You'd think that by age 63, being fidgety would be a mannerism one wouldn't have to concern themselves with. But standing there in the pits at No Problem Raceway last Saturday, waiting for his team to get a run in the BB/Altered Dodge Status, was sportsman drag racing icon Jeff Taylor steadily working a fidget spinner between his forefinger and thumb. 

"My grandson got me hooked on these," Taylor admitted. 'I went to visit, and we were just sitting around, and he had one. So I started playing with it. So he said, 'Well, you can just have it." 

Taylor declined the generous offer and purchased ten of the units when he got back home.

"I got them scattered all over the place," Taylor proclaimed.

If you're not familiar with what a fidget spinner is, it's a toy
that consists of a ball-bearing in the center of a multi-lobed (typically three-lobed) flat structure made from metal or plastic with metal weights in the lobes, designed to spin around its central axis. Fidget spinners became very prevalent trending toys in 2017.

The toy has been promoted as helping people who have trouble focusing or those who may need to fidget to relieve nervous energy. 

A driver who has won at least 50 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events, some of the most challenging drag racing competition, should be as cool as the other side of the pillow.

For Taylor, he admits the fidget spinner might be more of a cool item than a stress reliever. He has these fidget spinners scattered all over except in his cockpit. Apparently, there is another item that works just as well. 

"I don't have one in there, just the trans brake button," Taylor said. "I fidget with it. So anyway, I just started playing with them, and lo and behold, it took about two to three hours a week of screen time off of my telephone, so it had to be a good thing. Now, I'm hooked on it."

Taylor, who admits he's been going down the drag strip since before he was born, admits even the most seasoned drag racers have that anxious energy to burn. 

Before he was born? Yes, before he was born. 

"My mom drove the race car until she was probably six months pregnant, and then she quit driving, but I was riding along with her," Taylor revealed. 

Taylor cannot prove it but believes he was fidgeting then. He was anxious for his birth to drive a race car. 

"All drag racers fidget a lot," Taylor added. "I just got it, honestly."