Thu, 22 Apr 2010, 08:52 PM Did You See That? Nope. Neither Did I.

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2010 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Scott Kelley

Over the years there have been a lot of drag racers who have been influenced by watching a big, honkin' V-8-powered car go down the track. Or they have been influenced by seeing a big, powerful muscle car on the road or in a dealer's showroom. Of course that would be years ago when they actually had big, powerful muscle cars in the dealer's showroom. But I think that there have been very few who decided to get into the sport because they saw a Volkswagen at a stop light. Or a "Punch Buggy" as today's VW ads proclaim. Well, Scott Kelley is such a guy. "I have always loved the big muscle cars," Scott said. "Years ago a friend of mine and I were driving down the street in our hopped up Dodge when a Volkswagen pulled up next to us at a stop light. He revved his little engine up a couple of times, so naturally I revved mine, and when the light turned green he popped a wheelie and pulled away from us. I just turned to my friend and said, 'Did you see that?' And when he said, 'No,' I just said, 'Neither did I' and we went on our way."

Larry Kelley

While that may have been one reason why Scott began racing Volkswagens, the other reason is much simpler. "My dad used to race VW's back in the late 1960's and early '70's and he did very well with them." His dad, Larry, was one of many who used to race the iconic little cars at drag strips all over the country. In those days, racers like Darrell Vittone, Mark and Paul Schley, Dean and Ken Lowry with their famous "Deano Dyno-Soars" machines and others not only ran Volkswagens but they won with Volkswagens. Jeff Leininger won the Modified Eliminator World Championship in 1978 in his Karman Ghia while Gary Berg and Bill Duncan were among the top racers in the gas classes many years ago. Yes indeed, Volkswagens, with engines measured in cubic centimeters instead of cubic inches, were tough on the competition and Larry Kelley was one of the best. "He held the record for a while and ran a lot of the West coast races," Scott said. "But when he crashed at Orange County at a Bug-In my mom told him that he was done racing." Well, he might have been done driving but he certainly wasn't done racing. Today Larry serves as the crew chief on his son's car, or truck, or box, or whatever you want to call it. "It's a 2010 Scion XB," Scott said. And it is as unique today as his dad's VW's were way back when.

Kelley in All-Motor car in 2005.

Prior to running his newest creation, Scott took a lesson from his dad and that guy at the stop light and built a Volkswagen. "I began racing VW's back in 1989. Dad still had some parts in the garage from when he used to race and we built the fastback car that I ran for a few years and we did very well with it." Scott then faced one of the harsh realities of life and of racing, money, or the lack of it. "My wife told me that if I wanted to keep racing I had to get some sponsorship." Faced with that ultimatum, Scott went out and got the folks at Wynn's Friction Proofing to back his racing efforts. "We had been doing a lot of bracket racing but with the sponsorship we were able to build a heads-up car and go out on the VW tour." In 2001 Scott was part of the NHRA Sport Compact program, and just as he had done in the past, he did well, set records and won races including six big races in Sacramento, Houston, Sonoma, Dallas, Fontana and Las Vegas. Scott took the car across the country, set some records and won some championships, and the success that he had with that car got the attention of the folks at Toyota. "They liked what we were doing with the VW and they asked us if we'd like to race with them. We were able to strike a deal so we built a car for them and raced it at the sport compact events across the country." His involvement with Toyota also got him a spot in the 2007 Toyota Pro-Am Celebrity race in Long Beach, California. "That was a lot of fun and I had a great time, even though I had never done any road racing before." Also in 2007 Scott and his father, who still races a Volkswagen, both won at the same race, the one at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "That was so cool. We were like Kenny and Brandon Bernstein (who also won at the same Vegas race in 2001) only not quite as loud and with half the cylinders."

Larry and Scott celebrate win in 2007 Vegas.

Scott's relationship with Toyota began in 2004, and as the years went by Scott got more heavily involved with them, and in 2005 he built a car that really put him on the map. That car, a 2006 Toyota Corolla, featured a tube-chassis, a lot of carbon fiber body parts and a screamin' 4-cylinder engine. "It was basically a Pro Stock class for 4-cylinder cars," Scott said. "It had a 158 cubic-inch engine, had to weigh 1,750 pounds and run on methanol, but other than that it was unlimited." Scott did very well with that and that led to his newest creation and a new deal with the folks at Toyota and Scion. "Nobody had ever built a 'box,' as we call the XB. It is one of Scion's best selling models and really has become one of the unique vehicles on the roads today. They asked if we'd like to build one and we said yes." So, along with his father, who basically designed the chassis, Scott set out to build a vehicle that would fit into the NHRA SS/EX class. "We have always built all of our own stuff," he said. "But on this project we did get some help from the folks at Ron Lummus Racing in Anaheim. We basically started with a blank sheet of paper and went from there. This is a true, front-wheel drive, tube chassis race car." The car is so new that Scott ran his old, classic VW fastback at the Winternationals this year before debuting the XB at the Division 7 Lucas Oil race in Tucson a few weeks ago. "This is the first race that we have had it out with colors," Scott said, referring to the SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas last weekend. "We ran it in Tucson to make sure that nothing fell off it." Apparently nothing did fall off since Scott qualified for the Super Stock Eliminator in Vegas, and even though he lost in the first round he is very optimistic about the future for this car. "It's a lot of fun and has unlimited potential. We just signed a three year deal with Scion to race this and we're really excited about it." The Vegas race was the first national event for the car and Scott says that he will compete at all of the Division 7 races this year as well as the national events that are out west along with a few, selected races that are specifically for the compact cars. In Vegas the new XB went a best of 10.02 which was good enough for the twenty-fourth spot in the Super Stock field. "It's still new and we know it will go faster once we get the bugs ironed out," Scott said.

For a guy who admits to loving the classic, big-block V-8 engines, and who likes the way they look and sound, racing a Scion XB is very interesting. "I have to admit, that pulling into the staging lanes and lining up against a Hemi or a 427 Camaro is really exciting. I love this car and the folks at Toyota and Scion have been great to me and we really want to make this work and I know we will." And just imagine, this all started out because some guy in a VW spanked him at a stop light years ago. "Actually my dad had a big influence on me, but I'll never forget that little Volkswagen." And, if he is as successful with this venture as he has been with everything else, drag race fans will never forget the Scion XB that's running in Super Stock Eliminator.

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