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The wait is over for Todd Veney.
The veteran NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car driver finally captured his inaugural Wally when he won at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals July 5 in Norwalk, Ohio.
“I’m doing just fine, no better than that,” said Veney, who resides in Indianapolis. “I had some of my friends over looking at my trophy. They thought the little regional (trophies) were awesome, but this (Wally) is bigger than those.”
Veney beat DJ Cox Jr. in the finals and that race was absent of drama for him because Cox’s Funny Car stopped running after he completed his burnout, allowing Veney to have the bye run.
“I totally lucked out in the final, but that’s OK,” Veney said. “I just had it handed right to me. I’ve been around all these years and never got a break like that. It just fell right in my lap, right in Ohio where I’m from. That was awesome. No one knows more than I do just how lucky I was, and no one has ever been more grateful.”
Veney was previously 0-5 in NHRA national event final rounds before Norwalk.
The Veney name is no stranger in NHRA circles.
Ken Veney, Todd’s father, was a star driver in alcohol Funny Cars and dragsters and was drag racing's seventh-winningest driver when he retired in 1985, trailing only legends such as Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, and Bob Glidden. Veney's career winning percentage as a driver was .668 (141-70).
After the elder Veney stepped away from driving, he became a fuel crew chief in 1988, he won 13 NHRA titles with four drivers in the nitro ranks.
“I hoped I would (win an NHRA national event one day),” Todd said. “I thought I could do it if I ever got a chance, but I didn’t think I would get a chance. I didn’t expect it to happen, it would’ve been fine if it didn’t. We won 10 regional (races) and I was glad with that and I didn’t necessarily think we would win a national event. I couldn’t even go to sleep (July 5). I drove over to mom and dad’s house, and I stayed up and talked to my mom and dad about it, and that was really fun. They went to bed and I wasn’t tired, so I kind of worked at my job as a technical writer until about 4 (a.m.) and then I slept until 6 (a.m.) and went out to the track to load up. It was a neat thing. My phone died and I stopped on the way home and bought a phone charger and I had 80-something text messages. A lot of people were sending me stuff and it was really nice.”
At Norwalk, Veney qualified No. 3 with a 5.595-second lap at 264.55 mph in his Permatex/Follow A Dream sponsored Camaro. He then ousted Jay Payne, Dan Pomponio and Paul Noakes, before defeating Cox Jr. in the finals. Veney’s day looked like it was going to end against Pomponio. Pomponio was leading up to the 1,000-foot mark before a burst panel let go and Veney passed him for the win.
“My mom and dad were there, a bunch of guys I went to high school and college with were there, and I pretty much still can't believe it,” Todd said. “I've been to other national event finals, but I was always a tenth down and, to be honest, lucky to be there, and I'm not just saying that. It's true. Norwalk was different. We qualified third and ran way over 260 mph all weekend. Jay (Blake, Veney’s team owner) let me have the trophy, and I probably looked over at it 100 times driving home.”
Todd acknowledged he did have some conversations with his father throughout the memorable race day.
“He said there’s no reason for you to be a nice guy, you’re a nice guy,” Todd said about what his father told him. “In the second round, I staged in a way I didn’t want to stage and I didn’t do a very good job and I should’ve gotten beat. I never saw the win light, never even thought to look for it. ESPN went to interview me and I pointed over at Dan. They had to tell me two or three times that yes, I really beat him.”
That put Veney in the semis against Noakes.
“I went up there for the semis, my dad told me to go get it,” Todd said. “I had a (0.044) light, and I was going to try to do that in the final and you do the burnout and you start backing up and there’s that guy (Cox Jr.) over there climbing out of his car and I was like ‘Oh my God, you have to be kidding me. My dad is a man of very few words, but the best advice I’ve ever got from anybody was from him.”
Veney was quick to credit Blake and his crew chief Todd Howell for getting him a coveted Wally.
“Jay dedicates his life to Follow A Dream and spends everything he has to make sure we have absolutely the best equipment there is – the latest engine parts, all are constantly freshened, a Murf McKinney chassis, and a Camaro body that slips through the wind,” Veney said. “Tom Howell is somebody a lot people – even in our class – don't know much about. He makes every call, and our whole tune-up is all him – he came up with everything himself. Every guy on the crew makes a huge sacrifice to race and he goes out of his way to get along – no ego, no finger-pointing, no problems. I'd never want to race with anybody else.”
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