Maurice Dupont understands he’s in for a weekend like he never experienced when racing Top Fuel in the 1990s. It took the plane ride home from successfully relicensing in Tucson, Az., to confirm it’s a whole new ballgame.
Dupont was headed back home to Oakland, Ca, to retrieve a few items before heading to the Fairplex in Pomona as a driver in Scott Palmer’s stable of Top Fuel dragsters.
With the plane on the taxiway headed for the runway, the pilot came over the plane’s PA and informed the passengers they were headed back to the gate where they would deplane because the flight was canceled.
There wasn’t a weather issue, nor did the plane have mechanical issues. Instead, there were two unruly passengers.
“It wasn’t even passengers,” Dupont said. “It was two flight attendants who had gotten into a fight.”
It’s just a small delay for Dupont, who plans to drive a dragster backed by American boxing icon Floyd Mayweather. The last time Dupont raced in the NHRA’s Top Fuel division was in a dragster sponsored by entertainer MC Hammer and boxer Evander Holyfield.
“It’s been almost like a seven-year process just to get the right people in the right place,” Dupont said. “And then working with Floyd and all his guys and my agent Rich, they put it all together for me.”
Dupont took a trip to Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School to get himself reacquainted with driving a dragster at speed, and then on Tuesday, when he made his laps in the same dragster that Travis Pastrana recently made his exhibition runs, it was as if he picked up where he left off.
“I’ve been racing all my life, so it didn’t change anything,” Dupont explained. “Your skills, your techniques, you’re going to do the same. I’m a motorcycle rider first, four-wheel second. I ride bikes at six, 7-second quarter miles. The car is just a little different. It’s a little more speed, a little more horsepower, but easier to drive.”
Dupont is fully away that the Top Fuel he left in the 1990s is not the one he’s returning to race.
“That’s what made me want to come back in and get into the thick of things because I think I’ll be good for our program,” Dupont said.
For now, Dupont is focused on getting into the groove of racing. His long-range plans include bringing in his son, Kendrick, 29, as a second driver.
“He’s a pretty good driver,” Dupont said. “He’ll also be pretty good. Then that way, I’ll stay in the driver’s seat for at least a couple of years and then phase out and be on the owner’s side and keep the programs going.”
