The first time Scott Palmer crashed his doorslammer, it left the car in shambles, and his body was bruised and broken. It also wrecked his Top Fuel season as well.
It was a different story when Palmer found himself barrel-rolling his Pro Modified Corvette in the soft dirt of the Bradenton Motorsports Park runoff area last month. One could say the only injury Palmer sustained was to his ego, but to understand the Cassville, Missouri-based fan-favorite drag racer is to know there’s no ego involved in his life. He might not have an ego, but his passion drives him when the odds are not in his favor. When Palmer loses, he still wins.
This passion, combined with a lineup of equally passionate sponsors, is responsible for Palmer’s return to the dragstrip with his Professional Bull Riders Association/RoofTec Dragster racing at this weekend’s NHRA Arizona Nationals outside of Phoenix.
“You’re always going to have your critics on the internet, and I had some on there after my crash in Bradenton,” Palmer said. “Some said I could have had the parachutes out earlier to avoid the crash. Some said I should stick to Top Fuel. I’m no quitter, and I will be back racing Pro Modified, and I’m going to drive my Top Fuel dragster because I love them both.”
Palmer comes into the this weekend with unfinished business, literally.
Palmer had added Calgary Harley-Davidson to his list of marketing partners ahead of the DI World Series of Pro Modified, and the incident kept him from what he felt was living up to his end of the bargain. Don’t worry, he caught grief about it.
When one chooses to celebrate Evel Knievel Thursdays away from the track and then crashes on a Thursday as Palmer did in Bradenton, it only makes for an easy target from the boys. Kent Longley from Marck Recycling was the first to needle him.
“Kent called me, and we have a deal we call it Evel Knievel Thursdays,” Palmer said. “I’m an Evel Knievel fan, so we all take a shot of Wild Turkey. He called me, and because Evel Knievel took a shot, he drank Wild Turkey. So, basically, on Thursdays, we do that for Evel Knievel.
“He called me after the accident and told me I might be taking the Evel Knievel Thursday a little too far. So maybe we shouldn’t run on Thursdays.”
It’s those relationships including Rodger Brogdon’s RoofTec, RedLine Oil’s Mark Beatty, M&M Transmission’s Mark and Maria Micke, Trask Performance’s Nick Trask, Earthwerk’s Dan Davies, Stroud Safety’s Tommy Cunningham and John Gentry, DMPE’s Darren Mayer and Interpack’s Chaise Meyer who fuel his passion to keep racing.
“My friends and sponsors mean everything to me,” Palmer said. “When people say sponsorships are more about relationships than business, that is certainly the case with me. I cannot begin to tell you just how much their support and encouragement fuels me.
“This is a big one for me to come back from everything, not only from the crashes but to come back after being off so much last year,” Palmer said. “I’m coming out early this year to get rolling. Everyone is excited, but I promise you not half as much as I am.”
The corporate world might raise an eyebrow at Palmer’s approach, but it was enough for him to land his major sponsor with PBR. It’s been a great ride for a cowboy of a drag racer who admittedly cannot ride a horse.
Scott Palmer believes what he believes. One doesn’t need to ride a horse or straddle a bull to be a cowboy.
“PBR asked me when they signed me, ‘Can you ride a horse?” Palmer recalled. “I told them I’m not real corporate, and we are a little rough around the edges sometimes here. But they asked me, can you ride a horse? I said, ‘Absolutely not. I cannot ride a horse.”
“That’s why [PBR] is so popular,” Palmer added. “You don’t have to be able to ride a horse to be a cowboy. Sometimes, being a cowboy is mental. Are you a cowboy or not? Over here, it’s odd because I went to a high school in Marlow, Oklahoma, and it was Marlow Outlaws, so I grew up an Outlaw, so I think it just stuck with me.”
And that, in a nutshell, is why sponsors stick with Palmer, win or lose.
