Editorial | News : August 1, 2012
Randy Haywood: Senior Tuner
Randy Haywood is our senior tuner here at National Speed. Like most 15 year old kids growing up in Raleigh, he loved riding around and pedaling away on BMX bikes while hanging out with friends -That was, until he took an affinity to the big muscle cars his friend’s dad owned. Drawn in by the deep rumble, smooth lines and high horsepower of the Detroit iron, he knew right then and there that it was time for the pedaling to stop and it was time to hop into the world of automotive performance.
Igniting the Passion.
In High School, Randy finally dropped his BMX bike for good and replaced footpower with horsepower in the way of a big block El Camino. Having been bitten by the automotive bug, having a big block under his right foot and still being in high school, it’s no surprise that Randy promptly lost his license street racing the big Chevy. Randy sold the El Camino and ended up purchasing a 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 shortly thereafter and ever since then, Randy has been a diehard Ford guy. Fresh out of high school, Randy pursued his automotive interests and got his foot in the industry’s door by working as a technician for Capitol Ford in Raleigh. He continued his job at Ford for nearly 10 years, all while pursuing his real passion of automotive performance, racing and wrenching on the side – except this time legally.
Breaking Records.
Randy realized that his passion for racing was growing larger and larger and in 1997, he finally hung up his uniform and opened his own automotive performance shop, moving his passion into the fastlane. As owner, driver, tuner and fabricator, Randy Haywood’s performance shop built the first NMRA Superstreet Outlaw car in the 7’s using a Ford modular motor. This new setup stunned the drag racing scene and due to Randy’s innovative ideas and execution, the potential for the Ford Modular motor had been shown. Since this feat over 10 years ago, the popularity for the Ford Modular motor has grown substantially in the NMRA Superstreet Outlaw class.
Moving Forward.
Randy continued ownership of his motorsports shop for over 10 years, wrenching, tuning, fabricating and driving. Eventually, this became too much and Randy realized that he enjoyed working on and tuning cars without all of the added stresses and responsibilities of running a business on top of it. This is when Randy decided to come to National Speed. National Speed provides a stable platform for Randy to pursue his automotive performance dreams in a world class shop while not having to worry about all the added stress of business ownership. On the weekends, Randy is still working on and piloting amazingly quick cars the likes of an Outlaw Radial 1800whp Twin Turbo Grand National [Best ET 1/8th mile of 4.75 @ 160mph] and a x275 Radial class 1500whp Turbo Mustang [Best ET 5.08 @ 147mph]. You can be assured that no matter what lane Randy is in, he’s going to be running fast and piloting something with an amazing amount of performance.
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National Speed is honored to have Randy Haywood on board as our Senior Performance Tuner. Randy brings decades of invaluable experience and knowledge to the table and his numerous achievements, showings in magazines and permanent smile has earned him the nickname of “Hollywood” around the shop. Swing by the shop today and have Randy tune your vehicle, you’ll be guaranteed the best results around.