Questions by Jeff Burk
Photos courtesy Steve
Earwood and from DRO files

Steve Earwood has worn many hats in his
career. He created the Southern Pro Stock
Circuit, managed Gainesville Raceway and
Atlanta Dragway, ran the NHRA’s national media
department, and currently directs Rockingham
Dragway in Rockingham, North Carolina. He is a
sitting member of the governor’s North Carolina Motorsports
Advisory Council. In 2010 he was named Citizen of the Year by
the Richmond County (NC) Chamber of Commerce. In 2012 he
was inducted into the NHRA Division 2 Hall of Fame.

Editor Jeff Burk had a few questions for the drag racing veteran
and Earwood had the answers.

: Where was your first drag racing experience?

Steve Earwood: Thunderbolt Dragway, Green Cove Springs, Fla.  An abandoned military airfield near Jacksonville. 1961. First education I got about our sport was reading Hot Rod Magazine from the time I was 13 years old. Fellow named Wally Parks was the editor and he was starting a full-time effort forming the National Hot Rod Association. Told my mom when I grew up I was going to go work for him.