Headline: Big Names Who Tried Drag Racing

That was the only race Pastorini won, but Couch said, “He fought hard and eventually got the Coors deal. But nothing was easy back then. We were just going down the road, doing what we do. He had so much talent, and people loved that guy. He was so popular. At every race, people would go, ‘Hey, Dan, let’s throw the football’ in the pit area. One time he threw the ball, and whoever he threw it to fumbled it and it went on top of a Rolls Royce that (belonged to) a friend of Don Garlits and bent the hood all up. It got ugly. I still see the guy at nostalgia races, and he tells me the story every time. But we had some good times. Dan had so much talent, and he was good with people. We fought hard to keep that thing on the road.”

Although it has been years since Pastorini drove a dragster, from all indications, it might not be a surprise if he were to show up at the next March Meet or Hot Rod Reunion, because he reportedly still fancies the fast lane.

The Smothers Brothers comedy/singing duo briefly explored drag racing, and at the November NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., boxing great Floyd Mayweather helped bankroll the Top Fuel efforts of longtime buddy Maurice Dupont.

They’re all among the celebrities who have attended or somehow participated in drag racing, and Roush believes the sport has the potential to attract many more.

“If the hospitals, with all of their medical science, could find a way to put somebody in a tube and blow them out to a drag strip whenever a Top Fuel car or Funny Car is getting ready to make a pass, it would have a more rejuvenating effect than the electric shockers they put on your chest when your heart stops,” Roush said.

“To stand on the starting line to watch a Top Fuel car or a Funny Car make a burnout or even stand behind a Pro Stock car today and listen to what’s going on with that equipment, there’s a level of excitement, there’s a level of percussion. If you could take some of the folks who are excited about NASCAR and go stand them on the starting line and let them watch what goes on there, they would have a new appreciation for the sport, and I think there would be more drag racing fans among the folks that are already fans of NASCAR or IndyCar than there are today.

“I believe that if there’s life someplace else in the universe that could look down (at the Earth) and see what’s going on, I think they would find a unique energy source in what happens at our drag strips that would go across millions of miles.”

This story appeared in the Jan. 11 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.