The guy who had a streak of 17 consecutive round wins at NHRA national events in Phoenix won’t get a chance to start a new one this year. Instead of being strapped into a 7,000 horsepower Top Fuel Dragster at this year’s NHRA Lucas Oil Slick Mist Nationals, ‘Hot’ Rod Fuller will likely be watching the race from one of the VIP suites.

Fuller, like several other prominent racers, is on the sidelines working on sponsorship prospects to put him back out on the track later this season.

The guy who had a streak of 17 consecutive round wins at NHRA national events in Phoenix won’t get a chance to start a new one this year. Instead of being strapped into a 7,000 horsepower Top Fuel Dragster at this year’s NHRA Lucas Oil Slick Mist Nationals, ‘Hot’ Rod Fuller will likely be watching the race from one of the VIP suites.

Fuller, like several other prominent racers, is on the sidelines working on sponsorship prospects to put him back out on the track later this season.

“We have a lot of prospects working right now and hope to get back on the track as soon as possible” Fuller commented optimistically. “Even though Caterpillar Inc. is not sponsoring me this year, they have given us the ability to work with individual Cat Dealers that want to keep their involvement active by displaying equipment on the NHRA Midway, as well as bringing customers out for entertainment at races in their respective markets. We also have several other product promotions working with mass retailers, such as Wal-Mart, through people I grew up with in Rogers, Arkansas. It is truly in this type of economy that businesses realize the value of taking care of their best customers, and at the same time are aggressively pursuing new relationships to get more exposure for their products.”

Fuller won seven rounds of competition to claim the Super Gas title during the NHRA national event at Phoenix in 2004, skipped the 2005 race, and then won back-to-back Top Fuel titles at Firebird Raceway in 2006 and 2007. He was making a strong bid for the 2008 event title last year when parts failure ended his race day in the semifinals.

Spoken like a true champion,

Fuller added, “the NHRA races in Phoenix have played a special role in my racing career, and I can’t wait to be back there vying for the event win as well as the season championship.”