sandy Collins , it ’ s a 4.50 index series with several races throughout the season . Floyd went into the season finale leading the points with one win . He knocked out his closest challenger in the second round , securing the title .
“ It ’ s so tough to win in that series ,” says Floyd , who also has a PDRA Top Sportsman win to his name . “ If you ’ re not . 020 total or better , you might as well just leave it at the starting line . Any given Saturday that they have a race , anybody there has a chance to win it , that ’ s how good the cars are and how good the series has gotten . So for me to win that championship this year was incredible .”
Though it was Floyd in the driver ’ s seat , literally and figuratively , he realizes there are a lot of people who contributed to his success . Among them is VP Racing Fuels ’ Freddie Turza , who first met Floyd at a local baseball game several years ago and has supported his racing career ever since .
Floyd also credits the Coble family at Coble Enterprises , Tommy Mauney , Mark Joyce with MJ Printing & Graphics , Shane Decker with the Farm Bureau , the Sturgill family at Sturgill Engineering , Carr Ward at Hedgecock Building Supplies , and Big Dog crew chief Charles Terrell , who was also his father ’ s Big Dog crew chief back in the day .
But Floyd ’ s biggest supporters are obviously his parents , Keith and Candy . They ’ ve supported the rapid evolution of his career , and it ’ s Floyd ’ s mission to race on the sport ’ s biggest stages because of them . His goals include winning a Big Dog championship and someday racing in PDRA Pro Boost and NHRA Pro Mod .
“ I just want to be successful and make it for my parents , man . That ’ s my goal ,” says Floyd , who works in the custom home construction business . “ My parents have worked their tails off for me . Had two jobs when I was growing up just so we could go racing . Now they work their butts off even harder . I owe everything to them .” – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
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