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World Championship Drag Racer Danny Scott

With oil under his fingernails, perfectly combed silver-grey hair, a pair of black jeans, a collared shirt, and a big white smile World Champion Drag Racer Danny Scott was more than happy to recall his great racing achievements.

Years and years of street and professional racing have helped develop Danny Scott into the great competitor and wonderful human being that he is today. “I started street racing when I was a teenager, I was kind of a gear head,” says Mr. Scott. Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, the automobile capital of the world, Mr. Scott never had a hard time finding someone to race.

“Every weekend we would cruise up and down Woodward Ave. looking for someone to race against and most of the time it was easy finding someone that wanted a piece of me,” Mr. Scott said. As he established his street racing credit, he finally moved to the professional circuit in the Pro Street racing class. Today, looking back at all of it Mr. Scott still says “I really enjoyed going fast. Being the best was something I had always dreamed about, but really, I winning was never that important.” With his racing days concluded, now all Danny Scott has are the great racing memories and the awards to go with them.

Picked #1 by Hot Rod Magazine’s 25th Anniversary Edition as their “Top Ten Car over the past 25 years,” “Fastest Street Car in America” Award in 1991, 92, and 93. He was also 1999 Pro Street Champion, and helped establish the fastest car racing series. The famous world champion car that Danny Scott built was a 1966 Chevelle. Mr. Scott’s described his car: “It was a teal, 1966 Chevelle, with a hood scoop that housed a 638 cubic inch engine, custom stainless headers, and airflow research heads. At peak performance the car produced around 2100 horsepower with three stages of Nitrous Oxide.” This world famous automobile was able to do a quarter mile in around six seconds at 220 mph, when tuned to perfection.

Mr. Scott said “the car was really fast, every time I put gas pedal to the floor, the raw power of the car would always surprise me.” While watching one of his old racing films it really made his experience much more vivid. With the huge crowds of people, the wild burn outs, and amazing speeds I can see why he loved being the best.

Mr. Scott started describing the preparation that goes into racing. “Drag racing is a dangerous sport, before I ever even got into my racing suit I would make sure that all I’s were dotted and T’s crossed. If my crew or I were to overlook anything on the car, I could have been killed,” stated Mr. Scott. As we all know race car drivers are at extreme risk when they are traveling at such fast speeds, so it is only logical that he took all of the safety precautions. Mr. Scott said “I would put on my fire retardant suit, check to make sure that the engine was in perfect condition, and make sure that the parachute was packed and ready.”

Once he had gone through his safety check list, then mental preparation begins. He explained how he would visualize the way he was going to release the line lock when the light turned green on the tree (The tree is what they call the lights saying when to go). “I would think about at 8000 rpm’s I’m going to shift from first gear to second and so on,” remembers Mr. Scott. He remembers what it felt like when his world class car would jump off the line and charge down the race track; “every time I finished a race, I would be happy that I was safe, and think damn, that was fast.”

His mind had to stay focused. With a machine as powerful as his, nothing and no one else matters, it was just him and the car. He spoke about how when he was racing it was never to beat the other guy, but more of he was racing himself. “Sitting in the car, waiting to do my burn out before the race, I would talk to myself quite a bit. I would remind myself what needs to be done in order to be safe and win the race. I never really worried about what the other guy was doing.” If the car was to jump out of the grooves on the track, if the engine was to blow up, or if the parachute was to not open, all of these meant that Mr. Scott would not win the race but, he could have been severely injured or even killed.

“Of course, that’s what this sport is all about, you try to be as safe as possible, but even the unexpected should be covered,” says old racing buddy Rick Dyer. Rick Dyer an experienced racer, good friend to Mr. Scott, and fellow car fanatic, really had some great words to describe Danny Scott.

Before I could even ask a question Rick Dyer had cracked a joke at Danny Scott’s expense, this really showed me that they are close friends who joke freely. “In all seriousness though, Danny is a professional, a gentlemen, or as I like to call him, “a gentle giant.”” “Danny was a giant in the street racing community and never caused any wave. He deserved every award and his achievements are giant in the world of street racing.” Danny Scott and Rick Dyer have been good friends, tough competitors, and drag racing legends for quite sometime now.
Danny Scott is now the Chief Engineer and Technical Advisor, for the multi-million dollar corporation CMI-Schneible, which has a muscle car division known as Detroit Muscle. “I really enjoy working for such versatile company. I get to have my hand in all sorts of different projects, and I get to be around muscle cars.” Co-worker and good friend Patrick Goetz was only able to say one phrase when asked to describe Danny’s racing career “That man was fast!”
Although his actual racing time has long expired, his involvement with the racing industry is still very much a part of his life. He is the expert advisor to the entire engine building division of Detroit Muscle, and pretty much the guy that gives each car the final inspection before it is handed over to another satisfied customer. Being the racing legend that he was, it is not surprising that people still come to him for drag racing advice, ways to improve engine power, and of course, just to hear about the days when he was a champion.