Lanny Gene Fulton grew up in Blacksburg, SC, no more than 30 miles north of the race shop he’s occupied since building it in 1974 just outside Spartanburg. Upon graduating from high school in 1966, Fulton knew a draft notice to join the Vietnam War would arrive within months, so he beat the punch by joining the Air Force and served as a C-130 loadmaster the next four years, traveling the world from bases in Dallas, Abilene, TX, and Honolulu, HI.
A life-long gearhead, Fulton honed his mechanical skills while in the service, making use of the base auto shop to work on his own and friends’ cars. “I had a hot rod or two the whole time I was in there. I had a ’57 Chevy with a little 327 in it and then I bought a ’66 Chevelle with a 375-horse 396—and it was mean,” he recalls. “I raced about half the time I was in the service. Shoot, we raced on the street, on dragstrips, just about anywhere we could. I had a better time when I was in the service than when I got out.”
Fulton returned home late in 1970 and by early ’71 was already tearing up dragstrips as a driver and tuner throughout the Carolinas and neighboring states. He also laid the groundwork for Fulton Competition, which today churns out some of the biggest, baddest Chevy-based powerplants in the world. His nitrous-fed creations push 900 cubic inches and 3,000 horsepower and his Chevy-driving client list from the past few years reads like a who’s who of Pro Mod and fast doorslammer racing: Quain Stott, Charles Carpenter, Jim Halsey, Steve Kirk Jr. and Mike Hill are but a few of the famous drag racers who’ve used Fulton power to reach victory lane.
Fulton’s shop is like a crowded museum you’ve visited a dozen times before; everywhere you look there’s another tasty tidbit of Chevrolet or drag racing lore stuffed among the gleaming billet blocks, heads, intakes and crankshafts that are his stock in trade. There
also are several tributes to Fulton’s off-track passion for parachuting, including base jumps from a bridge in Virginia a few years back. Fulton proudly states he’s never drank a drop of alcohol, never smoked a cigarette or taken illegal drugs, and he doesn’t chase “wild women,” but he lives life to its fullest and enjoys the success he’s realized.
His spacious home sits on 80-plus acres a few short miles north of the race shop and is accompanied by a private airstrip, three aircraft hangars and a spacious home shop to work on his many private projects. Friends often drop by for rides on one of Fulton’s four traditional aircraft and three ultralights, often with the intention of jumping out at altitude. There’s also a 350-powered T-bucket built by Fulton in 1973 and a tube-frame dune buggy he welded up in ’79 and has since driven to Florida “at least seven or eight times.”
A truly unique individual, Fulton, 59, recently spent an evening with MaxChevy.com, recounting his career and what he’s currently got on the go at Fulton Competition.
