Staging light

As we concluded our interview following his Comp win at the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals, David Rampy and 1, in the kind of familiarity borne from having been through the process together several dozens of times, chatted about his impending retirement from racing sometime in the next few years and about family.

"I told someone, 'If I win this next round, I go on to the next round; if I lose, I get to load up the race car and go home and see my family. It's a good day no matter what happens,' " he recalled. "I couldn't do what I do without [wife] Kelly and [son] Chase and the support they give me."

We exchanged updates on our families, most notably our sons. My boy, Chris, turned 14 April 6 (he shares his birthday with "the Snake"), and Chase turned 12 April 16. 1 asked if Chase was going to follow his daddy into the driver's seat, as many sons have done.

Rampy answered with a laugh, "He told me the other day, 'If you can just keep racing until I'm 17, I'm going to support the family.' But he doesn't have racing on his mind. He is going to be a professional bass fisherman. He loves to fish; he spent almost the entire Houston race fishing at his grandpa's. Racing is not high on his list, but that's okay with me."

I laughed along with Rampy, remembering Chase a half-dozen years ago fishing minnows out of the lake at Gainesville Raceway and selling them to me and half of the people in the pits for a quarter each.

Even though my son and I share a hobby - we both play hockey, and 1 coach his team (two straight championships!) - I currently don't see him ever sliding into the editor's chair here at National DRAGSTER. He has been the top goalie in the league during the last two seasons, and he studies on TV the moves of the pros to improve his game, much as I'm sure that many sons of racers studied their dad's every move or rewound the VCR countless of times to observe Don Prudhomme's skills.

Seeing the family involvement continue in racing over generations is a heartwarming sight Sons and daughters follow in the tire tracks of their mothers and fathers, whether it be on the racetrack or in the pits, providing a clear indication of the level of passion that this sport inspires.

It's not hard to quickly reel off a list of fathers whose sons are now or have recently competed: Kenny and Brandon Bernstein, Larry Dixon Sr. and Jr., Don and Tony Schumacher, Chuck and Del Worsham, Warren and Kurt Johnson, Roy and Allen Johnson, Tommy Johnson Sr. and Jr., Connie and Scott Kalitta, Ken and Todd Veney, Jim and Mike Dunn, Dennis and David Baca, Dale Creasy Sr. and Jr., Graeme and Andrew Cowin, Gary Ormsby Sr. and Jr., Jack and Steve Chrisman, Barry and Todd Paton, Les and Keith Jackson, Jim and Jamie Yates, Reid and Mark Whisnant, Garley and Randy Daniels, and David and Bo Nickens. The list continues all the way through every Sportsman class and, now, the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League. These fathers probably grew up grinning as they watched their sons wipe down parts and vroom-vroom in the cockpit in the garage at night when they thought that no one was looking, small feet barely able to reach the pedals.

Equally amazing are the fathers who have inspired. multiple offspring to follow them into the driver's seat: Frank Sr. and Tony, Frank Jr., and Cruz Pedregon; Jeg and Troy, Jeg Jr., Mike, and John Coughlin; Bob and Rusty and Billy Glidden; Paul and John and Mike Smith; Virgil and Rhonda and Richard Hartman. Then there's the list of fathers whose daughters now tread the quarter-mile, such as John and Ashley Force, Mike and Melanie Troxel, and Dick LaHaie and Kim Richards.

When you think about it, the list goes beyond just race car drivers. Doug Herbert, a successful Top Fuel racer in his own right, followed his father, Chet, into the aftermarket-parts business. Cam Evans succeeded his famous father, Steve, first in the print business - Steve was a former editor of National DRAGSTER, and Cam has worked at several auto magazines - and now in front of the camera. Photographer Mark Rebilas now works side by side with his father, Gil, capturing some of the most exciting quarter-mile moments in recent memory. Wayne Dupuy, whose father, Lynwood, was a former NHRA employee, is a talented crew chief. Ditto for ace wrench Jimmy Prock, whose father, Tom, was a top-rank Funny Car pilot in the 197(?s; photographer Lew Arrington Ill, whose dad wheeled the Brutus Funny Car; journeyman fuel wrench Randy Green, whose father, Ken, ran Orange County Int'l Raceway; and Kevin and Mike McClelland, sons of famed NHRA announcer Dave, the former a national-event-winning Super-class racer and the latter also an announcer.

I wonder if I'll be sitting at this keyboard in a score of years writing about the first Top Fuel rides for Donovan Dixon, Megan Smith, or little Anthony Schumacher or about the fiberglass first dropping around Taylor and Caden Capps, Dominic and Giovanni Scelzi, or Katelyn and Madelyn Worsham. How long before Jeg Coughlin Ill, Cody or Brittany Anderson, or Conner, Jarrett, or Erin Johnson begin shifting Lenc:os like their fathers?