{"id":1713,"date":"2014-08-07T11:04:49","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T16:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=1713"},"modified":"2014-08-07T14:21:46","modified_gmt":"2014-08-07T19:21:46","slug":"louisiana-bad-boys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2014\/08\/07\/louisiana-bad-boys\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana Bad Boys"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brad Goins<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Purple Haze is the name of what\u2019s known by racers as a \u201coutlaw fuel-altered\u201d car. Instead of asking, What\u2019s so unusual about this car? this writer is inclined to ask, What\u2019s not unusual about it?\u00a0Its colors are bright purple, yellow and red. Its air intake is at the level of the driver\u2019s head. All sorts of tubes run all over the car. The fan belt is visible to the naked eye \u2014 as is the entire engine, for that matter.\u00a0Not unusual enough for you? How about the fact that this car has 3,000 horsepower? Or how about this \u2026 even though this fantastic vehicle looks like some sort of special effects masterpiece from the movie Bladerunner, it\u2019s all built on an actual 1932 Bantam Roadster chassis.One more thing about this car \u2014 it\u2019s driven by John Broussard of Lake Charles. Purple Haze is a drag racing car and Broussard is one of dozens of drag racers in the Lake Area.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Another is local racer Shawn Davill, who just finished a five-year run as state champion in the state outlaw pro-mod division. Richard Fazio, owner of Fazio\u2019s NAPA & Supply in Sulphur and a long-time drag racer himself, says of Davill\u2019s 3,000 hp racer, \u201cIt took $50,000 just to build the engine.\u201d
\nThe vehicle was recently sold to a buyer in speed-happy Australia. Fazio won\u2019t name a price, but will say it was in \u201cthe upper five digits.\u201d (We\u2019ll have more to say about the economics of drag racing later in the story.)
\nAlso coming out of this area is Big Red \u2014 a dramatically retooled 1957 Chevy raced by local resident Brandon Mouton. In this monster of a car, Mouton has been runner-up in the nationwide Division 4 Super Comp. This is a division for cars so powerful they don\u2019t run the quarter-mile customary for drag racers. Instead, they must compete on a run of 1\/8 mile. These cars, which typically travel down the speedway at 250-260 mph, must go the shorter distance to reduce the risks to driver safety and excessive wear and tear to the engine.<\/p>\n

They Don\u2019t Just Race<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fazio got into racing very early on. He was raised by racers.
\n\u201cMy father was one of the original greasers,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cHe wore a leather jacket.\u201d
\nBoth mother and father raced \u2014 but race cars, not dragsters. As time passed, Fazio eventually picked up an interest in drag racing from his stepfather. He can remember thinking about the sport as early as the third grade.
\nFazio got really serious about drag racing when he and a group of friends started the Louisiana Bad Boys. At first, they had only four S-10 pick-ups. \u201cWe started as just a bunch of guys playing,\u201d says Fazio.
\nThe playing has since gotten a bit more serious \u2014 or at least it\u2019s taking place on a much larger scale. The Louisiana Bad Boys is now a big group with many vehicles. Fazio says the current crew numbers 100.
\nThey don\u2019t just race; they sell racing fuel and racing parts and can build you a racing engine (if you can afford to pay for one. Fazio is clear on this point \u2014 \u201cHow fast you want to go depends on how deeply you want to dig in your pocket.\u201d)
\nBut there\u2019s still some playing going on in the group, as well as lots of camaraderie. \u201cWe go out and barbecue,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cWe have dinner together; [have] crawfish boils. We help out [people] having benefits.\u201d\u00a0The area is full of groups and individuals involved in drag racing. Among them are \u201cthe mopar guys\u201d \u2014 Brandon Mouton and the other Moutons and their friends, who do their racer work in Moss Bluff.\u00a0Also active in the sport is local Jimmy Thibodeaux, who at age 72 is still drag racing at speeds of 206-210 miles an hour.\u00a0Westlake\u2019s Steve Hebert, who Fazio calls \u201ca mopar guy,\u201d drives on the hemi-shootout raceway at the Indianapolis Speedway.
\nThe G O Tracker dragster driven by Boyd Moss of Westlake has such a distinctive look that it\u2019s appeared in National Dragster Magazine. The vehile is an unusual choice for drag racing, as the wheel base is so short that that it could create control challenges when the car is reaching its top speeds of 130 to 140 mph in the quarter mile race.
\nThen there\u2019s the monster drag truck of Jeremy Mouton, chief racing engine builder of the local group. His bad boy pick-up dragster weighs 4,200 pounds and gets Mouton going at a speed of 160. \u201cThat\u2019s a bad car,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cWe call it the Red Barge.\u201d
\nFor six years, Fazio\u2019s been racing his trademark dragster \u2014 \u201cLil\u2019 Blue.\u201d It\u2019s an \u201985 S-10 with a 421 cubic inch small block Chevy engine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tires And Trees: \u00a0A Brief Intro To Drag Racing<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are no front breaks on a dragster. Brakes are always located near those enormous rear wheels.
\nIf you\u2019ve seen drag racers spinning their big rear wheels so fast and hard that you feel they must be removing the tread from their tires, you can be sure the drivers aren\u2019t showing off and aren\u2019t inflicting unnecessary damage to their cars. Every serious drag racer will \u201cwarm up\u201d his tires before every race by spinning them on the surface. The fast (and loud and smoky) rotation of the tires activates a sticky substance in the tires. If everything\u2019s done correctly, once the actual drag race begins, the compound in the tires will adhere to the sticky compound that\u2019s been spread around the track. Vehicles can then stay firm on the surface in spite of their tremendous speeds.
\nBig as they are, rear drag racing tires have only 8-12 pounds of air pressure in them. This, and the fact that the surface of the tire is adhering to the surface of the track, can create the phenomenon of \u201ccrinkling\u201d that can be observed in clear photos of drag racers. Large wrinkles appear in the rear tires, creating the false impression that the tires are rapidly going flat. But, of course, they aren\u2019t. They\u2019re just doing what they\u2019re supposed to do \u2014 sticking to a surface for the few seconds it takes to run a race.
\nDrag racers race in pairs. Sometimes it\u2019s inevitable that vehicles will be mismatched. A 600 hp car is no match for one with 3,000.
\nThe situation is solved by the practice of letting the less powerful, less speedy car start first. The appropriate starting time delay for the fastest car is programmed into the \u201ctree\u201d \u2014 the tall pole that counts down through lights of various colors until the one at the bottom turns green.
\nDrag racers have no ignition switch; nothing to put a key in. A drag racer is always idling (often with an rpm as high as 5,000) while he\u2019s waiting for his tree to get to green. He holds the car stationary with a toggle switch. The instant he flips the switch, the car shoots down the track.\"La<\/a>
\nIf he\u2019s an experienced pro, he\u2019ll flip that switch just a fraction of a second before the green light actually appears. \u201cIf you wait until you see green, you\u2019re going to be too late,\u201d says Fazio.
\nRacing fuel for powerful dragsters ranges from 100 to 120 octane and costs from $8.50 to $25 a gallon. The most powerful dragsters burn up a gallon in the process of ignition. Drivers choose the sort of gas they use \u2014 and the price that comes with it \u2014 not on the basis of their preferences but on what the configurations of their car engines demand.
\nIn addition to the super-high octane fuel, most dragsters use some additional accelerant. Fazio uses nitrous oxide, which he calls \u201can inexpensive power adder.\u201d Drivers may also use a turbocharger or a blower for extra oomph and the speed that comes with it.<\/p>\n

Safety<\/strong><\/p>\n

As you might imagine, with all this turbocharging going on, there\u2019s a definite risk of combustion. Drag racers are required to wear fire suits and fire shoes. All windows must stay closed and air tight.
\nThe chances of a safe race are also enhanced by the practice of placing expiration dates on parts of the fire suits and numerous parts of the vehicle. Each car must pass inspection at the tech station of each track where it\u2019s raced.
\nAnd it\u2019s not just a matter of making sure nothing\u2019s expired. Cars that have any oil or water leak are disqualified. If any liquid appears on the track, the race is stopped until the liquid is cleaned up. Should any liquid break up the system of adhesion that binds the fast-moving tires to the track, the results could quickly
\nbecome disastrous, with a car slamming into a wall in a fraction of a second.
\n\u201cYou\u2019ve got to adjust to weather; track conditions,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to know your vehicle.\u201d
\nSome racers listen to weather channels to follow statistics for air density and the number of water grains in the air. One wants to consider as many variables as possible with a vehicle that may be moving 260 miles an hour.
\nMost drivers are intent on being serious about safety if for no other reason than that they have families. \u201cWe want to make sure we\u2019re safe,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cWe all look out for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Racing Alternatives<\/strong><\/p>\n

is the above descriptions of some of the vehicles should indicate, the drag racing track is home for a lot more than the traditional dragster. \u201cYou\u2019d be amazed at some of the things you see come to the track,\u201d says Fazio.
\nAmong the unorthodox variations Fazio mentions are motorcycle drag races and dirt track races.
\nAnd there are unorthodox drivers. There\u2019s Caleb Primeaux of Leesville, who\u2019s finished second in his division in the state championship. That won\u2019t seem remarkable until you learn that Caleb\u2019s 13. To earn that second place mark, he\u2019s often had to race against adults way past legal age.
\nMany of Fazio\u2019s efforts are directed towards getting young people to consider driving on the race track as an alternative to drag racing on the street. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to have one of these [fancy, juiced-up] cars to go to the track,\u201d says Fazio. Many tracks feature \u201cstreet nights\u201d for those who want to drag but are just starting or don\u2019t have the ability to go the expensive pro route.
\nYouths as young as 7 and 8 can race as \u201cjunior dragsters\u201d at low speeds. By the time they reach the age of 15 or 16, they may be driving as fast as 80 mph in the outlaw class.\u00a0Fazio encourages youths to \u201ccome to the track. We\u2019re all about helping the children get started.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018What We Call Fun\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

I asked Fazio for his thoughts on the current popularity of drag racing. He told me the sport had taken a severe hit with the energy crisis of the 1970s, which made the high octane fuels prohibitively expensive for many.
\n\u201dA lot of people got out of racing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re still trying to rebuild it.\u201d Of course, we all know that prices for everyday fuel have done everything but moderate in recent years. Fuel costs will likely continue to be a challenge for drag racing.
\nOf course, the costs of drag racing engines and a dozen necessary accessories will continue to be high. And the payoffs are primarily psychological.\u201cWe can\u2019t do this for a living,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cIf we did, we\u2019d all starve to death.\u201d
\nThere is one sure payoff: the adrenaline rush. \u201cThe one bad thing [about drag racing] is you never can go fast enough,\u201d says Fazio.
\nFazio\u2019s gained a lot of insight into what he and his fellow dragsters do. Here\u2019s how he sums it up: \u201cWe spend a lot of money to go real fast and impress a lot of people we don\u2019t even know. That\u2019s what we call fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brad Goins Purple Haze is the name of what\u2019s known by racers as a \u201coutlaw fuel-altered\u201d car. Instead of asking, What\u2019s so unusual about this car? this writer is inclined to ask, What\u2019s not unusual about it?\u00a0Its colors are bright purple, yellow and red. Its air intake is at the level of the driver\u2019s [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[38,4,387,386],"yoast_head":"\nLouisiana Bad Boys - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2014\/08\/07\/louisiana-bad-boys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Louisiana Bad Boys - BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brad Goins Purple Haze is the name of what\u2019s known by racers as a \u201coutlaw fuel-altered\u201d car. 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