Drag Illustrated Issue 139, December 2018 | Page 40

Special Section
EVERY MAJOR SPORT HAS ITS DEVELOPMENTAL LEAGUES WHERE THE SPORT’S NEXT GENERATION OF SUPERSTARS LEARN THE
GAME. FROM LOCAL PEE-WEE FOOTBALL PROGRAMS TO THE LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES, KIDS PICK UP THE TECHNICAL SKILLS
THAT APPLY ON THE FIELD, BUT ALSO LIFE LESSONS THAT WILL CARRY THEM THROUGH SCHOOL AND INTO ADULTHOOD. DRAG
RACING IS FORTUNATE TO HAVE SUCH A DEVELOPMENTAL PLATFORM IN THE FORM OF JR. DRAGSTER RACING IN VARIOUS LEVELS,
INCLUDING THE PROFESSIONAL DRAG RACERS ASSOCIATION’S TRAVELING SERIES.
Young racers and their fami-
lies flock to the PDRA’s eight
races across the eastern half
of the U.S. to compete in Cool-
shirt Pro Jr. Dragster and
Gilbert Motorsports Top Jr.
Dragster. A cool $1,000 goes
to the winner of each class at
every race, plus nearly $3,000
in round money and a $100
No. 1 qualifier award from
Classic Graphix. Door Slam-
mers Plus also awards $25 and
a T-shirt to the driver with the
best light in the final qualify-
ing session. But it’s not just
the lucrative prize money that
attracts dozens of racers at
each stop.
“I think the competitiveness
is what draws people to want
to race with our Jr. Dragster
classes,” says Judy Franklin,
whose daughters, Amber and
Ashley, race in Pro Jr. Dragster
and Top Jr. Dragster, respec-
tively. “To be the best you
have to beat the best and our
2
40 PDRA660.com
STREET RACE
Jr. competitors, I feel, are the
toughest out there. Let’s face
it, the bump in Pro Jr. Dragster
this year, most of the year, was
a 7.92 on a 7.90 index. The
bump in Top Jr. Dragster at a
lot of events was a .02 reac-
tion time. That’s a stout field
in both classes!”
The packed Jr. Dragster fields
at PDRA races are usually
comprised of a mix of local
racers and young drivers who
travel the PDRA circuit with
their parents who race in the
professional or sportsman
categories. It’s a unique op-
portunity for the future stars
to race on the same track as
their Pro Mod heroes or
parents. Just a few of the sec-
ond-generation racers in the
Jr. Dragster classes are Holt
Strickland, Coolidge Riven-
bark, Jonathan and Kendall
D’Aprile, Mazlin Goforth, Evan
Salemi, Arellyn Garner-Jones,
Brayden Davis and Chris
Powers II. With similar back-
grounds, the kids form strong
bonds as they race each other
and cheer each other on along
the way.
“I think another aspect that
draws these kids and families
is the ‘family’ environment
that PDRA provides,” Franklin
adds. “Our Jr. Dragster racers
are the next generation of
“big car” drivers and we
provide them a loving atmo-
sphere where they are all re-
spected, appreciated, and
loved regardless of who
comes in the gate to race.
These kids are each other’s
best friends, as their friends
at home never fully under-
stand the drag racing world,
and they love spending time
together at the PDRA events.”
Past PDRA Jr. drag racers have
gone on to do big things after
they aged out of the class at
age 18. Several of these suc-
cessful graduates have been
featured in this and past DI 30
Under 30 issues. For instance,
2018 NHRA Super Gas world
champion Devin Isenhower
won the 2014 PDRA Georgia
Drags in Pro Jr. Dragster. This
year’s Million Dollar Race run-
ner-up, Cory Gulitti, raced in
a handful of Pro Jr. Dragster
events early in his career.
Preston Tanner, who won the
2015 Pro Jr. Dragster world
championship alongside his
sister, Top Jr. Dragster world
champion Lexi Tanner, went
on to win his first MX235 race
earlier this year just weeks
before leaving for National
Guard basic training.
With a seemingly endless
stream of new faces entering
the Jr. Dragster classes just as
quickly as older competitors
age out, it’s safe to say drag
racing – especially eighth-
mile PDRA racing – will be in
good hands for years to come.