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After racing part time for 10 years, Dave Richards and Paul Richards Racing will be running the full 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season for the first time in the Versatran/BlueBird Funny Car.

Versatran, a division of Metalcraft of Mayville, the parent company of Scag Power Equipment, joined Richards and his brother, Paul, during the 2023 NHRA Drag Racing Series season. The team competed in 11 races, qualified in the top 16 eight times, and made it to the quarterfinals twice, ultimately finishing the season No. 16 in the Funny Car standings. In 2024, Versatran will be joined by Metalcraft of Mayville’s newly acquired company, BlueBird, the industry’s most reliable turf care power equipment company.

“It’s a struggle to race at this level, but Paul and I, we kept doing it because we love this stuff. Our program over the years had been up and down, but we got hooked up with Randy Gloede and Versatran, and things are looking positive,” Richards said. “We’re building the program, building the car, getting ready to put our best foot forward. We don’t want to go out there and just be happy to be there, we want to be competitive, we want win.”

Richards made his professional debut at the 2013 NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, where he qualified 16th and had a first-round exit to legend John Force. Since then, Richards has competed in a total of 52 events, qualified for 43 race days, and had a total of six quarterfinal appearances.

“This is our opportunity to make a big jump. We have been working hard for years, everyone says things happen for a reason, and Randy with Versatran and now Bluebird has given us the chance to hopefully go out there and surprise some people,” Richards said. “We’ve always been the underdogs, but I think running this full season, we’ll learn a lot and quickly, and that will show on the racetrack.”

Part of the newly formed three-car SCAG Racing team with Daniel Wilkerson and Justin Ashley, Richards plans to test in Florida and then begin the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, March 8-10.