Larry Frazier, a noted drag racing tuner in the nitro world, passed away on February 9, 2024. He was 87 and died peacefully in his sleep. 

Frazier left behind a legacy of helping the smaller teams who needed more options to champion their cause. 

Two of drag racing's more popular people champions, Scott Palmer and John Force, benefitted from Frazier. 

"He actually gave me the hope that I could run a Top Fuel car," added Palmer.

Palmer purchased his first Top Fuel dragster from Marvin Foxworth under the premise that "if you can fit it in it, I will sell it to you."

Indeed, the dragster fit as well as Cinderella's glass slipper. 

"We got the car, and Brent Fanning helped us test it and went to the first event, which was St. Louis, and just barely missed qualifying," Palmer said." And they couldn't go to Chicago. I needed to go to Chicago and make some more runs before the Dallas event, which I had O'Reilly's on my car, and ACDelco was helping me, but I needed to try to make some more runs. We were so new, I hadn't made any runs."

Palmer was on the way to Chicago, armed with Spencer Massey and Jim Weens, to attempt racing Chicago with his limited experience. 

Then the phone rang as he was en route. The caller identified himself as Larry Frazier, and Palmer, knowing the prankster tendencies of his friends, hung up the phone.

They arrived at Route 66 Raceway, and Massey approached Palmer and told him, "Hey, Larry Frazier is standing at the back of our pits." 

"We had a gooseneck trailer, looked a little bit like we were rednecks from Missouri, which we are... I mean, we just didn't look the part [of nitro racers]," Palmer admitted. "And sure enough, it was Larry Frazier. And he asked if I wanted him to go in and look around. And I said, 'Absolutely." 

"The first sentence out of his mouth was, 'I just want you to know this is not Alcohol Funny Car racing. Everybody on this row is not your friend. They're acquaintances. This is a cutthroat world out here when money is involved, and not many people will have your back." 

Force, in his early career years, also had his share of lessons from Frazier. He was Force's tuner from 1981 to 1983.

"I only had a few crew chiefs in the beginning. Steve Plueger was the first [crew chief] that I actually had on my payroll, and that was for several years, and he's gone now. But I hired Larry Frazier, and we both drove the truck. It was quite an experience. He was a truck driver, but he was really a very talented mechanic. But the guy not only tuned the car, but he helped me run the team and helped me organize it and was really a turning point in my career."

"He taught me a lot about driving, like all my crew chiefs did. We had a lot of fun. In those days, we had good times together. He helped me financially to keep the balance of running the team, and I learned a lot from him as I did from Austin Coil."

Like Force, Palmer said similar lessons earned Frazier the legendary status in his eyes. Then, his swagger only cemented the legend. 

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"I remember him because of gold chains, gold rings," Palmer added. "When he walked in the bar, hotel lobby, or wherever you were, you knew Larry Frazier was in town. He was just that cool. There are not many people who can truly back that up. And he backed it up."

And if there's one thing Palmer will testify on Frazier's behalf, it is that he gave the downtrodden a measure of swagger. 

"He 100% gave me the confidence to run a Top Fuel car," Palmer said. "It didn't matter if we were the last qualifier, the fastest qualifier doesn't matter what we were, the next run was always the same. I'd ask, 'What are you going to do, Fraz?" 

"He always responded, 'We're going to pull it up there and we're going to fire one at them." 

"It just made me think, wow, not everybody out here thinks we're a bunch of jack-offs. He would not stand at the back of the pits and offer to help if he didn't think there was hope for us. And that means a lot when you're starting out."

And definitely, Frazier meant a lot to a lot of people and will be missed.