John Long Sr.

My passion for cars, and pretty much anything mechanical, began at a very early age. I remember rebuilding the engine on my mini-bike at probably nine or ten years old in the front yard of my parents’ house. Along with most other teenagers of the late 70s, I had my hand in hot rodding muscle cars down the local drag strip. Along with the hot rodded cars, I had an interest in off-roading and four-wheel drives.

 In the mid-80s, I began mud drag competitions with a series of Jeeps. My claim to fame was that I had a CJ7 with a 258 cubic inch inline six cylinder that I threw together. It had a healthy cam and some internal work that would eat V8 Jeeps all day long. Although I had a great deal of success at the local level, I decided to give up mud racing to start my family. With my passion for racing on hold, I was still a regular spectator to both the drag strip and the mud drags, bringing John Jr. along to watch from an early age. 

In 1997, I made the investment to purchase a junior dragster to start our racing career together. 

From day one of our racing career, all the way to present day, I have always been very critical of our racing equipment. If it wasn’t exactly the way I wanted it, it would be in a short amount of time. When a new chassis was purchased, it was torn down to the bare frame, then rebuilt before every season to make sure every nut and bolt on the car had been checked and setup just the way we wanted. Every engine, clutch, and carburetor we had was meticulously hand built in our two car garage. In 2002, I was awarded Texas Raceway's Jr. Dragster Crew Chief of the year award. Through the years, I have gathered a great act for tuning with the fuel of alcohol and reading the weather to determine how it will affect the race car. Years of trial and error, along with hours of studying the mechanics and science, has almost turned this skill into an art. 

After John Jr. began racing his 2001 Camaro and the junior dragster days were over, I decided I was ready to get behind the wheel once again. Although I loved turning wrenches and trying to judge the tune up to put in the car, there isn’t a replacement for feeling the rush behind the wheel. In 2009, I purchased a 1969 Chevrolet Nova. With nothing more than a 355 cubic inch street motor, a powerglide, and a street 2500 stall converter, we managed to break the 3400 pound nova deep into the 12s in the quarter mile. As previously stated, I always had a soft spot for trucks, dating back to my high school and mud racing days. In late 2011, the S10 was completed and I began competing in the No-Electronics class at various local tracks. Still preferring to work as crew at larger, out of town races, I travelled out of town and with John Jr. and raced off-and-on through the 2014 season.

 In the off-seasons between 2014 and 2015, I decided I was ready to give racing a serious shot as a driver. I purchased a 1997 S10 shell and proceeded to do what I do best--meticulously build the perfect bracket truck. In 2015, I started the year working the bugs out of the new truck. New engine, transmission, rear differential, and all new suspension presented multiple challenges in getting the truck setup perfectly. Towards the end of the 2015 season, the hard work and long hours of wrenching on the truck paid off when I won my first event win in over 20 years, at Litter River Dragway in Temple, Texas. The start of 2016 was a record-shattering year for me. In the first six races of the season, I had five final round appearances with four consecutive race wins. I also made my debut at a few larger payout races this year, including the Sooner State Challenge at Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Oklahoma, making it deep in the rounds on both days of competition. 

I have been diligently practicing and working to get better with on-and-off track performances based off of developmental skills with the "This is Bracket Racing" program. This year i plan to compete for the first time in the divisional level in Super Street wtih the NHRA. 

6X NHRA E.T. FINALS QUALIFIER

4X IHRA E.T. FINALS QUALIFIER

2002 TEXAS RACEWAY CREW CHIEF OF THE YEAR

WON MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS AS TUNER

WON MULTIPLE RACES IN MANY TYPES OF MOTORSPORTS

Bracket Racing

Index Racing

Super Street