Alicia Anderson brings DragInsights to life By Kelly Wade

Anderson dated NHRA Division 2 Stock Eliminator racer Rusty Johnson , and the two worked in the same industry . Their joint interest in technology and software , along with their interest and investment in racing , spawned the original idea for DragInsights . After Johnson passed away suddenly in 2020 , Anderson took on the project as a labor of love .

“ He and I always talked about having some kind of system where people could see their numbers ,” explains Anderson . “ That ’ s just how our brains worked . How do we get all these numbers together where we can slice and dice them without having to put together a spreadsheet every week ? We talked about making an app and made a prototype , but we were so busy in our day jobs .”

After Johnson ’ s passing , she could not let the idea of DragInsights go .

“ The first thing I did when I decided I wanted to pursue this was figure out who I wanted to work with and have as partners ,” says Anderson . “ My knowledge of drag racing only goes so far , and it ’ s very elementary compared to some who have been in this sport for so long .”

Anderson called Evan Smith , a longtime drag racing journalist and photographer . She also called racer Bobby Fazio , a mathematician by trade .

“ We talked about it before as an idea , and they got it ,” recalls Anderson . “ Somehow , I talked both those guys into working with me . I ’ ve also known Jeff Parker ’ s development work for a very long time ; he ’ s an extremely gifted database architect , and lucky me , that ’ s what I needed to put together [ a website ] that could serve up the information in a user-friendly way . I couldn ’ t do it without these people .”

Anderson and Parker worked on the technical side of things , while Fazio and Smith served as consultants on what features needed to be incorporated . They also helped with marketing and promotion ahead of the first-version launch in September of 2021 .

“ It ’ s been off and running ever since ,” says Anderson . “ The next March , at the Gatornationals , we rolled out the paid version . Everybody can come in and look at their own stats , and the paid version allows access to all the other drivers in the database .”

The database includes qualifying , class , and elimination runs for most every NHRA Sportsman racer dating back to 2015 . Although they don ’ t have access to historical data , over 9,000 drivers are in the database . Everything from what lane drivers are most successful in , to what their average reaction times are at a specific track can be easily drummed up , allowing racers to fashion a strategy plan , round by round . They can also track their own trends over time and make adjustments as they get off pace .

While some may be perturbed at their stats being offered up to all for review , Anderson has found that DragInsights has been very positively received by nearly everyone .

“ I think drivers understand the benefits of something like this ,” she says . “ They immediately connected with the reason that this would exist , and of course there are people that don ’ t feel like they need that information to race , but it ’ s really leveling the playing field . Racers have been very open to sharing feedback and ideas . These drivers are nice and smart people .”

Recently , DragInsights has developed a contingency program , as well as a Division 1 sponsorship , and Anderson is eager to see how else she and her team can grow and serve in the world of drag racing .

“ We try to be in the community as much as we can – it ’ s not about take , take , take , it ’ s about giving back and being present and alive in the drag racing community , day to day ,” emphasizes Anderson . “ That ’ s what we ’ re really passionate about . This is about the community of drag racers and , selfishly , it gives me a place in that community again . I don ’ t know what it ’ s going to look like in five years , but there are opportunities in the future for it to evolve . I ’ m already very happy with what we ’ ve been able to accomplish .” DI

PHOTOGRAPH BY EVAN J . SMITH

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