When one seeks to make positive change, there are elements to the process, including walking a political tightrope at times. 

Pro Stock team owner Richard Freeman joined the Professional Racers Organization [PRO] board earlier this season, intending to help change some aspects of drag racing for the better. Change, as he sees it, can come without one being a politician. 

"I wouldn't be a very good politician," Freeman said. "I can tell you because I say what I believe, and when I want to say it, and how I want to say it, and if people don't like it, that's no problem."

Freeman joined the Professional Racers Owners Organization (PRO) some years back but, until earlier this year, was only a member of the group, which was formed in 1991 and now represents 33 teams and 47 drivers as their liaison with the National Hot Rod Association, giving voice to their needs and concerns.

Freeman only considered joining the group's Board of Directors in March 2023 at the urging of fellow Texan and Top Fuel racer Steve Torrence. 

There are several aspects that an outsider will learn quickly about the forward-thinking Freeman. First, only ask a question if you are prepared for the answer. And most importantly, only ask him to be part of a group if its members are fully committed to making changes for the better. 

"I didn't go out and solicit having a place on the PRO Board," Freeman said. "Actually, Steve Torrence and several of the guys came and asked me if I would be on the board, and I said, 'I guess. But unless you want change, I don't want to have anything to do with it." 

Freeman understands better than most how positive change can move mountains. It was in 2016 that NHRA made drastic changes to the Pro Stock division, and when it didn't have the desired effect, the class began to flounder even to the point that NHRA considered dropping the full-time class to eight-car fields. There had even been talk of dropping the class altogether. 

Freeman gathered the movers and shakers of the Pro Stock division into a united front to seek a different direction for the factory hot rod division. They presented a united front to the NHRA and opened a dialogue about how to preserve the class. 

The Pro Stock division was clearly divided between the haves and have-nots at the time. Freeman presented his point to his counterparts that the class couldn't attract new talent largely because of the exclusiveness of what it took to participate. Largely, they could only be competitive if one had a successful in-house engine program. Those who had the power didn't want to share it either for fear of losing their market share. 

Freeman's Elite Performance showed the drag racing world that a lease-engine program could be competitive and win races. His chief rival, KB Racing, also began leasing their engines, a move a decade ago that was considered taboo. 

 

 

 

Freeman is adamant that he didn't save Pro Stock alone and had plenty of help. He says, "There were more people besides me rowing the boat in the same direction."

Today, Pro Stock is likely the healthiest of any of the Camping World Drag Racing Series categories in terms of competition.. 

When Freeman joined the PRO Board, he admits he had no vision of becoming a leader or a driving force; he just wanted to be a positive addition and let the chips fall where they may. After all, as he saw it, PRO was supposed to represent those seeking the betterment of professional drag racing. 

"I like working with people," Freeman said. "I like the different thought processes. I mean, when you go into a PRO meeting, you got a lot of different opinions, you got a lot of different thoughts. You got people from all different parts of the country. We've had some heated conversations, and neither side is right or wrong, just different opinions."

It didn't take Freeman long to realize a group of people he didn't really understand at first were just as determined as he was when he sought effective change in Pro Stock, but on a much larger level.

"Two guys I've enjoyed some of the most are Jim Head and Bob Tasca," Freeman admitted. "Neither are stupid people but on far different ends of the spectrum. Jim Head's been doing this a long, long time. I used to think I was aggressive; that guy's aggressive, and I love it. I'm really fond of him.

"[Head's] unbelievable, and many things he says are true. He's another one who would not be a good politician, along with me. Just a great, great group of guys over there, very intelligent. But like I've told him, I don't even know when PRO was formed, but honestly, in my opinion, they ain't done a lot [until recently]."

As Freeman pointed out, PRO had always been working for the betterment of the racer but sometimes didn't always take the right approach. He believed from day one that drag racing was the most awesome of all motorsports and deserved a fitting presentation. 

"They talked about stuff that really doesn't matter, whether it's the cost of nitro, instead of talking about the root of the problems, and that's how you get to the cost of nitro," Freeman explained. "A lot of people don't understand that. What I will say is that drag racing in its entirety is probably, in my opinion, the best motorsport on the planet for not only the racing side of it but the fan side of it, for the partners, our business partners, across the slate."

Freeman has heard his share of drag racing's doubters who believe the straight-line sport's major league presentation is on its way out. From the inside out, their perception couldn't be more wrong, as he sees it. 

 

 

 

 

"I think some fantastic things are happening," Freeman said. "That's my opinion and nothing against NHRA. I can tell you that because for many, many years, and still today, they are the place to race, end of story. Now we have to lock arms [with NHRA], and in my opinion, we can move mountains together. There are a lot of good people within the NHRA. All I care about is the overall betterment of the sport for my teams, my business partners, my people, and their families. That's what it's about."

"There are curtains that have come down that have never been worked between, and on, and under that's happening right now. There's a lot of good work happening across the aisles.."

Significantly, one of the greatest divides, Freeman believed, was the acceptance of Pro Stock as an equal partner in PRO's push to improve drag racing. It's only been a decade or so that Pro Stock has been included in the process. But as Freeman sees it, all of drag racing's classes are important.

"There's a lot of those people on the nitro side that it was shocking to me how little they knew about Pro Stock," Freeman said. "Not all of them, but how little they knew about the other side. I'll be very, very upfront: without all these classes, there would be none of us.

"There would be no Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, none of that. It all started with people wanting to race and get off the street. That's what Wally Parks' vision was, to my knowledge. I only got to see him for a very short time in his life. So, for me, it wasn't hard. It's not hard at all because it's all relative. 

"Anybody that thinks they're bigger, better than some of those cats in some of the sportsman classes, they better think again because I'll promise you if you start adding up the coin, there's just as much there as there is up here.

Contrary to popular belief, Freeman believes for the sport to succeed at its highest level, there cannot be an adversarial relationship with NHRA. PRO's Scag Power Equipment Superstar Shootout, the highest-paying drag race in professional drag racing history, is intended to help the overall health of drag racing and nothing more.

"At the end of the day, NHRA has a platform, and all the people on PRO have all the inventory," Freeman said. "At the end of the day, you got to figure out a way to make everything good for everybody, period, because without the teams, and the owners, and all that inventory, nobody has a  thing to sell.

"I think we're marching down some great things. I think the guys at NHRA - their eyes are opening to maybe some new opportunities. I don't see a negative anywhere, anywhere; I really don't. There are differences. But as of today, with all the stuff, with the Scag Power Tools PRO Superstar Shootout, we have made it very clear that that is not to pick a fight, that is not to start a war. This is a way for us to put on an event the way we think it should be put on."

 

 

 

Freeman points out that being a PRO board member has helped him see the big picture of drag racing better. Whether he ever fields a nitro team or not, Freeman admits he understands the process better. 

"When Top Fuel starts running on Sunday, I go up there because I have a lot of friends that I care about; whether they win or lose, I care about them as people," Freeman said. "When I first started running Pro Stock, you didn't interact with the nitro racers at all, and I didn't understand that. I was like; they ain't better than I am." 

The great divide he mentioned earlier, Freeman believes, had a lot to do with holding the sport back.

"It was unbelievable," Freeman said. "Some of the state the sport's in is because of that. The sport is not in a bad state. We've missed some opportunities. Look at Pro Stock; look at what's happened since 2016. We compete at a very high level, and there is controversy here and there, but at the end of the day, we all respect the next. We come together as a group, and people come into our class right and left.

As Freeman sees it, making drag racing better should never include politics but a positive way for drag racing's community to channel their passion for the good of the sport.

"There's a lot of racers that want to race, and if you really step back, drag racing, it's the easiest business model on Earth because everybody out there will write a check to go do it. Think about that.

"There are really good people in drag racing. And that's why I'm so passionate about the sport, not just Pro Stock. I mean, I like all of it. All of it."