“I went to Piedmont probably about 30 years ago and I saw Rick Moore, the Mailman, and all of them racing up there. I had just started my company, and I told my wife, ‘I’m gonna get me one of them.’” Nearly three decades later, Randy Weatherford is still chasing – and collecting – wins in Pro Modified. Fresh off a statement-making victory at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, he’s got his swagger back and the results to match. “I’ve been racing about 28 years now… Quick 8, Extreme Pro Mod – all that helped me progress to where I’m at today.”
Weatherford’s 2025 season has already delivered big moments, including wins at Rockingham Dragway’s Pro Mods at The Rock and the recent PDRA Northern Nationals in Martin, Michigan. Weatherford and his Steve Petty-led WS Construction team made waves at Martin when they made the PDRA Pro Boost debut for Hart’s Turbo’s new Hart’s Charger centrifugal supercharger. Weatherford qualified No. 1 and went on to win the race.
For Weatherford, part of the appeal of the Hart’s Charger is fairness. “The problem I have with blowers is you’ve got to have a certain blower to run fast. I want something I can reach in that box when it comes from Amazon, pull it out, and it’s the same damn thing every time. Every man racing with us should be able to get the same thing. I don’t want to be limited because somebody says, ‘I don’t like you, Randy, so I’m not selling you this.’ It puts us all on the same field. Right now, some screws are better than other screws. How is that right to the racers? A screw right now is two years out on production and $50,000. But I can get a Hart’s blower pretty damn quick.”
He’s equally quick to credit the people around him. “I think Dustin [Hart] has put a lot of effort into this blower. He fixed the problems we were having. He deserves a chance in this industry – we need people like that. And I’ve got to throw it out to Steve Petty, Jamie [Miller] and, again, Dustin and the team at Hart’s. I wouldn’t be talking to you today if it wasn’t for them.”
Weatherford’s mechanical edge also comes from car chief Justin Carmack. “That rear end on my car is probably 12- or 14-pounds lighter than a steel rear end, so I can put that weight somewhere else. That thing really made the car drive better, and it gave it more hook – I can tell you that.”
For all the technology, Weatherford says the sport comes down to numbers. “This drag racing is just math. I run an erection company, so we use numbers all the time – weights, distances, loads. Once you start tracking that number and keep good records, you just keep going back to them. That’s what’s made us faster. The computers are faster. The fuel injection is faster. It’s a numbers game.”
Even with the best prep, every win still takes a little luck. “Qualifying No. 1 [and getting the bye run] was lucky for me, because if I’d had somebody in the other lane first round, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now. I had an electrical problem – it went out at the 330’ and just cut off. That was my hall pass. We found it, fixed it, and after that I had to be right, because the next guy was Steve King, then Jason Harris – and he’s got more horseshoes than the damn horse farm does.”
The final against Ty Tutterow was the kind of matchup Weatherford relishes. “You damn right I knew he was going to pull that out. I knew it was there because if you watch Kurt [Steding], he went 1.17 in the back half. Do the math. That told us they could run faster. If I couldn’t run that 3.57 and 1.17 back half, would we have seen that from them? I don’t think so. You can’t save it when you run me. You better bring it. That’s what makes this sport good – we’re dead nuts even right now.”
Beneath the competitive fire is a racer with a reputation for helping others. “I think it comes from my mom – she always taught me to reach down and help people if I can. I like helping people. I don’t want to be pat on the back for it. It comes from the heart. And in this business, if somebody supports me, I want to support them.”
With three races left in the PDRA season, Weatherford sits just two rounds out of the points lead. “This is going to be a nail-biting season. I’ve got something I can run with, and they’re going to show me what they’ve got. We’ll all see what it comes down to.”
For now, Randy Weatherford is smiling, swinging, and ready for whatever’s next. “We’re dead nuts even – and I’m ready to run hard.”
This story was originally published on August 8, 2025. 
