NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

When Doug Foley returned to NHRA Top Fuel two seasons ago, it had been nine long years since he'd been part of the nitro scene as a competitor. Now in his third season back in the seat racing for Wallys, Foley is more committed than ever to bringing the Foley Lewis Racing program to the next level.

The pandemic-impacted 2020 season of NHRA's Camping World Drag Racing Series was shortened to just 11 races, and that suited Foley's reintroduction to Top Fuel just fine. He qualified for each of the seven races he entered and was a career-best No. 11 in the Top Fuel standings at year's end.

"Our intentions were to improve — but to be 100% honest, we really didn't see that much of an improvement the last couple of years," said Foley, who competed in six events in 2021 and won just a single round in eliminations. "Just coming back wasn't enough; these cars are getting better, the drivers are getting better. We had to look at what we were missing, and we determined that we needed that one person that could really take the team to another level." 

Foley found it in crew chief Aaron Brooks, who joined the team just before their final race last year in Charlotte.

"We couldn't understand why Aaron Brooks was even available," said Foley. "A couple of my friends were like, 'You have to snatch him up before someone else does.' That was the first big step toward the direction we wanted to go. If you want to beat these teams, you have to emulate them. Now we had an A-list crew chief."

The next step forward was establishing a new home base in Brownsburg, Ind., in a race shop nestled amongst other top-tier nitro teams. Foley stayed put in Mooresville, N.C., but his son, Doug Jr., took up residence in Brownsburg to drive the race rig and work as a clutch assistant alongside Indiana resident Brooks. 

Early in the new year, the massive shift in their program began to show promise. After back-to-back first-round meetings with reigning and four-time world champion Steve Torrence, Foley ran a 3.762-second pass to beat Spencer Massey in round one of the Gatornationals, and Clay Millican's red-light in the second round gave him an automatic pass to the semifinals on a very solid run. 

The well didn't run dry there as Foley made yet another three-second pass to power to the finish line ahead of a tire-smoking Justin Ashley and snag a ticket to the first final round of his NHRA career. 

In his match with fellow first-time finalist Tripp Tatum, Foley took an immediate lead and held it for the first 800 feet of the dragstrip, but Tatum was ultimately able to chase him down for the win, 3.700 to 3.806.

"That was an unbelievable opportunity," said Foley. "I think we're starting to get over that hump of being competitive, and we aren't at their level yet, but I think even the best teams out there know we're not going to be a gimme."

The Foley Lewis team rounded out the first leg of their season in Bristol, and with a limited budget and the tour headed west, they plan to take an eight-week break before returning in Topeka and going hard in the second half. With longtime partner Tim Lewis by his side, Foley feels that the team has nearly all of the components in place to turn on win lights with regularity. Attendance will be key in the latter portion of the year. 

During the break, Foley will be focused on putting together proposals for potential sponsors in an effort to get closer to the goal of running a full season. A businessman at heart, he doesn't shy away from challenges. Foley and his wife, Shelagh, sold the Doug Foley Drag Racing School and their own home on Lake Norman to embark upon a new and potentially risky journey in 2017 with the purchase of 28 acres in Mooresville. 

"We went into the real estate business, but I had never built a house in my life," said Foley. "Our house was the first house we built on there, and we moved into it saying, 'We're not going to leave this piece of property until we figure it out.' 

"Seven days a week, me and my wife were there. If we had to dig a hole, we dug a hole. We were all in, and three years later, it turned into 24 houses we built on that property, and we sold them all." 

The Foley Lewis Racing team will call on that same perseverance and commitment to get back to the business of winning rounds in Topeka and beyond, and Foley isn't taking anything for granted.

"I believe that God gave me the opportunity to get back in a Top Fuel car," he said. "Nobody deserves this. This is something that is truly a gift to me and my family. We don't waste a gift."