Special Section
THE FRONT DOOR OPENS AT THE TEETS EXCAVATING OFFICE AS MANDY TEETS-SEAL BEGINS TO DESCRIBE HER MEMORIES OF HER
LATE UNCLE, TERRY TEETS, WHO PASSED AWAY SUNDAY, JUNE 21, AFTER A COURAGEOUS CANCER BATTLE. IT’S SOMEONE STOPPING
BY TO DROP OFF FLOWERS FOR TERRY’S SERVICE. ¶ “I USED TO CREW HIM IN HIS LITTLE RED AND WHITE VEGA UP AT OLD DOMIN-
ION SPEEDWAY WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL,” TEETS-SEAL SAYS. “AND THEN MY HUSBAND WOULD CREW HIM WHEN I WENT AWAY
TO SCHOOL. OVER THE YEARS HE WOULD COME TO MY SOFTBALL GAMES, HE WOULD ENCOURAGE ME AT THE RACETRACK, HE WOULD
BE OVER IN THE PIT GIVING ME HUGS, GIVING ME HIGH FIVES. HE WAS JUST ONE-OF-A-KIND, AND I MISS HIM TERRIBLY.”
Terry’s passing was a crushing blow
for the Teets family racing team,
which includes Mandy’s parents,
Glenn and Valerie, and her brother,
Glenn III, who drove Terry’s ’08
Pontiac GTO to a No. 2 finish in the
PDRA MagnaFuel Top Sportsman 32
championship points in 2019. Glenn
and Terry grew up racing together,
then they passed down the family’s
passion for racing to the next generation
when Mandy and Glenn III
came along.
“Every Friday night, I grew up
watching my dad and my uncle
race,” Glenn III says. “When you’re
a kid, it doesn’t get much cooler
than that. You get to watch your
dad and your uncle drive race cars
every weekend. You kind of hope
you can be as cool as them when
you grow up.”
Sure enough, Mandy and Glenn III
followed in their father’s and uncle’s
footsteps. They started out in local
bracket classes before moving up to
the fast bracket classes, where
Glenn, Terry and Valerie competed
in Top Sportsman. Glenn III joined
them after getting his Top Sportsman
license in 2012, while Mandy
opted to run Top Dragster starting
in 2013.
The Teets have since found a home
on the PDRA tour. Glenn III competes
in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman 32 and
Mandy races in Lucas Oil Top Dragster
32. They run the full season,
racing out of their home base in
Manassas, Virginia.
“We don’t get to race every
weekend like a lot of families,”
Mandy says. “We have family businesses,
and the whole family is all
involved. But we’ve committed to
the PDRA, we love the organization,
we love what it stands for and represents.
It’s like one big family, and
it’s been really enjoyable to race,
to go to a racetrack and have a
really good time and feel supported
in a loving racing community. It’s
just been amazing.”
Last year was a career-best season
for both drivers, as Mandy finished
third in Top Dragster 32 points and
Glenn came up just over one round
short of the Top Sportsman 32
championship driving Uncle Terry’s
38 PDRA660.com