Dennis Taylor, a successful safety equipment manufacturer and former Alcohol Funny Car standout, is okay with the role he accepted two years ago. He’s content with being a spectator, racing dad and team owner.

Taylor made the conversion over to Nostalgia Funny Car about a decade ago and has since handed over the driver chores of his Evil, Wicked, Mean and Nasty entry to his son Justin, who has embraced the challenge.

“It’s the people that keep me coming back,” Taylor said, as he watched Justin preparing the Mustang Funny Car for a qualifying lap. “I deal with all these people day in and day out anyway because of our company. I never really had any problem when I quit driving alcohol cars to go to a race and do business and see the people. I may not go sit in the grandstands and watch all the runs. I kind of don’t need to. But if I had a different job, if I was a landscape guy or something like that, yeah it would be tough to come to the races.”

The synergy between the two generations of Taylor has been everything the father expected and more.

“We work hand in hand every day at the shop too, so we’re around each other all the time,” Taylor explained. “In a sense, he was kind of a late bloomer as far as wanting to drive and it really surprised me when he said he wanted to drive.

“You know, I’ve always had that second-generation theory that the second generation even if you don’t think they’re paying attention, they’re soaking up every word you’re talking about about driving, either good, bad or indifferent. I finally had to give in and trust that instinct, and he’s done a very, very fine job.

“Justin’s never driven anything else but a nitro Funny Car. But he has excellent feedback, he knows where he is on the track, he knows what’s going on, and he’s very mechanically involved with the car, so when the thing makes a hiccup, he has a pretty good idea of what’s wrong.”

Jason Rupert’s drag racing career has been a storybook tale.

The multi-time Nostalgia Funny Car champion will soon begin writing another chapter. https://t.co/1TjnqWJk54

— Competition Plus (@competitionplus) October 26, 2018

Justin, 36, understood long ago the importance of being like a sponge, as his dad described, and soaking up all the knowledge he could.

“It’s pretty neat actually,” Justin explained. “When I drove here in ’15, I licensed just before we ran the Reunion in ’15. Somebody oiled down in front of us, and we came around the corner. I sat in the car for 8 or 10 minutes or whatever it was, and I just had a chance to take it all in and look at all the photographers hanging over the guardrail, look at all the fans in the stands. It’s pretty cool to be the show. I really enjoy it.”

And as proud as Taylor is of his son, his role outside of the car can sometimes be more frightening than it was for him behind the wheel.

“I never wanted any of my kids to drive race cars because I know what can happen,” Taylor explained. “This was my deal, you know. It took me really a couple of years to get used to it. I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to do it. Unfortunately or fortunately he’s so valuable to our company that I don’t want him to do this forever. He’s got a family. I don’t want to see him take those chances forever, but he’s got a good head on his shoulders.

“You see a lot of drivers that don’t really think when they drive, and I think he’s one of the thinkers. I’m not just saying that because he’s my son. If he didn’t do a good job, I’d certainly let him know.”