Frankie ‘The Madman’ Taylor has signed on for more Australian drag racing with Team Bray Racing.
The 47-year-old Texan who until recently was the quickest and fastest ‘blown’ Doorslammer driver in the world will compete at the upcoming Perth Motorplex (March 3-4), Sydney Dragway (4-5 May) and Willowbank Raceway (June 7-10) events with TBR.
Taylor recently completed his third event with the TBR outfit – the Santo’s Summer Thunder at Sydney Dragway – with his tenure so far including an event win at his debut appearance – the AC Delco East Coast Thunder Nationals.
“I met the Brays way back in 2004 or 2005 in the United States when they were over racing NHRA. I was racing NHRA at the time as well, and I got to meet them at Indianapolis,” Taylor said.
“They came back over a couple of times and we also chatted on the phone – when they offered me the chance to come over to Australia and help them field one of these cars, that was a really cool opportunity and I really appreciate them asking us to get involved.
“It has been pretty great over here so far – I love taking on the Aussie racers and we give each other a fair bit of cheek but it is all in good fun.
“Really, my time with TBR couldn’t have gotten off to a better start than it did, with an event win and four win lights in my first event with them, that was a pretty cool day.
“I have to thank Gulf Western Oil for allowing me to come over here and do this and race on of their cars, and also Ben Bray for keeping the car up and letting me drive it.
“I am trying to race it how Ben races his – on the edge – but driving someone else’s car is also a big responsibility, they aren’t cheap! So, I am trying to be careful with it while also trying to improve. I can’t wait to see what we can do over the next few events – it should be great fun!”
Taylor’s passion for drag racing is a long-held one, and one which dominates his life today.
“All we do is drag race, we don’t have time for other hobbies,” laughed Taylor, who has been married to his high-school sweetheart Cindy Taylor for 25 years. The pair shares two children.
“I drag race and I own an automotive shop so if we are not racing, we are in the shop.
“That love of racing started pretty early with my brother and I, we ran street rods when we were in our late teens and then I guess the rest is history.
“There have been plenty of highlights along the way – aside from being the world’s quickest and fastest blown racer until recently, I was also the 2010 ADRL World Champion and I have a bunch of Quick 8 titles as well. We have been the runner-up in the Arabian Drag Racing League Championships three times as well – at the end of the day, we are always just out there enjoying having fast cars and trying to be the fastest.”
