It was ugly. It was worse than ugly. This was embarrassing. Stevie Fast Jackson was cruising toward his third DNQ in a row as part of the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Series. This was after building new engines, preparing harder than he might have ever prepared before and it was all going up in smoke at Lucas Oil Raceway Indianapolis. The car was slow, the car got worse, and then during the fourth  of five qualifying sessions at the US Nationals, the most prestigious drag race in the world, Jackson let go of the button on the starting line, the engine revved to the moon and a failed sprag in the transmission forced him to idle down to a 12-second elapsed time. In front of God and everyone, things had hit rock bottom. There was one session left and it would be on a hammered track under hot conditions and even the normally optimistic Jackson knew what he was up against.

My phone buzzed in the timing tower. It was a text from Billy Stocklin, the crew chief on Stevie’s car.

I feel like I’m living a Greek tragedy.

They were.

With what they hoped would be a tune up stout enough to beat the conditions and bump spot, Jackson staged the car. This time there was no sprag issue. This time there was no tire shake. This time there was a power wheelie and an elapsed time that put them 13th in the field. As the other non-qualifiers took their shots Stevie and his band of merry men inched closer to breathing again. When they were in the clear the crew doubled down on the thrash and prepared the car for round one eliminations which were set to happen on Sunday afternoon.

Methodically, their misfortune melted away. A first round win brought on Monday, the most tension filled and exciting day in the sport of drag racing. Don’t believe me? Listen to Jackson tell you below. He takes you right into a weekend that was shaping up to be the lowest of his racing career and with the success of one run turned into his ultimate single race triumph in the sport of drag racing to this point.

The video below is spectacular because you hear the whole story through Stevie’s words and through the runs he made down the track at Indy that ultimately landed them in the winner’s circle at a race people work their whole lives to win. It was fast, it was slow, it was sideways, and it was ugly at times but wow is this a story. It is also a story of the meaning of the race to Jackson. He candidly talks about his thoughts on the event and what it means in the sport.

On Monday afternoon my phone buzzed again. It was Billy for a second time.

Take that, Oedipus. 

Take that, indeed.

Press play below to see Stevie Fast tell you how he won Indy in his own words –