TWO-WHEELED
DOMINATION
S
Janette Thornley
ometimes, things just work
out the way they were meant to
be. Growing up in Oregon, Ja-
nette Thornley’s brother and fa-
ther passed away in a tragic ac-
cident when she was young. Her
father had ridden during his life,
and although she didn’t grow up surrounded
by racing or motorcycling, the sport was in
her blood and her life eventually led her back
to her heritage.
Thornley started riding street bikes around
1995, and not long after started working as an
instructor with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation
in Maryland. Through that adventure, she began
a career with Harley-Davidson in Wisconsin, and
made many connections and relationships that
helped inspire her spark for racing.
Most notably, a respected motorcycle enthu-
siast and entrepreneur, the late Ray Price, made
a big impact on Thornley’s life. “From there, I
started following racing more seriously, and a
transition in my personal life led me to do some
soul searching to figure out what I was doing
and find what brings me happiness,” explains
Thornley, who discovered it was the sport of drag
racing that was her true calling.
She spent 2011 researching and gathering
data, then attended Johnny Vickers’ Hawaya
Racing school, where she learned to ride carbu-
reted nitro bikes in October of 2011. Later that
year, she sold her two street bikes to purchase a
121 ci nitro Harley with a Derringer motor from
Vickers, and, thanks to help with logistics and
maintenance management from Price, Thornley
went all-in with racing in 2012 with her Dream
Chaser Racin’ team.
Less than six months after sitting on a real
drag bike, Thornley found herself in the finals
against Vickers at the Manufacturer’s Cup race in
Valdosta, Georgia. She ran in the All Harley Drag
Racing Association (AHDRA) Pro Dragster class
and did quite well, and was a staple in the NHRA
Screamin’ Eagle series from 2013-2016. “We were
present at some of the regional and divisional rac-
es through the four-year series, won nine Wallys
during that time, and won the NHRA Pro Fuel
Harley championship in 2015 and 2016,” shares
Thornley of her incredible accomplishments so
early on in her career.
Thornley purchased a new 121 ci, Hawaya-built
nitro bike in 2015, and, living in North Carolina
with her husband, Buddy Foss, has unquestion-
ably proven herself as one of the top names in
motorcycle drag racing. On June 5, 2016, she set
a national speed record in NHRA Pro Fuel Harley
when she ran 182.03 mph in the quarter-mile at
Route 66 Raceway in Chicago, Illinois.
In 2017, Thornley added even more champi-
onships to her résumé, taking the title in both
the ADRL Pro Fuel and American Motorcycle
Racing Association (AMRA) Pro Fuel categories.
“Of the 10 total events we competed in, we had
10 final-round appearances and brought home
six wins,” she humbly adds.
The most memorable moment for Thornley,
though, wasn’t winning a championship. “Win-
ning in April of 2017 at Bowling Green, Kentucky,
was the most emotional for me. In our previous
years of racing, my husband and I had a lot to
learn – me as a rider and him as a tuner – so we
had other people involved,” Thornley explains.
That year, the couple branched out, and the first
win on their own was a highlight for them, as it
provided validation that they had proven them-
selves. “My folks and my fans mean so much to
me, because they’re the ones that always keep me
motivated to try harder when things aren’t going
quite right, and the ones that make celebrating
the good moments even more special.”
Looking ahead, Thornley plans to defend her
AMRA championship title in 2018 and contin-
ue racing. Eventually, she hopes to score some
seat time on a fuel-injected bike and grow into
a Top Fuel category to run at a national level.
- AINSLEY JACOBS
DI DI
DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
March 2018
DragIllustrated.com
| D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | 81