Dewayne Custer added as Driver of Second Roy Hill Cobra Jet in Houston

Courtesy of Roy Hill Racing
Written by: Mike Carpenter
Photo: Jesse Kiser

BAYTOWN, TX – After qualifying eighth and advancing one round before falling to eventual winner Dan Fletcher at the recently completed NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, Roy Hill is looking for more at this weekend’s 24th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals in Baytown, TX.

Doubling your chances for a win is a great way to start.

Two Roy Hill / Phoenix Racing Super Stock Ford Cobra Jets owned by James Finch will hit Royal Purple Raceway this weekend; Hill will pilot the solid red Coca-Cola / Alsco entry he debuted in Charlotte, while Baytown native and longtime sportsman racer Dewayne Custer will drive the red, white, and blue Cobra Jet that carried Hill to the US Nationals winner’s circle last year.

The 36-year-old Custer is the shop foreman at Lastor Race Cars and has a lifetime of chassis building, tuning, and sportsman racing under his belt. He’s currently in the process of building a Super Stock Cobra Jet for Paul Candies, which sparked the multi-faceted partnership between Hill and Custer.

“I was mentioning to Paul that I was looking for a ride for this race, and he put me in touch with Roy,” said Custer, son of East Texas Race Cars founder Vic Custer. “I’ve driven just about every type of sportsman car out there for a lot of different people, but I’ve never been involved with names like Roy Hill and James Finch. To be able to race a car of this caliber for a team like Roy’s is a dream come true for me.”

“I’m really looking forward to putting Dewayne in the car this weekend and seeing what he can do,” said Hill. “We want to see him go rounds, and when you go rounds you win races, which is exactly what we want to do for all of the sponsors we’re bringing on board this weekend.”

Those sponsors include two of the Houston area’s premier Ford dealerships, Tommie Vaughn Ford in Houston and Baytown Ford.

Tommie Vaughn Ford, the nation’s largest high-performance Ford dealership, will be featured on Custer’s ride as an associate sponsor. The partnership was orchestrated by another longtime Ford racer, Tommie Vaughn Ford’s Director of Marketing, Glen Tinsley. Tinsley was the original driver of the Budweiser / Motorcraft “Super Team” Super Stock entry.

“Our racing roots run deep at Tommie Vaughn Ford,” said Tinsley. “Since 1988, we have been the nation’s largest-stocking Ford Racing Performance Parts distributor; if it makes a Ford go fast, we have it or can get it. Our involvement with the Ford high performance industry makes this partnership with Roy and Dewayne a perfect fit. We’re going to have some of our managers and other team members at the track this weekend, and it’ll be their first real involvement with something like this. Needless to say, the excitement level has been very high at the office this week!”

Adorning Hill’s Super Stocker as an associate sponsor will be Baytown Ford, the longtime supporter of Royal Purple Raceway and numerous racers and events in the Houston area.

“We’ve been involved with Royal Purple Raceway for many, many years now, and we saw this partnership with Roy Hill and his Ford program as a natural extension of that,” said Craig Chaudoin, General Manager of Baytown Ford.

To kick off the race weekend, Baytown Ford will be hosting a special display featuring both Phoenix Racing Cobra Jets along with NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle standout Steve Johnson and another Ford Racing star, Bob Tasca III and his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang Funny Car. The dealership will also have two brand new 2012 Mustang Cobra Jets on display. The event will be held on Wednesday, April 27th from 3 PM to 8 PM.

 “I want to invite everyone out to Baytown Ford on Wednesday to get a look at these cars, meet these drivers and get their autographs, and enjoy a big barbecue,” Hill said. “You’ll get to see the two fastest 2010 Cobra Jets in the country as well as the brand new 2012 models that are available to purchase at Baytown Ford as we speak. As Bob Tasca famously said, ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’, and that’s definitely what we plan on doing this weekend.”

Visit www.royhillsdragracingschool.com for more information about Roy Hill’s Drag Racing School and the team’s 2011 plans.