Bill Mullins mixed it up on the dragstrip in the NHRA’s glorious 1980s with such Top Fuel legends as Joe Amato, Gary Beck, Don Garlits, Darrell Gwynn, Connie Kalitta, Dick La Haie, and Gary Ormsby.

And his exploits aren’t forgotten. Top Fuel newcomer Will Smith, who debuted in the class this past weekend at the Dodge Power Brokers U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, has made sure of that.

“Bill Mullins was a great friend of mine, was someone I always [regarded] a hero. I was very fortunate to meet him and become best of friends with him. He's helped me in a lot of ways. This weekend, I actually debuted with the number 200 on my car, and I chose that number in honor of Bill Mullins. So trying to keep that in the state of Alabama,” Smith, a University of Alabama graduate and resident of Northport, near Tuscaloosa, said. “We have a great friendship, and it's quite the honor to have that 200 on the side of the car, because that was a great guy that represented Alabama very well.”

Eddie Hill is another of Smith’s favorites, and Smith proved it one Halloween by dressing up as Hill. Enamored of vintage drag racing memories and memorabilia, Smith has kept alive the personalities of retired racers. (He was spotted wearing a Dean Skuza T-shirt to remember the popular Funny Car driver.)

That’s why he and Larry Dixon have clicked. Dixon, idle from NHRA competition since 2016, said, “I love driving Top Fuel cars. I’m so far away from doing things to keep my name out there. It’s never been about that. It’s been about the love of the sport.” And, like Smith, car-owner Dixon understands that the linchpin is “the dollars and cents: getting the proper funding, trying to come up with a company that you can sell the sport to for what it costs to do it and then be able to show a solid return on their investment.” But they’re both old-school in their attitudes and their approaches to championship drag racing.

Even the livery on Dixon’s dragster was appropriate for their taste. The largest element on the body is a tribute to longtime Dixon supporter Rick Fischer, and its “Rick Fischer Honda” graphics mimic the Miller Genuine Draft font and black-and-gold style. The iconic Wynn’s decal is modified to acknowledge another of Dixon’s many friends and supporters. Instead of Wynn’s, it says, “Nick,” for Nick Salamone.

"Here we are with this scheme again, it's like making my rookie debut. It has a lot of meaning,” Smith said. "Larry Dixon's car, the throwback scheme, it's Indy. This is what I've dreamed of. So, picking Indy to debut only made sense for Larry and me.  It's the grandest stage of all. I don't know how else to put it. It's the Big Go. This is the granddaddy of them all. It's almost indescribable. It's what you dream about.

“Larry is a legend of this sport. He needs to be out here, love to see him out here, and I think it's a very unique way to have this come back out here. A lot of people have complimented the car. Everybody knows what it is. It has a lot of meaning behind it,” he said.

“I would love to take credit for the wrap, but that wasn't my idea. That was totally Larry's deal, and man, what an honor of when they started applying the graphics at the shop the other day, and I started to see what was coming together, it's just kind of an emotional time like, 'Wow. I was five years old watching that car. It was one of my favorite Top Fuel cars ever," Smith said.

So this 32-year-old next-generation racer, is an “old soul” – with a new opportunity.

The graduate of the Jr. Dragster program and the Top Alcohol Dragster class – as well as the Marketing Director for the PDRA (Professional Drag Racers Association) and Virginia Motorsports Park – officially took that big first step to the sport’s highest plateau. With mentorship from three-time Top Fuel champion Dixon, Smith made his first pro laps at the NHRA’s marquee event.

“It's been a long journey,” Smith said. “Starting out in the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League, I always had the passion of, and in the goal of, driving, I just raced my whole life. I had the opportunity to work for teams in the past, gained a lot of experience, chose a marketing path to help me get in the seat, went to the University of Alabama, got my marketing degree, only to go drag racing. So fortunately, I made a career out of it.”

Now he’s linked with one of the greatest Top Fuel drivers in the sport’s history, a man who has won 62 events, swept the Western Swing, is among the top 10 all-time round-win leaders, and a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

“I personally don't think I have a better teacher, better mentor, than Larry Dixon. He's seen it all. He's done it all. Every time we sit down and talk about procedures and techniques, the guy's got answers. He knows it,” Smith said. "The fact that he'd come out in his rookie season and won Indy. I look at him. I'm like, 'Man, no pressure, right?’ Very blessed to have the opportunity to do this with Larry Dixon and a great group of guys that know how to win, know how to go fast.”

He gave the group of backers the nickname “Band of Brothers,” and the ensemble includes Pro Modified star Mike Castellana and business analyst A.J. Ware among many others.

Longtime Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson is another. And Johnson said, “Will wrote me a letter in 2005, 2006. I still have it. He hooked up with Larry and Larry has taken him under his wing. Will has lots of great mentors. He has great supporters. It costs a lot of money to race: $15-20-grand a pass. That’s what’s so great about our sport – we have a great heart in the NHRA.”

That’s why racing at Indianapolis in his first appearance meant so much to Smith.

"When I saw my name on the entry list, that's when I was pinching myself. I'm like, 'Hey, that's my name here with all these other greats of our sport here at the U.S. Nationals. That's when I felt like, 'Hey, I made it,’" Smith said. "That's when it was surreal for me. Going into the lanes, you're excited. You have so much emotion going through your mind when you roll under the arch, see the stands are packed. But you have to tune all that out, and focus on your job. I do feel like that's something I've learned to do pretty well. So that part wasn't hard to do. It goes back to just seeing my name on the entry list.  So there's a lot of greats out here, a lot of great talent, great people, people I've admired my whole life watching race, and to see my name even close to those guys, dream come true.

“Anybody that sees this, ‘Hey, all your passions, anything is possible.’

"Have fun. That's been the biggest thing Larry's told me. That's been the key. We both agreed we were going to come out here and do this together and we're going to have fun. And if we're not having fun, we're not doing it,” Smith said. “But we've got a great team. We've got a great platform here for our marketing partners and future partners that hopefully keep us out here together. But yeah, we're going to have a blast. So far, everybody here is having a great time, and I've had a lot of questions about driving and Larry's like, ‘Hey, man, you got a lot of laps in A/Fuel car. You know how to do this. Don't overthink it.’ And I haven't."

Last weekend certainly wasn’t the first time Smith has been in a race car.

"I've been fortunate to drive a lot of cars from Juniors all the way up to A/Fuel and a lot in between,” he said. “Personally, I feel like the biggest jump was going from bracket cars up to A/Fuel. Spending four years in A/Fuel, I had 150, 155 laps between [Dave] Hirata's car, driving for them for four years, and then Robin Samsel's car that I was able to run this year. I can't stress enough how great it is to drive A/Fuel car and use that as a training tool, a platform to step up to Top Fuel. It prepared me, I feel like, the best that anybody could. I mean, you don't see people who would've just jumped in a Top Fuel car. I mean, there's been people that's done it, but I will say the A/Fuel car prepared me the most for it.

"Procedurally, everything's pretty well the same. It's just a matter of, it's going faster, making sure it's pointed straight and not over-driving the car,” Smith said. “The launch say, first 150, 200 feet is about the same. After that, it's like, ‘Hello!’ It don't stop. But definitely, the A/Fuel car was the best thing I could have done, and I recommend that for anyone that has the goals and dreams of running a Top Fuel dragster, even a fuel Funny Car. I mean, fuel Funny Car, I know that's completely different, but procedurally they're all the same. I highly recommend taking the step from kids out there that are watching Junior dragsters up to the super classes and then Top Dragster, Top Sportsman and keep working their way on up in whatever class they may pursue."

All that experience gave him confidence to draw from when he rolled to the starting line last Friday night. Yes, it was The Big Go, the most-hyped race on the Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule.

Even so, Smith said, “You have to look at it like it's any other run. I just looked at it like, "Hey, I made my license a month ago. [Friday night] was my third full run in the car.

“The run [Friday] night was the easiest part of this whole process. Finding the funding to do it

is definitely the hardest part,” he said.

All in all, Smith said, “I couldn't have painted this picture any better.” Well, maybe he could have, just a little bit.

His first of five qualifying passes put him in the provisional line-up at No. 15 Friday night, and he dropped to the bump spot at No. 16 in the first Saturday session. From then on, it was a struggle to stay on the grid for Monday’s eliminations. With more experienced drivers (some of whom were unqualified after two sessions) improving their performances, Smith moved down to 18 and became mired in 20th position, unqualified.

But he said he still considered himself “blessed to be here,” despite missing the field.

"I strive for perfection. None of us is perfect. None of us will ever be, but that's something I strive for. To have someone like Larry in your corner, that has the answers to my questions. I think we make a good duo, and I'm very honored to say that. I think that's the truth, and I look forward to seeing where he and I, our team here, all of our marketing partners and future partners. I look forward to seeing where we're going to go with this.
"We got all the parts and pieces to do that. It was just unfortunate. It didn't work out in our favor [at Indianapolis]. Once again, I'm just blessed to be here, to have this opportunity. As far as future goes, [we’re] looking for corporate partners, funding to continue.

So Larry, and I have a plan, and we'll get the right partners involved with us moving forward, and you'll see more of us out here."