Special Section
JUDY FRANKLIN JUST WANTS TO GO TO THE RACETRACK. IT’S A PLACE THAT’S INCREASINGLY BECOME A SECOND HOME
FOR HER OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES. FIRST, IT WAS TO CHEER ON HER HUSBAND, TWO-TIME PDRA PRO NITROUS
WORLD CHAMPION TOMMY FRANKLIN, THEN THEIR YOUNG DAUGHTERS, AMBER AND ASHLEY, STARTED RACING. THE
FRANKLINS THEN TOOK OVER SOLE OWNERSHIP OF THE PDRA, A MOVE THAT WAS FOLLOWED BY PURCHASING VIR-
GINIA MOTORSPORTS PARK, JUST DOWN I-95 FROM THEIR HOME AND OFFICES IN FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA.
But like nearly every other drag racer
in America, Franklin won’t be going
to the racetrack this weekend. Vir-
ginia’s governor specifically called
out racetracks in his closure of non-
essential businesses to fight the
spread of COVID-19.
son-opening East Coast Nationals
presented by FuelTech at GALOT
Motorsports Park, originally sched-
uled for April 2-4. The series will
instead try to kick things off at the
Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented
by Modern Racing, May 7-9, at Vir-
ginia Motorsports Park.
“I’m really upset because my maps
thing says, ‘an hour and 34 minutes
to Virginia Motorsports Park,’ but
I’m sitting here knowing that I’m not
going to be able to go to Virginia
Motorsports Park this weekend,”
Franklin says. Even though the coronavirus situ-
ation has drastically impacted
several of the events the Franklins
and their teams have worked so
hard to plan and prepare for, Frank-
lin remains optimistic.
The global pandemic has also forced
PDRA officials to postpone the sea- “We’re very grateful to be a part of
the racing world,” Franklin says.
42 PDRA660.com
“We’re very thankful that God has
put us where he has put us, obvi-
ously for a reason. We love drag
racing, we love our drag racing
family, and we’re super excited for
what the 2020 season holds.”
One Friday afternoon in late March,
drag illustrated caught up with
Franklin to talk about racing as a
family, PDRA Jr. Dragster racing, im-
proving the PDRA, and getting back
in the driver’s seat.
You wear a lot of hats and fill several
roles, between helping Tommy,
Amber and Ashley with their racing
and working with Tommy to run
PDRA, VMP and two businesses
outside of racing. Out of everything
you do in racing, what is most re-
warding for you?
The most rewarding part is being
able to watch the girls race and ac-
complish what they’re setting out
to accomplish. Amber just stepped
into a big car. Watching her do her
thing has been rewarding. She’s very
into drag racing. Just watching her
and Tommy communicate back and
forth, it’s just awesome to watch
your family do things well together.
And it’s not always perfect. We’re
not a perfect family by any means.
There’s days at the track when