Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Features

Nostalgia Funny Car Racer Nancy Matter Making Great Music On and Off the Track

Nitro drag racing has a sound like no other, but Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car racer Nancy Matter might have heard a few that could compare.

Matter and her American Valor Foundation Pontiac Transam are a regular sight at the Funny Car Chaos series, but fans may be unaware of her unusual career prior to nitro racing. She is a music mastering expert, and worked on many of Walt Disney’s releases before starting a mastering facility of her own.

“I was a musician, playing in rock bands in LA and I decided some day I am not going to want to haul all these drum kits around,” she told Living Nitro.

“I put myself through engineering school and ended up in cassette and CD manufacturing, running the studio for the post production aspect of broadcasting manufacturing.

“That led to being a producer with the Disney Record Corporation, so I was pretty much upper management there. I became a full fledged mastering engineer at that point.

“I was convinced by some of the upper echelon of mastering engineers to start my own studio so I did. I have about 70 gold and platinum records (that I worked on), and some Grammys and Oscars.”

Matter began her racing career bracket racing and pit crewed with the late NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Lou Gasparelli.

“I did that until I was 19, got married, and had a music career. When I got divorced, 30 days after I ended up back at the races at Seattle and the hook was back.

“Because of my passion for alcohol funny cars, I went to Frank Hawley’s school, did my six passes and said, ‘OK, I am going to do it.;

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

“In the music industry, I was very blessed and worked very hard, and I was able to buy my first alcohol funny car operation. I ran that for 14 years and then kind of went well, maybe we should try something else. A nostalgia funny car came up for sale in 2017 and here we are today.”

Watch the video to see Nancy’s nitro driving skills in action at Funny Car Chaos!

This story was originally published on April 18, 2021. Drag Illustrated

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Features

MMA legend Randy “The Natural” Couture is officially adding “Pro Mod driver” to his already stacked resume. On Friday at the Gerber Collision &...

Exclusive

Drag Illustrated’s Pound-for-Pound Pro Mod Rankings are back with a vengeance, unveiling a fiery Top 20 update that showcases drag racing’s toughest competitors across...

News

Last year Lee Hartman ran to the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown No. 1 qualifier at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 Nationals and...

News

It took 70 days, but Jason Dietsch, of Edgerton, Ohio, won the Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals today at Route 66 Raceway during the final...

Since 2005, DI has informed, inspired and educated drag racers from every walk of the racing life - weekend warrior and street/strip enthusiasts to pro-level doorslammer and Top Fuel racers. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-worthy videos to electric live events, DI meets hundreds of thousands of racers where they live, creating the moments that create conversations.