10/06/2026
First Top Dragster National Event Win!
First national event win in over 5 years (for Luke - Jessica scored one in '23)!
Buckle up, this has been a journey - this post won't be short...
Almost a year ago, I was looking for a new challenge and Top Dragster caught my eye. I wanted to build a fast bracket car (and by extension, basically a "slow" Top Dragster). I thought I could be competitive on a budget - I didn't want to spend the money for a new car and all the bells and whistles. I called my buddy Carl Watts and told him I was looking for an older dragster. He immediately said, "Don't buy one... Just come get mine." And so this project began.
We leaned on Advanced Product Design, for power, ultimately settling on the 16.5* Assassin head, which is CNC'd in-house at APD from a BRODIX Cylinder Heads casting atop a 648" rotating assembly. It's a single carburetor, no power adder deal: just a bracket car on steroids. This winter I'm going to lean more into the "go fast" thing and put this car on a diet, but right now there's not really anything trick except the motor itself... It's 1800 lbs.: It's the same 3rd member you can order today and have tomorrow from Moser Engineering - nothing lightweight or special. I'm running a 1.58 low gear powerglide from BTE Racing - again, nothing out of the ordinary except the low gear set. It's a set of Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels Big Bubba's on regular beadlocks - no radials, no Delta's... Just your typical, run of the mill bracket stuff.
On Friday, we put 6.76 @ 197 on the scoreboard. Saturday morning when the air got good, I was on a 6.71. It was within .005 of what I thought it would run every lap for three days.
It was one of those rare weekends where we didn't leave much on the table: car and driver were both operating at a high level. I do want to give a shout to the guys at Dial Lab. This was the first event that I really took the time to setup their program for our cars and depend on it. The mobile app made it much easier for me to keep up with two cars late in the race (I fell in the semi's of Super Comp in Jessica's car to a great lap by Michael Holcomb).
I just want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone involved in this project. Thanks for supporting my crazy idea to try something new. Thanks for your patience: right when we got this thing running strong, I parked it for two months to go Jr. Dragster racing! Thanks for sitting through a "rebuilding year" while we tinkered with this combination in an effort to make another run at the NHRA points chase in 2027.
A few of the long list of people and manufacturers who've been instrumental in getting this program into the winner's circle:
First and foremost: Jessica, Gary and Jack!
Carl Watts
Moser Engineering
APD
BTE Racing
Fuel Factory This was our second weekend on their new F21 - it's good stuff!
Holley
Meziere Enterprises
Melling Performance Parts
Wiseco Automotive
COMP Cams
BAM Roller Lifters
Accelerated Graphics & Signs
Ivey Hutto's Golf Cart Sales And Service
Motor Sports Innovations
American Race Cars
Maxima Racing Oils
Computech
This thing is unreal, and it's so fun to drive... Can't wait to get back at it again!
