SNOHOMISH, Wash. — Travis Shumake, son of the late Funny Car driver Tripp Shumake, plans to join the wave of second-generation NHRA drag racers later this year when he completes his licensing requirements.
That’s not particularly earth-shaking news, even if his father was one of the most popular personalities in the pits before a hit-and-run driver traveling on the wrong side of the road near their home in Chandler, Ariz., caused his death in November 1999.
What might be newsworthy is that Travis Shumake will become the Camping World Drag Racing Series’ first openly gay driver.
“I’ve been planning this for a very long time. I was waiting to pull the trigger,” Shumake, 36, said. “As everyone would say, going through COVID helped me kind of realign my priorities, just allowed me to take this chance. For me, it’s always been Funny Car. That’s where I belong. I want this for my dad, and I want this for our sport. And I’m only getting older, so let’s try it.”
He added, “I do think it’s going to open additional doors for me, but not just for me — for the sport. And that’s kind of the conversations I’m having with the NHRA. I’m not just going to take (another racer’s) sponsorship. Ideally, I’m going to be bringing in new money to the sport and new eyes that are interested in being a part of this first test of the waters in this area. Maybe it’ll hinder me within the sport, with existing sponsors, but as far as getting new dollars in, I think it’s going to be a great tool.
“Corporate support of the LGBTQ+ community should be represented on the race track, as well,” he said. “Bringing new fans and sponsors to the fastest growing motorsport in the world is a win-win for everyone involved. Someone will be the first. It’s only a matter of time. I certainly don’t want to exploit it, but it’s certainly something that will bring, I think, some new eyes and new dollars to the table. I do think it’s a really good thing for the sport.”
Money is the lifeblood of all racing operations, and if Shumake is to break any barrier, that’s what he’s going to need — and lots of it. And he’s right that, as we saw in June, which somebody somewhere designated “Pride Month,” plenty of companies added rainbows to their logos. So chances are strong he’ll find a marketing partner for his racing operation.
Besides, Shumake is skilled at raising money. That’s what he does for a living — he’s the development officer for a New York City-based global non-profit organization. “I’m always shaking hands and asking for large checks,” the affable Shumake said. And that right there can help him make friends in the pits. Who doesn’t want to learn that secret?
Ultimately, Shumake will need to find that balance between making the most of what he believes is his unique selling proposition when it comes to marketing for his race team and making the most of his opportunity to be a race car driver.
The fact he is gay will matter more for him in the boardroom than on the race track. No one he pulls up next to at the starting line will care if he is gay or straight. His ability to drive a race car is what he will and should be judged on.
Knowing that performance on the track is what counts, Shumake said, “That’s a lot of pressure.” One of his racing mentors told him, essentially, “You’ve got to be good, too, Travis, if you get this to happen. You don’t want to be the guy who was gay and terrible.”
Shumake said he has been “back and forth on playing up the gay card, but I think it’s a good business model.” Someone told him he doesn’t need to emphasize it because “it’s 2021,” but he played devil’s advocate: “Yeah, but I kind of do. I don’t know that you would be talking to me right now otherwise. Hopefully, after one or two races, it’s a non-starter. And I think that will be the case.”
The NHRA is the runaway leader in diversity in motorsports. Hispanics, African Americans, a Middle Easterner and women have won not only races but multiple championships. Little is left to pioneer in the NHRA.
The drag-racing community skews conservative, but Shumake said, “I’m very confident about the percentage of the drag-racing world that will accept me and that will encourage me,” and he added, “If and when I have those challenges, I hope to bring people together. One of my bigger goals is to show people that this happened in drag racing and it’s the first sport to make it happen, at least in the modern era.
“I don’t want to just prove a point to the people in NHRA. I want NHRA to be proving a point to other sports, like we have for decades.”
Shumake already has his Super Comp and Nostalgia Funny Car licenses and still needs his nitro Funny Car permit.