DRAG RACING: Legend remembered at Bristol Dragway

BRISTOL, Tenn.
It seemed like 1974 at Bristol Dragway.

A large crowd of friends, family members and fans gathered around the starting line to pay one final salute to drag-racing pioneer and champion Shirl Greer of Kingsport, Tenn.

Greer, 75, died Friday in Johnson City after complications from surgery.

Moments after Greer’s sons, Rusty, Brian and Van, unloaded Greer’s famed “Chained Lightning” Funny Car and fired up the Nitromethane-powered engine,
even hardened drag racing veterans were unable to control their emotions.

As the sound echoed between the hills at Thunder Valley, several campers in town for the NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway scrambled over to find the source of the commotion.

According to Brian Greer, his charismatic father would have savored the drama-soaked scene.

“There no doubt in my mind that he was sitting up there in heaven, lighting a cigar, having a good laugh, and probably getting suited up and ready to make a run,” Greer said.

All true drag racing fans know the Greer saga. Greer overcame a spectacular fire during the 1974 National Hot Rod Association Finals en route to win the
NHRA Funny Car World Championship. That was only part of the family-based success story, however.

“Dad gave up everything in his whole life to try to do drag racing for a living,” said Brian Greer, fighting back tears. “We grew up at the race track eating raw weenies and Saltine crackers, sleeping in the truck, building motors at the motel room, painting the car at the track. We didn’t go camping or on picnics, we went racing.”

Trevor Denton, of Bristol, Va., was among a contingent of Bristol Dragway competitors at the unique ceremony. Denton, who has been a drag racer for 15
years, currently competes in the Super Pro and Super Comp categories in the NHRA and the Top Dragster class in the International Hot Rod Association.

Denton took several pictures of Greer’s exotic car Wednesday morning. He lingered at the dragway long after the surreal memorial.

“My dad [Rothel] actually told me about Shirl the first time I came to the track because he had watched him race back in the 1960s,” said Denton, the 2002
Super Pro champion at Bristol Dragway. “Shirl was a true racer. He inspired me and showed that it didn’t matter where you from if you wanted to be a champion bad enough.”

Greer attracted fans for both his racing prowess and his fun-loving personality.

“Shirl was a pretty laidback person who didn’t mind talking to anybody,” Denton said. “The first time I met [Greer] it was like I had known him for 20 years. The
turnout today shows that he’s got a lot of fans.”

Van Greer has been a longtime competitor in the Sportsman Division at Bristol Dragway, earning the championship in the 7.50 index class last season. Van
admitted that Wednesday’s trip down memory lane was challenging yet humbling for the entire family.

“I’m sad and glad at the same time,” Van Greer said. “I’m glad we had dad to share all these years and I’m sad to see him go.”

According to Brian Greer, his father earned legendary status in many ways. Despite his lifelong devotion to drag racing, Shirl was a natural athlete.

“I couldn’t outrun dad on foot until he was 54 years old,” he said. “He was always competitive.”

Brian Greer said he savors the days when the family rented a Go Kart track in the Bloomingdale community near Kingsport. The battles were fierce and the laughs were constant.

“We always put our right foot up on the bar of the kart to show that we didn’t need no brakes,” said Brain Greer, referring to his father and brothers. “We had a lot of good times. We played a lot, laughed a lot and worked hard. I’m just glad that we got to spend this much time with our dad and be a part of making his
dream come true because he inspired us to make our dreams come true.”

Shirl Greer helped to author many memorable chapters at Bristol Dragway, which opened in 1965. The final chapter was powerful as well.

“Dad as the first one down the track when it opened, and we wanted to bring him up here and send him home,” Van Greer said.

Along with many of the spectators, Brian smiled when his father’s famed Funny Car roared to ear-splitting life Wednesday.

“We didn’t want this to be a sad thing,” Brian Greer said. “We wanted this to be a celebration of his life.
“My dad came into this world a unique individual, and this was the only proper way that he could go out.”

agregory@bristolnews.com I (276) 645-2544