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Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: You have been competing in the KOC since the series first came about in 2005, what keeps you coming back? Several reasons. The main reasons are the atmosphere and the location of the series. When racing at the KOC, you don’t feel the same “gotta win” attitude like you do at some bigger races. We all want to win every race, but the pressure is not there like when you travel to a bigger race. Also, most of the racers know each other well; so there is a lot of sportsmanship between the racers.

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: David what preparations do you routinely do to your car the week before attending a two or three day bracket event? There is not much to do usually other than clean the car. Preventive maintenance includes checking the oil filter for any metal and adjusting the valves about every 20-25 passes. Based on the previous race, we may change the jetting on the fuel.

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: David how long have you been competing in bracket drag racing? About 25 years. I started as a teenager racing a ’67 Ford Fairlane that was also my daily driver. I stopped racing in 1996 and bought the dragster in 2000. We were not very competitive in a 3600 pound door car, but racing with a dragster is a lot different.

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: With that in mind what is the single biggest piece of advice you would give to one who is considering or in the process of entering the world of bracket racing? Ask for advice from the local racers. There is plenty of info available from several different sources. Nobody knows the track you are racing at better than the local racers. They can provide the most insight to you.

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: David how were you introduced to bracket racing? When we were building and driving the Fairlane, it eventually got to where it was just not fun or economical to drive around anymore. We had been competing in bracket racing some but finally made the move to make the Fairlane a drag car only. We started out in footbrake then made the change to run electronics. At that time, we were racing at Hub City, Chatom and Gulfport.

"The main reasons are the atmosphere and the location of the series. When racing at the KOC, you don’t feel the same “gotta win” attitude like you do at some bigger races."

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: Here is a good one for you David. Visualize you are about to make first round at a KOC or any other bracket race, explain to our readers your thought process and your car preparation from pulling out from the staging lanes to the finish line? After finding out who we have to race, we decide the dial-in to put on the car. We make a decision based on previous runs, temperature and what ET our opponent is dialed, and start the car and warm the engine to get to operating temp. Pull out on track and complete the burnout. I have to limit the mistakes I make in a race. No redlights, no late lights, no breakout. If I can accomplish all of this, then the other driver must have a better package than me and that doesn’t happen very often. After the burnout, I make sure everything is ready on the car, temp, delay box, fans, low gear, etc. Prestage & Stage the car and it must be same every time. As the race progresses down the track, I visualize what is going to happen at the finish line. I must decide if I’m going to be there first and do I have enough room to let off or if I must run the car all out. After the finish line, I check the win lights to see who won and hope mine is on. All this happens in less than 5 seconds, so it’s hard to tell you exactly how we decide what to do especially at the finish line.

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: David how do you utilize the information on your time slips from 60’, 330’ and mph during time trials and eliminations, and how do you put to use this information to use during eliminations? All the incremental times just reflect how consistent the car is. Based on the numbers, we can figure out if the car slowed due to tire spin somewhere on the track or if there is a problem with the car. I also use the numbers to figure out how much I may have slowed down if I let off at the finish line.

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: David give us a run down on some of your bracket racing accomplishments from big money bracket wins to track championships? We won 4 races with the Fairlane during probably 8 years of bracket racing. With the dragster, we have won several (~8) weekly bracket races at Hub City, 1 $5,000 race at Lena, 4 KOC races at Gulfport, 1 KOC at State Capital and 1 Mississippi State Bracket Series at Hub City. We have also had 2 Runner Up finishes on the KOC series at Gulfport. We had a good showing in the Million Dollar race in Memphis in ‘06 getting down to 28 cars.

In points’ series, we have finished in the top ten in all the regular points’ series when we raced at Hub City including a Fall Championship and Overall Runner Up in 2001, Fall Runner Up in 2002 and a Spring Runner Up in 2005. We have finished in the top ten at the KOC since it began winning the Championship in 2008.

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: David your dad is almost always with you at the track, what does that mean to you and what does he do with car preparation? He helps with keeping the car clean and doing the mechanical work on the car. He helps in the staging lanes with dialins and checks the tires. It helps take some of the work load off me but mainly it’s just fun to do this a family oriented sport. I enjoy the time that we can spend together at the track.

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: Your wife and kids attend bracket events with you regularly, what does that mean to you? It helps to have the support of my whole family when I go racing. I don’t believe it would be as fun or as successful if I attended every race by myself.

Gaylon Rolison of BracketNews.com: Thanks for your time David, any final comments you would like to tell our viewers? I would like to express thanks to everyone involved with my racing from my family to my friends at the track. Without the help of all these people, I could not be where I’m at today. Also, you should be commended on the job you do on the KOC races. If not for these races, I’m not sure where my racing program would be.