BY NATE VAN WAGNEN | PHOTOGRAPHS BY GARY ROWE AND TARA BOWKER

HOUGH SHE ’ S only 34 , Tisha Wilson has the knowledge , experiences , and discipline rarely found in the millennial age group . Thanks to parents who met through drag racing , Wilson has only ever known a lifestyle that is closely tied to the sport . Under the guidance of mentors like Todd Tutterow , Virgil Hartman , and Frank Cervelli , she learned the ins and outs of driving , working on , and tuning race cars of all kinds . Through her own determination , she developed a work ethic and mindset that has since rewarded her with race wins and a world championship .

Wilson ’ s story began when she was old enough that was taking stuff apart and putting it back together and helping my dad build Jr . motors and putting my brother ’ s race cars together ,” Wilson says . “ So I learned how to tune my brother ’ s Big Dog car with the help of Todd Tutterow . He really was a good babysitter through our teen years . My mom and dad worked full-time jobs , but they would allow us to go to Piedmont for Big Dog , and Todd taught my brother and I both how to read the Racepak , how to read the racetrack , how to tune with the old [ MSD ] 7531 gold boxes , doing maps and gear retards and stuff like that .”

When Tisha and Tony were in their early teens , they had summer jobs working with Joel Collins and Burwell Kendrick at the WIX Top Dragster

“ We went down to Atlanta for the licensing runs , and at about a thousand feet , the car I was driving grenaded ,” Wilson says . “ We never really figured out what happened , but a big ball of fire blew the body off of it . All kinds of cool stuff . Burnt the tear ducts in my eyes . Oh , it was cool .

“ So , I got to experience a nostalgia nitro Funny Car , which was an experience of a lifetime , really ,” she continues . “ It was cool because I just didn ’ t bring some money and go jump in . I actually built it . I ’ m talking like built it all the way down to the damn decals on the car , and then had to drive the motorhome and the trailer to the racetrack .”

At age 20 , Wilson won the NHRA Virginia Nationals in Super Comp in just her third national to race Jr . Dragsters with her older brother , Tony . On top of racing at local tracks like Mooresville Dragway , the family would also venture outside their native North Carolina to races in Kentucky and Indiana . Many times , Tisha and Tony would get dropped off at school on Monday mornings in the truck and trailer on the way back from races . Later , that truck and trailer is what they learned to drive in under their parents ’ supervision .

As the Wilsons got older , Tisha started to take more of an interest in the mechanical side of the operation . Tony moved up into Top Sportsman , then Piedmont Dragway ’ s Big Dog Shootout series , and eventually Pro Mod . Along the way , Tisha served as his crew chief .

“ Between the two of us , I was always the one

Driving School held at Mooresville . They would suit up customers , take care of the cars and equipment , and whatever else needed to be done to earn money towards their racing program .

Through that program , Tisha got involved with Bruce Litton ’ s WIX-sponsored Top Fuel team that included teenaged driver Josh Starcher , who Wilson had raced against in Jr . Dragsters . Herself still a young teenager , Wilson started doing the clutch on Starcher ’ s Top Fuel car tuned by Richard Hartman . That led to working on Rhonda Hartman-Smith ’ s Top Fuel dragster , and later Virgil Hartman ’ s three-car Nostalgia Funny Car operation . There , she also got the opportunity to pursue her license , an experience that ended in dramatic fashion . event driving a car set up by Frank Cervelli and the late Kyle Seipel . After about a year and a half of Super Comp racing , she pressed pause on her own racing career . She ’ d help with her brother ’ s Pro Mod car when her “ real job ” allowed , but that was about it .

Fast forward to 2022 , where Wilson started the PDRA season with a win in Top Dragster at GALOT Motorsports Park . Earlier in the weekend , she dealt with mechanical gremlins as she sorted out her newly supercharged combo . Between working out a new combination and facing proven winner Rikki Molnar in the first round , Wilson believes her first round of the season was perhaps the toughest .

“ Helping my brother through the last couple

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