At Full Throttle
Junior Drag Racing Creates Family Connections…
The racer grips the wheel with anticipation, his focus on the lights that tell him when to go. Any moment they will flash to green, and he watches to catch that perfect split-second to hit the gas and blast his dragster off the starting line. Yellow, yellow, yellow, green! His engine roars and G-forces pin him to his seat, lifting his gaze over the dashboard a tiny bit higher.
Which is helpful, because this driver is only 10 years old.
Welcome to the Jr. Dragsters at Redding Motorsports Park, where children as young as 5 pilot real race cars at really high speed on a real race track. But they can’t go too fast. This is bracket racing, which means that they submit a time, measured in seconds, before the race, basically predicting when they will hit the finish line. In contrast to classic racing, bracket racing effectively sets a speed limit.
Junior drag racers win by finishing closest to their dialed-in time. But if they finish that eighth-mile too soon, they lose. It’s called “breaking out.”
With lasers focused on a car’s tires to capture the seconds at start and finish, drive timing is precise. Blake Waller, 10, recently lost by a thinly-sliced second. “I got to the line too quickly because of a tiny wind gust. I barely gave it a little nudge, then the wind pushed it from behind,” he recalls. “It sped up, and I broke out. I lost by one thousandth of a second.”
Having recently grown out of the 6-9 age group, Waller qualifies for a faster car. His first two years he raced restricted to an 11.90 dragster (pronounced eleven ninety), referring to its capable finishing time on an eighth-mile pass, an estimated speed of about 55 mph. Now he drives an 8.90, capable of arriving three seconds sooner, which means he has to recalculate for more like a 75 mph track speed.
Though bracket racing sounds like each racer is racing their own clock, Jr. Dragsters launch from the starting line in pairs, in side-by-side lanes, but not necessarily at the same time. If an 11.90 car runs against an 8.90, the more powerful car’s starting lights are timed with a compensating three-second delay, so both cars are likely to reach the finish at about the same time.
It looks like a race. But getting there first means nothing in bracket racing, and your racing day can end in disqualification if you break out. That day, Waller took a minute to process his disappointment, then returned to the track to cheer on Team Redding.
Teammate Brinley Chelonis, also 10, finished closest to her dialed-in time for her first race, her opponent chosen by drawing a chip, color coded to determine in which lane they each start. “And then second round I won,” she says in fluent dragstrip. “Then third round I pulled a chip of somebody that is really, really hard to beat, and sadly, I lost going into third round.”
Her father, Cole Chelonis, says this was only the second time Brinley had driven this 8.90 car, so she and he were still learning it. “When we dial in the car, we’re dialing in pretty much what we think the car is going to do with conditions of the weather, wind and track temps and track prep.”
Perhaps the most impressive challenge these junior drag racers meet is found in the cockpit of their dragsters. Or, better stated, not found: no speedometer, no clock. Waller shrugs. “We can’t have any sort of gauge other than an RPM gauge in our dash,” he says. “I can’t look at any time. I have to rely on the counting in my head.”
In between races or overnights between race days, these kids who can count milliseconds in their heads gather together in an RV camp in Redding Motorsports Park. Grown-up drivers have brought them from other drag racing communities such as Sacramento or the Bay Area, and each gathering is like a reunion where often two dozen children enjoy a strong common interest.
Blake’s mother, Tiffany Waller, says this is a lifestyle that can bring individual family members together, as well. “It really became a really good family project,” she says. “Whether work was really heavy, or school was tough, we could all work on the car together and have a goal that was something we could all achieve together as a family.”
And that kind of project can bond communities. Back at home in Concord, the Wallers contacted their local 4-H Club to offer members a chance to help build Blake’s dragster and learn in the process. “Blake leads a group of kids,” his mother says. “Our first year, we had about 15 boys and girls learning the difference between electric cars and gas cars with combustion engines.”
Both the Waller and Chelonis families express glowing appreciation for Redding Motorsports Park owner Tony Trimp. Tiffany Waller says while few tracks in North State run Jr. Dragster races, Trimp makes an effort to include them. Cole Chelonis, who saw the Sacramento Raceway close a couple of years ago, says he’s thankful for Trimp providing a safe place for Brinley and all the others to
race safely.
Though Jr. Drag racers Blake and Brinley now enthusiastically embrace the lifestyle, both aspiring to the Junior National Finals in Las Vegas, the two young speedsters respond to the question of their futures in different ways. Blake, following the example set by his former-drag racing father, sees reducing his involvement as adult responsibilities arrive. He plans to pursue a career in marine biology.
Brinley, at this moment, seems to not see beyond the track. Parents Cole and Kaitlin have formed an LLC around their daughter’s passion, naming it KBC Racing, using all three of their initials. Their junior driver is ready to go, experienced in gathering sponsors and other required fundraising. To announce her intent to the world, Brinley declares her racing name is “The 530 Kid.”
She adds, “My life motto is ‘Go fast and don’t suck.’” •
Redding Motorsports Park
6750 Old Oregon Trail, Redding
(916) 895-1566
www.reddingmotorsportspark.com
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