{"id":100218,"date":"2025-04-17T22:18:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T22:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/ufc-hall-of-fame-fighter-randy-couture-talks-drag-racing-pro-mod-plans-more-on-the-wes-buck-show\/"},"modified":"2025-04-17T22:18:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T22:18:43","slug":"ufc-hall-of-fame-fighter-randy-couture-talks-drag-racing-pro-mod-plans-more-on-the-wes-buck-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/ufc-hall-of-fame-fighter-randy-couture-talks-drag-racing-pro-mod-plans-more-on-the-wes-buck-show\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Hall of Fame Fighter Randy Couture Talks Drag Racing, Pro Mod Plans & More on The Wes Buck Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Randy \u201cThe Natural\u201d Couture has been surprising people his entire life. A late start in mixed\u2011martial\u2011arts turned into six UFC titles. Hollywood roles followed. Now, at 60, the Hall of Famer is diving into one of drag racing\u2019s most unforgiving arenas: Pro Mod. This week on The Wes Buck Show<\/em>, Couture walked fans through the unlikely path that led him from the Octagon to a 4,000\u2011horsepower doorslammer.<\/p>\n

The first hook was Pomona, 2014. Couture went as a casual fan, standing on the starting line with Ron Capps\u2019 Funny Car team. When 11,000 horsepower detonated in front of him, he felt the concussion in his chest and knew he\u2019d stumbled onto a different kind of combat sport. Later that same afternoon, Capps\u2019 car erupted in a fireball. Couture, convinced he had just watched a man die, sat stunned while Capps\u2019 mother and wife never flinched. An hour later Capps was at dinner, unscathed, and Couture left California with newfound respect for both the danger and the safety tech that define top\u2011level drag racing.<\/p>\n

A decade passed before the second hook. Earlier this year Couture returned to Pomona, this time thinking like a student rather than a spectator. While visiting friends in the pits, he met SCAG Power Equipment CEO Randy Gloede. The two shared a handshake and a conversation that stretched past an hour\u2014long enough for Couture to realize their values and competitive outlook aligned perfectly. By the time they parted ways, Gloede was asking about budgets and Couture was ready to swap gloves for a firesuit. The result: SCAG Racing will field a Pro Mod car for Couture later this season, with his licensing laps scheduled for the summer and a public reveal planned for May at Route 66 Raceway.<\/p>\n

Couture is blunt about the challenge ahead. \u201cI don\u2019t know shit from Shinola about driving a race car,\u201d he joked. \u201cBut I\u2019m tabula rasa\u2014no bad habits.\u201d He has already spent a little time getting comfortable in the cockpit of Nathan Bate\u2019s supercharged \u201cAl Capone\u201d 1937 Chevy, strapping in, working through warm\u2011up procedures, and learning how to load parachutes. When Bates cracked the throttle during a warm\u2011up, Couture\u2019s grin stretched ear\u2011to\u2011ear. The visceral punch reminded him of why he loved drag racing in the first place\u2014and why Pro Mod, with its blend of blower, turbo, and nitrous combinations, feels so much like the eclectic skill\u2011set dogfights that made him a legend in MMA.<\/p>\n

Host Wes Buck views Couture\u2019s arrival as a potential watershed moment, comparing Pro Mod\u2019s diversity to the early days of mixed\u2011martial\u2011arts, when boxers, wrestlers, and jiu\u2011jitsu artists all collided under one roof. Pro Mod, Buck noted, gives fans the same \u201cstyles\u2011make\u2011fights\u201d drama, plus the universal simplicity of two cars, one finish line, and no judges\u2019 scorecards. The class is already riding a surge of momentum, thanks in part to the big-money, high-energy Drag Illustrated Winter Series, and Couture\u2019s crossover star power could be the catalyst that drives the sport deeper into mainstream consciousness.<\/p>\n

For Couture, the appeal is as much about personal purpose as it is about spectacle. Fighting offered only a narrow window of elite performance; drag racing, he\u2019s been told repeatedly, will let him compete at a high level for years. The cockpit is a fresh arena to channel the discipline, timing, and mental toughness forged through decades of wrestling and cage fights. \u201cIt\u2019s a new way to tickle that competitive spirit,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the outside, the move looks like another bold pivot in a career defined by them. Inside, Couture sees a straight line: a soldier\u2011turned\u2011wrestler who chased challenge after challenge until drag racing flashed across his radar and dared him to try one more. If the trajectory of his past ventures is any indication, the Pro Mod pit area could be the next place \u201cThe Natural\u201d adds another unlikely chapter to an already improbable r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Drag racing\u2019s great American stage just gained a marquee name, and the sport will be better for it.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published on April 17, 2025. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post UFC Hall of Fame Fighter Randy Couture Talks Drag Racing, Pro Mod Plans & More on The Wes Buck Show<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Randy \u201cThe Natural\u201d Couture has been surprising people his entire life. A late start in mixed\u2011martial\u2011arts turned into six UFC titles. Hollywood roles followed. Now, at 60, the Hall of Famer is diving into one of drag racing\u2019s most unforgiving arenas: Pro Mod. This week on The Wes Buck Show, Couture walked fans through the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}