PRO JR DRAGSTER
Amber Franklin (near)
defeated Hailey Hawkins
O
Q&A
JUDY
FRANKLIN
By Nate Van Wagnen
100 PDRA660.com
n e o f t h e c r i t i ca l m e m b e r s o f t h e
Professional Drag Racers Association isn’t a
driver, crew chief or track official. Judy Franklin
doesn’t even have an official title because her
roles cross into various different segments of the
organization. She handles the series’ finances,
prepares pre-race packets for racers, and is a hands-on,
passionate supporter of the Jr. Dragster program, where
her daughters, Amber and Ashley, race. Franklin can also
be found bringing her husband, PDRA co-owner Tommy
Franklin, into the pre-stage beams in his Pro Nitrous ’69
Camaro.
As the series passes the midway point in the 2017 season,
Drag Illustrated caught up with Franklin to talk about
the series, its Jr. Dragster program and racing as a family.
What’s more stressful for you: Watching your hus-
band make a pass in his 200-mph Pro Nitrous car, or
seeing your young daughters race Jr. Dragsters?
I get more nervous when the girls go up to race than
TOP JR DRAGSTER
Skyler Bee (far) defeated
Brayden Davis
when Tommy rolls up to the line. Tommy has
been racing for over 20 years, so he has a lot
of experience behind the wheel. Even though
he’s going 200 mph, I know he’s going to do
everything in his power to wheel his car as
best he can, even though things can happen.
With my girls, those are my babies. It just
makes me nervous as a mom, and I’m sure
there are a lot of other moms out there that
get nervous when their kids get in a car. I
will say I don’t worry about Amber as much
anymore. She has four years of experience
now. She’s a lot like Tommy – she lives and
breathes drag racing. You can see the love and
the passion she has for the sport. The little
one, with it being her first year, my nerves
just go crazy every time she gets on the track.
When we were in Indy, Tommy couldn’t make
it up for one of Ashley’s time runs so I had
to run her. Ugh...that’s the most nervous I’ve
ever been at the racetrack.
Jr. Dragster racing is known as a good
way to develop skills behind the wheel of a
race car, but also good life skills too. How
has drag racing played into the girls’ up-
bringing?
A lot of our friends say, “How can you let
your girls drag race?” But anybody in the sport
will tell you, when they’re drag racing, they’re
learning so much. The sportsmanship that
they learn, the friends and the fellowship they
have at the racetrack – it’s like no other. They
learn mathematics, science, how to socialize,
how to gain people skills with interacting with
fans, which will be crucial for them when
they have jobs in the future, how to be com-
passionate to others, how to make new friends, and most
importantly, good sportsmanship whether they win or lose!
Aside from the obvious family connection, why are
you so passionate about the Pro Jr. Dragster and Top
Jr. Dragster classes?
These kids are just so competitive and talented. Pro
Junior Dragster is the most competitive class we have in
the PDRA. For every one of the kids who comes out and
supports the series, we greatly appreciate each and every
one. It’s hard as a child, trying to go in and qualify for a
16-car field and missing the field by .009-seconds. We just
really appreciate every Jr. Dragster driver who comes out
and supports the series. We love having the Juniors as a
part of the series. Those are our future Pro Mod racers.
Our daughter, Amber, is looking forward to the day when
she can go side-by-side with her dad in a Pro Nitrous car.
Mom? Not so much, but Amber and Dad are looking for-
ward to it. We just encourage everyone to encourage our Jr.
Dragster drivers because they are the future of our sport.
starting line. Fish-
er defeated Jimmy
Sackuvich, EmiLee
Novak and Robert
Pickens prior to the fi-
nal. Cooke’s previous
opponents were Matt
Sackman, Angie Tra-
vis and Chaz Silance.