For Bailey, Life is A DRAG—times two
Salem area driver not only races, but works for a world class dragster team
To many residents in the Salem-Keizer area, Rich Bailey is the man behind the local dragster seen at a long list of public events. The Capitol “Rocketeer” attracts adults and children alike, who take photos and—if they are lucky—receive an invitation to sit behind the wheel.
Since 2000, Bailey has had sponsorship from local car dealership Capitol Auto Group to help with the operating costs of his 200 MPH vehicle. Along with his crew chief and childhood friend Brent Sanford and other mechanics, Bailey has enjoyed the combination of races and display of his dragster to the public in locations like local baseball games, sponsor sites, and state/county fairs.
The part-time racing gig had been a great sideline for Rich for nearly two decades—with a long list of regional races, including a crash into a wall in Seattle during the NRHA National Open in 2008.
Suddenly in 2019, Rich’s world came crashing down around him.
Bailey lost his full-time job, and metaphorically spun his wheels briefly, pondering future employment options.
While browsing online on the business website Linked In, Bailey stumbled across a job posting to work in top-tier professional drag racing on the East Coast. With a background in business development as part of his own drag racing operation, Rich thought it would be worth a shot—saying that he had “nothing to lose.”
And the rest—as they say—is history.
Despite having misgivings about his own working knowledge of the drag racing profession, Rich was on the East coast the very next week in Charlotte, North Carolina, working for the racing team backing Top Fuel drag racer Justin Ashley, who is based out of Long Island, New York.
And ever since that day in 2019, Rich Bailey’s life has been one big drag. As in drag racing. But even though his racing promotional job of attracting additional sponsors means long hours and exotic locations, it has been a “dream job” for Bailey. Even if he isn’t home much because of some races that run together. Even though it has reduced his own opportunities to compete with his own car on the West Coast. Rich is a decidedly proud employee of Maynard-Ashley Racing.
Rich enjoys having the best of both worlds—working for a top-tier racing group, looking for or maintaining contacts with sponsors and sharing in the rewards of success on the track. Rich’s sponsorship efforts have been fruitful. Together with the assistance of both Justin and his father Mike Ashley, they landed their first major sponsor: Phillips Connect, a smart trailer company headquartered in Southern California.
Bailey is understandably proud of his efforts with Justin to land the sponsorship.
“To borrow some football lingo, I got the ball on the field and down the field, but it was Justin that got it into the end zone," Bailey said.
When he is actually home, Rich gets chances to compete in the NHRA Pro series with the Rocketeer. Bailey’s season with Justin starts in mid-March and runs through mid-November—and he attempts to work in his own races in places like Medford, Spokane, Woodburn and Yakima over the course of the spring-summer-fall. If there is a conflict, then Rich’s own races take a backseat, since he is usually with Justin’s team every two weeks.
Justin Ashley’s NHRA Camping World Top Fuel Division races are at other, more distant locations—mostly, but not exclusively on the East Coast. In mid-November, Justin went into the final races at Pomona, California—having won a season-best six races out of 21 held during the NHRA season but needing some victories in the championship post-season to nab the world title.
Sadly, the Maynard-Ashley team couldn’t outlast three of the four competitors ahead of them in the eliminations, and finished out of the money, so to speak. The championship title instead went to Doug Kalitta—who had competed for 25 years before finally winning the crown. Rich has high hopes for young Justin in the years to come, proudly proclaiming him to be “one of the top drivers” in the Top Fuel division.
The age difference between Justin and Rich is notable. Rich is 61, and he is more than twice the age of the 27-year old Justin. Rich jokes that he has always “lagged behind” in maturity while his driver is years ahead in that department, so they meet somewhere in the middle, and have a tight friendship. Justin has been racing since the age of 11, and the older Bailey remarks that Justin is “remarkable both on and off the track.”
Justin has similar feelings about his veteran race employee, calling Rich “special.”
“He (Rich) has been around drag-racing a longtime. He gets it,” says the young driver.
“He goes above and beyond to do what’s in the best interest of the program. But most importantly, he does it with gratitude.”
With the Covid-19 pandemic now in the rearview mirror, both men have confidence in their racing future.
Rich still plans to race his car as time allows—while also showing off his slick and lean dragster at car shows and related public events locally during the coming year.
But for now, he is more than content to be a part of a team—Justin Ashley’s team—vying for a world championship for years to come.
Vroom-vroom to that.
