On the eve of the NHRA Nevada Nationals, MMA legend Randy Couture gathered a room of drag racers and talked about pressure, fear and composure as if they were opponents in the same fight.
Couture, a member of the SCAG Racing organization and an avid car enthusiast, led a Thursday session that included three of the top four Pro Mod points earners along with nitro racers Dan Wilkerson and Dave Richardson.
He framed the discussion with a phrase he has used for years to describe mixed martial arts.
“Yeah, it’s kinetic chess,” Couture said, before drawing a straight line to the “horsepower chess” of the dragstrip. “The only place they really intersect is right between your ears, what you’re thinking,” Couture said.
“I think there’s a huge piece of driving that’s mental and shutting down your fight or flight, training through that fight or flight the same thing you do as a fighter.”
Couture told the group that high-risk moments demand trained calm.
“You’re strapped into this thing, it’s literally a rocket about to launch and take off,” he said.
“And there’s something in your brain that’s screaming like, what am I doing here right now?”
“So training through that and getting to shut that part of your natural instinct down is what it’s all about,” he added.
“Staying calm, cool, and collected at those speeds with that kind of horsepower at your disposal is what it’s all about.”
He likened reacting to the tree to executing a game plan in the cage.
“Through the training process and getting used to embracing that adversity, you manage to train through that and shut that part of your brain off,” Couture said. “And then you’re down to the nuts and bolts of your reaction time stomping on that gas pedal and launching that car.”
“When that tree lights up appropriately, it’s not that much different than me stepping up into that cage, controlling the distance between me and my opponent and executing my game plan to put myself in a best position to win that fight,” he said.
The room included racers who regularly wrestle volatile machinery, yet they admitted Couture’s presence carried its own intensity.
Wilkerson, who tunes and drives a Funny Car, joked that the tutorial got physical fast.
“He was showing me moves and he did about two or three,” Wilkerson said.
“And I said, ‘Hey, how about you show me how to defend myself from one of these first before we do the next one?’”
“He said, ‘Oh, you can defend yourself,’” Wilkerson added.
“I said, ‘No, man, you’re just throwing a bean bag around. I don’t know what I’m doing.’”
Asked whether he feared the octagon or a nitro car more, Wilkerson did not hesitate.
“Oh, him, for sure,” he said.
“He could have flipped me over his shoulder, and actually he got me on the mat before I even knew what was going on.”
He drew his own parallel to the unpredictability racers confront every pass.
“In that way, very much like a funny car, just like when you think, ‘Okay, I kind of got this,’ it does something else weird,” Wilkerson said.
“I would rather be in my funny car because at least I know how to react.”
The surprise for Wilkerson began before the first demonstration.
“Honestly, I was just told, ‘We’re going to Randy’s gym,’” he said.
“And then it became obvious that I was going to have to go in the octagon with him, and immediately got more nervous than I’ve ever been at a racetrack in my entire life.”
Richardson, a nitro driver who stands 6-foot-2 and lists his weight “245, 250, depending on the week,” said size meant little once Couture locked in.
“I felt small,” Richardson said.
“That guy, he’s just got something to him. You just know he is a badass.”
“More scared of him, for sure,” Richardson said when asked to compare the ring and the cockpit.
“Exactly, yeah. At least the race car, I’m strapped in. I’m used to it, but I was very, I’d say, almost uncomfortable being in the ring with him, just knowing how bad he is.”
“It’s like everything they do is, there’s a reason for every single move and technique they have,” he said.
“Just standing there not knowing what the heck to do felt silly,” Richardson added. “They’re trained artists in doing what they do.”
“Just to see how quickly he could get you to the ground and make you bleed. It’s a little intimidating.”
Pro Mod points contender Mike Stavrinos said the crossover theme resonated.
“Yeah, it’s cool. Pretty badass,” Stavrinos said. “A lot of similarities between the two sports, between MMA and drag racing, which is pretty cool.”
“The mindset’s very similar between the two, which is something I never really thought about,” Stavrinos added. “But I’ve always followed MMA, so something that’s a really cool experience to see, be here with Randy.”
Pressed on whether he feared his car or Couture more, Stavrinos went all in on the octagon.
“Definitely him,” he said. “Yeah, definitely him. 100%. That car is nothing to me.”
“That car, I feel like I could drive with my eyes closed.”
Fellow Pro Mod title hopeful J.R. Gray said he would keep his battles on the quarter-mile.
“Him,” Gray said when asked which scared him more. “Oh, Randy’s a tough dude. I definitely wouldn’t want to be into Octagon with him. I think I’d have to stick to my octagon, and that’s the drag strip.”
“Pro Mod is like riding a bull down through there, a bull with nitrous or something.”
“Yeah, Pro Mods are always ill-handling, even a good one,” Gray said. “You got to be prepared for anything. They’re flying down through there fastest door cars in the world.”
Couture acknowledged that the dangers in both arenas are real, even if the disciplines differ.
“There’s some inherent dangers in both sports, getting knocked out, concussive and sub-concussive events on a regular basis,” he said. “All that adds up.”
“You crash a car,” Couture added. “It’s a pretty serious endeavor, certainly if you’re looking at the type of fuels that are being used in these cars as well.”
“We’re all trying to train through our natural fight or flight instinct to remove ourselves from those dangerous situations,” Couture said. “Through the training process and getting used to embracing that adversity, you manage to train through that and shut that part of your brain off.”
He briefly noted that stepping into a race car can feel “counterintuitive to anything you’ve ever been taught about driving a car.”
Then he steered the conversation back to habits and headspace.
The veteran champion closed by reminding the group that preparation is the only constant either sport allows.
“You have to overcome that natural instinct to get the hell out of there,” Couture said. “Control the chaos, execute, and don’t let the fear drive you.”
