KEVIN
BRANNON
PHOTOS: DRAG ILLUSTRATED ARCHIVES
H
ailing from the small
town of Boiling Springs, South
Carolina, horsepower has been
in Brannon’s blood since day
one. “My mom and dad both
raced since before they had me,
and I’ve been in it my whole
life,” says the prize wheelman
of his father, Terry “Turtle” and
mother, Dotti. “I got started in junior dragsters
when I was ten, and ran those until I was fifteen.
Then, I drove my mom’s bracket car and it took
off from there.”
Dotti’s car, a 1980 Chevy Monza, helped Brannon learn the ropes during local events at Greer
Dragway – his home track, in Greer, South Carolina. As a teenager, he raced frequently and
eventually moved up to a dragster that had also
belonged to his mother. The two were extremely
close, and Brannon now races in his mother’s
honor, as the remarkable woman passed away
several years ago.
Around 2009, Brannon took a position as an
engine assembler at PAR
Race Engines in Spartanburg, South Carolina. “They
helped me to get a better car,
and a better engine,” notes
Brannon, who still works at
PAR and has built a strong
relationship with the company as both a valued employee, and a team driver.
Working with the folks
at Maddox Race Cars in
Piedmont, South Carolina,
Brannon acquired a 2012
Maddox chassis and engine.
Powered by a 655ci PAR
engine with Brodix heads
and APD Racing carburetors, the dragster also
features a Paul’s Transmission gearbox and FTI
Perfor mance torque converter. In addition to
support from Brannon’s fiancée Ivey Nicole Hutto’s parents’ business, Ivey Hutto’s Golf Carts,
Brannon also relies on Mickey Thompson tires
and Lucas Oil for backing.
Now, at just 28 years old and thanks to his
outstanding achievements with the car, Brannon
is known for being one of the biggest names and
fiercest competitors on the sportsman scene.
In 2014, Brannon accomplished his first major success with the car when he took home the
IHRA Top Dragster championship and a payout
of $10,000. “With the IHRA deal, if you finish
top three in your division, you come together to
race to win the championship so it was kind of
in my own hands,” explains Brannon.
At the championship competition – the 2014
IHRA Summit Racing Equipment Tournament
of Champions presented by AMSOIL – Brannon found himself racing against Hutto in the
semifinals. The two cut nearly identical lights –
0.003-seconds for Brannon and 0.007-seconds
for Hutto – but Brannon bested his soon-to-be-
June 2016
TO THE VICTOR Kevin Brannon may be
most comfortable behind the wheel of a
bracket car, but he certainly has no problem
making himself at home in the winner’s circle.
Despite being only 28-years-old, Brannon
has established himself as a legitimate
big game (check?) hunter with numerous
$10,000-plus victories to his credit.
bride and took the win with a 6.985-second at
183.00 mph run on his 6.97 dial in over her 7.098
at 186.20 mph effort on a 7.08 dial. “I’ve had to
run her a few times in the finals and semifinals,
and we both want to beat each other much as
anyone else,” says Brannon, laughing, as he talks
about the stress of racing his intended. “I have
the same attitude whether I’m racing her or anyone else. There’s no hard feelings afterwards, it’s
just business.” So far, Brannon’s won each of the
pairings, but Hutto is hot on his heels and will
undoubtedly turn the tables soon enough.
The following year, Brannon earned even
more gold when he took the big kahuna – the
2015 NHRA Super Comp world title – as well as
the 2015 IHRA Top Dragster title for a second
straight year, and clinched his second consecutive
Division 2 NHRA Super Comp title.
“The NHRA championship was a pretty big
deal for me since I was chasing a points series
and was going against so many good racers in
the country, many I’d never even met or raced.
Anyone could have taken it,” he recalls. “That was
the one I had always wanted to win, too – to win
on the big stage with NHRA. It meant the most
to me.” Having worked towards his dream, and
having actually achieved it, made the moment
where he was named the champion even more
substantial for Brannon, who committed his year
to making it happen.
Brannon often pulls double-dutry, running in
both Super Gas and Super Comp. “I like them
because they’re heads up and I prefer the 8.90
and 9.90 stuff,” says Brannon. “I have one of the
faster Super Comp cars, and it’s better for me to
be driving from behind. It’s more in the hands of
the drivers. I’m all motor, and I know I’d be faster
if I sprayed it, but I don’t want to worry about
that because I bracket race so much.”
Racing multiple classes in one day can be pretty
stressful, but Brannon’s such a pro that it doesn’t
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