Drag Illustrated Issue 152, January 2020 | Page 34

Special Section
PRO JR. DRAGSTER
MELANIE SHEETS
In a repeat of past seasons, the Coolshirt
Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Thornton Mo-
torsports championship battle was one of
the tightest fights across the series. Melanie
Sheets was looking strong going into the
World Finals with her Ohio win, Mid-Atlantic
Showdown runner-up and Darlington semi-
final finish, but Makala Stevens was putting
up a valiant fight with a pair of runner-ups.
When Stevens missed the 16-car field,
Sheets was able to pull ahead without
looking back.
“When I realized I won the championship,
I was happy at least,” Sheets says. “It was
such a crazy moment. I have accomplished
one of my biggest goals. However, it was
wasn’t without the help of many others.”
TOP JR. DRAGSTER
CONNOR SHIELDS
Gilbert Motorsports Top Jr. Dragster has
grown incredibly competitive over the last
few seasons. Perfect or near-perfect reaction
times are required to qualify on top, and
tight packages are necessary to win on Sat-
urday. That combination helped Connor
Shields secure his first world championship
on the strength of a win at Ohio, a runner-
up at Darlington and semifinal exits at Mary-
land and the World Finals.
“I’d like to send a special shoutout to Chris-
topher Suppers, who said he was going to take
the championship from me, because it pushed
me even harder to try to win the champion-
ship,” says Shields, who also thanked his
parents and sponsors. “I’d also like to send
thanks to Nathan Tanner for calling me at 11
o’clock at night with your pep talk.”
34 PDRA660.com