Indy Drag Days

© Chuck Atkins / RumBum.com

Gann gets ready to rumble at Indianapolis

Just about 30 minutes outside the home of Rum Bum Racer Shawn Gann in Stoneville, North Carolina lies Pilot Mountain – a.k.a. “Mt. Pilot,” a town near Andy Griffith’s fictional Mayberry – complete with Aunt Bea’s Diner. That’s exactly where Gann’s caravan stopped in for some pan seared tuna (just cause it’s Mayberry, doesn’t mean it has to be chicken pot pie) on his way to the biggest race of the season starting Friday, Sept 3: the MAC Tools US Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.  

Every Labor Day weekend, the Indianapolis race park holds the most revered and most populated drag race this side of the solar system. Known as the fastest drag in the west, it’s one where Rum Bum Racer Shawn Gann has hit high points in the past. “Indy is always, always awesome. I've always had good luck here and that means a lot.  I'd rather been lucky than good any day,” Gann said, though he knows it’s his skill – not Lady Luck – that’s with him at the start line. “[All the wins] I've ever got, I've beat ‘em fair and square,” he added. “I've never had any gimmes.”

What he does have, though, is a freshly hand-delivered racing suit and a hot pair of Oakley Jawbone shades for the big dance. Just to give you an idea of what he’ll look like racing down the drag, Gann’s sporting a brand spanking new lightweight suit adorned in emerald, chrome, metallic blues, and lightning bolts. A combination of form and function, the new duds look as effervescent as they are effective. His brazen new eyes are orange frames with glossy black bases. And when he tested the look in front of the crowd, they went berserk. “I been doing this for a lot of years and I have never, EVER seen a suit like this,” he glowed. “It is so fat.... fat is drippin’ off it.”  

Plus the new suit, Gann has some new pipes for his bike, a new engine (“It’s got looooots of power,” he confided, and the dyno confirmed), a new DVD player for their truck with a jack for his mp3 player so he can belt out Motley Crue, and some extra horsepower to unload for the competition starting Friday. And of course, a home cooked meal at Aunt Bea’s to feed Gann’s momentum as he heads into this weekend at the peak of his season can only help.  As Gann’s father and Crew Chief, Blake, chimed, “We’re ready to rock and roll.”