LETTER from the EDITOR

Wes Buck Chief Executive Officer Founder & Editorial Director 660.988.2313 wes @ dragillustrated . com

Mike Carpenter Chief Operating Officer Design & Production Director 704.737.2299 mike @ dragillustrated . com

Nancy Koeppen Chief Financial Officer 573.552.5551 nancy @ dragillustrated . com

Nate Van Wagnen Editor-in-Chief 440.986.1480 nate @ dragillustrated . com

Brett Underwood VP of Sales & Chief Development Officer 704.907.3515 brett @ dragillustrated . com

Alex has been on our radar for years . In fact , she was a member of the second-ever Drag Illustrated 30 Under 30 class of honorees in 2016 . At the time , she was a 19-year-old college student who was competing in the few drag-and-drive events at that time , mainly HOT ROD Drag Week . Her story also included her father , Dennis , and mother , Debbie , two hot rodders who passed down their love for the sport to Alex and her sister , Megan .

Checking back in with Alex several years later now , the general theme of her story is the same , but everything has taken big steps forward . She ’ s now putting her marketing degree to work as one of the automotive aftermarket ’ s brightest young stars as both a 6-second drag-and-drive event champion and the co-host of a MotorTrend show , with nearly three-quarters of a million people following her journey across her Facebook , Instagram , and YouTube pages .

Alex ’ s family is still a huge part of her story , too . She ’ s worked side-by-side with Dennis to build her last two drag-and-drive cars , the Badmaro and her twin-turbo ’ 55 Chevy . The legendary hot rod builder has also helped Alex with her first build on HOT ROD Garage , the show she co-hosts with Lucky Costa . Alex ’ s business , Alex Taylor Racing , has even taken off to the point where she was able to achieve her goal of bringing on her sister , Megan , as the company ’ s first employee to handle a range of duties . Debbie is also right there every step of the way ,

Nate Van Wagnen Editor-in-Chief

from the family ’ s home base in Arkansas to remote locations along the various drag-and-drive routes .

Alex has said that her family is one of the reasons she loves drag racing so much , and it ’ s clear that their influence has played a significant role in her success .

Another key ingredient in Alex ’ s success is her work ethic . She is a true champion both on and off the track , putting in countless hours of training , testing , and tuning to stay ahead of the competition . She realized from an early age the importance of understanding every aspect of building , maintaining , driving , racing , and upgrading her cars . The work doesn ’ t stop in the shop , either . She ’ s constantly turning out YouTube content and social posts to inform her fans and provide additional value to the brands that have thrown their support behind her .

We ’ ve been planning on putting Alex on the cover of this issue for months . The fact that she went out and won Sick Week in the Unlimited Iron class was a perfectly timed coincidence . You can read more about her Sick Week 2023 success in our cover story interview , supplemented by awesome photos taken by Megan , who also shot the cover .

This issue also contains features on numerous other women who make an impact on the sport on and off the track , like NHRA stars Brittany Force and Angie Smith , XFWD standout Nichole Elff , and Top Alcohol Dragster rising stars Taylor Vetter and Madison Payne . We hope that the stories in this issue will inspire and empower the next generation of women who are passionate about motorsports and breaking down barriers . DI

Feel free to email me at nate @ dragillustrated . com and follow me at facebook . com / nitronate1320 and nitronate1320 on Instagram and Twitter .

JT Hudson VP of Business Development & Client Relations 660.341.0063 jt @ dragillustrated . com

Josh Hachat Editor-at-Large 740.627.1423 josh @ dragillustrated . com

Van Abernethy Senior Staff Writer & Field Subscription Sales 828.302.0356 van @ dragillustrated . com

Caroline Fox Customer Service / Office Manager 660.988.2313 caroline @ dragillustrated . com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS : Bobby Bennett , Greg Burrow , Tommy D ’ Aprile , Allyson Johnson , Bret Kepner , Brandon W . Mudd , Ian Tocher , Kelly Wade , Kayla Zadel

PHOTO DEPARTMENT : John Fore III , Van Abernethy , Rick Belden , David Beitler , Tara Bowker , Bob Campagna , Jason Dunn , Joe McHugh , Gary Nastase , Mark J . Rebilas , Roger Richards , Cole Rokosky , Chris Sears , James Sisk , Ian Tocher

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All statements , including product claims , are those of the person or organization making the statement or claim . The publisher does not adopt any such statement or claims as its own , and any such statement or claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher .

8 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 181