Standing in the winner’s circle at Gulfport Dragway on May 4, surrounded by his family, Scott Taylor knew this wasn’t just another win – he was carrying on the family legacy. Having just won the Outlaw Pro Mod class at Dragfest in his brand new ’69 Camaro named “Lil Goldie,” Taylor celebrated in the same spot his father had done in the 1980’s when he won a track championship with a ’67 Camaro that went by the same name.
Honoring his father’s legacy was the reason behind Taylor building Lil Goldie in the first place. Featuring a chassis built by Bad Habitz Fabrication, a ProLine Hemi, ProCharger, M&M transmission and converter, and Strange Engineering rear end, the car lacks nothing in terms of performance.
“Lil Goldie has been the most impressive car I’ve ever owned,” Taylor said. “It responds to every move we make. I feel the pressure to be a front runner with this car as I don’t want to let my dad down. He passed away several years back, and it’s one of those things you never forget – especially when you’re at the racetrack. I think about my mom and dad all the time. I figured we’d do a tribute car, and that’s what we did.”
With the family’s history at Gulfport Dragway, Taylor knew he wanted to debut the car there at Dragfest, an event put on by Drag Coverage founder TJ Pruitt. Determined to make it in time, Taylor picked up the car on Thursday, then drove straight to the track and made his first pass on Friday. Despite zero test passes in the car, he qualified No. 1 and took home the event win. As an added bonus, Lil Goldie also won the Best Appearing Car award.
“It was a fantastic feeling winning the first race with it,” said Taylor. “It was a perfect spot to debut the car. Several racers came by and spoke with me and would tell me about their past experiences with my dad and racing against the original Lil Goldie – how competitive he was and how good of a racer he was. The whole deal has just been a blessing, bringing back a ton of memories driving a car with the same name as his. When we made it into the finals and picked that win up, it was a relief to know that I did the car justice on the first outing.”
From there, Taylor loaded up and headed west to Famoso Dragstrip in Bakersfield, California, for the first event in the Speed Promotions Racing Outlaw 32 series. Unlike Gulfport Dragway, Famoso featured a no prep surface, meaning Taylor would once again have zero test passes prior to being the first pair out during the “Beat the Champs” event on Friday night.
“When you have an untested car, you’re wanting every test pass you can get,” Taylor said. “I didn’t get to see any other cars go down in Big Tire before I went down, so I just had to take a guess at it. Thankfully I got the tune-up right and it went right on down through there.”
From there, Taylor only got quicker. On Saturday, he defeated three-time series champion Ryan Martin, Brandon James, “Disco Dean” Karns, and Jeff Lutz on his way to a final-round matchup with Nate Sayler. And although Sayler – driving the “Gucci” Nova owned by Charis Michael – picked up the $40,000 win, Taylor was still ecstatic about his team’s performance. And perhaps more importantly, he’s gotten back to why he started drag racing in the first place – having fun.
“This tribute car made racing fun for me again,” said Taylor. “Over the years, when you do something over and over and over, it becomes repetitive and a little bit like a job. But now I can feel my parents riding with me every pass. When you bring something sentimental into it, and you get that feeling every time you turn on a win light, that’s when it becomes fun again. That’s what family does in drag racing – they make it fun.”
Now, with a win and a runner-up in his first two appearances with the car, Taylor is not only having fun again, he’s as confident as he’s ever been. Currently sitting second in the Outlaw 32 point standings, he’s put himself in an early position to earn his first championship in the series.
“We’ve got a hot rod, I’ll say that,” Taylor said. “We’re super confident. We don’t want to get our hopes up too much because it’s drag racing – a car or a motor can let you down at any moment. I would say we’re very confident, but not cocky. We know it’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of luck to get this thing done. But I feel like we’ve got one of the fastest hot rods on the circuit and hopefully we can prove that this season.”
This story was originally published on May 15, 2025. 
The post Lil Goldie’s Triumphant Debut Keeps Scott Taylor’s Family Legacy Alive first appeared on Drag Illustrated.