Wrightsville resident Mike Dunn was one of the NHRA's top drag racers in the 1990s and for the past six years has served as a television analyst for the sport on ESPN.
We caught up to Mike and posed a few questions for him:
Do you miss driving at all? I miss the driving part, I don't miss the politics of driving. It is pretty political.
What is it like to go 300 miles per hour? It is fast. It is hard to explain. What a lot of people don't realize a top-fuel dragster on a good run will get from zero to 280 miles per hour in the first ‰ mile. That is right over three seconds. The run happens so quick you don't have time to sit and look. You are focused on where to shut off. You can't tell it is going 330 miles per hour.
You were a driver, who was once a mechanic known for working on race cars. Do you work on your own cars at home now? That is why I don't want to do it anymore. Race cars, fuel funny cars and dragsters are made to come apart easily. (Now) pull the hood up and I can't even see where the air cleaner is on these new cars because of all the computer wires and stuff they have on them. Technology is great, it is just a different world.
How has announcing been for you? Evidently, (ESPN) must be happy with it. I auditioned for the ESPN position and was lucky enough to get that. It was a one-year deal. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it, or if I wanted to do it. it was a trial deal. I did a good enough job that the next contract was a three-year deal and they did an extension because the NHRA did an extension with ESPN and they tied it all together. I signed another five-year deal that will carry me through the 2011 season.
What is it like at ESPN? They treat me awfully well. I drove for 22 years, I had two killer contracts, both of those ended after one year. ESPN has never reneged on a contract with its talent. Even if the sport goes away, I will still get paid. Although I might be doing mud bogs in Alabama or something.
Although you travel less than when you were a driver, does it still get old? Traveling is definitely the downside, but it is a chosen profession. I have got to where I learned how to book flights. I used to be mad if flight got delayed or cancelled. Why worry about it? I finally realized that as long as the flight gets me home it's a good flight. Even if it is a day later, it could be worse.
How do you feel about the sport for teenagers? I think it is a great sport. Our sport, you can start out in the junior dragster league. Families are together with the drag racing. We need to have more stages where kids start out and work up before they get to professionals. By doing that we will have a better quality of driver.
We are seeing more female race car drivers now. Is that a good thing? It is a good thing from a publicity standpoint -- they get a lot of coverage. I truly believe if you are capable of doing it, I don't care what you are. You have to pay your dues. Drag racing isn't a real physical sport. You have to be physically fit to be mentally fit. It is mostly a mental sport, and I know some strong-willed women because I am married to one.
-- Steve Navaroli
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