MADDI ’ S SISTER , MACIE , IS INTEGRAL TO THE TEAM . MACIE ASSEMBLES ALL OF THE ENGINES , FROM THE BLOCK UP , AND MAINTAINS THEM AT THE RACETRACK .
That was at the race car shop . We go every Saturday . We were getting ready to pour the seat , and I had my whole suit on and my hands on the wheel . It was like , “ Oh my gosh , can I really do this ? I wanted this for so long , but is it something I can really do ?” There was definitely a little bit of , “ Am I sure I want to do this ?” and the answer was , “ Of course !” But man , this is kind of crazy .
You ’ ve spent a lot of time working on the car , thinking about the car , being near the car , but how difficult was it for you to learn the ropes inside of the car ? It ’ s really challenging . I do think that driving Jr . Dragster , Jr . Comp , and Super Comp cars has really helped me with the natural “ seat of the pants ” driving , but it ’ s just gnarly driving a short wheelbased car with so much horsepower , shifting , and trying to drive when the thing doesn ’ t want to go straight . It ’ s been a huge learning curve , and I ’ ve made some mistakes that I don ’ t take lightly . But I think what ’ s really helped me are the GoPro videos . We put them in my dad ’ s car when he was driving , and I think I watched them a thousand times to just try to minimize the learning curve as much as could .
Your sister , Macie , is such a big supporter , and you support her just as much . Has the dynamic between the two of you changed at all since you made this transition into the car ? No , I wouldn ’ t say so . But I do feel bad – me and her were always on the starting line together , jumping up and down like little jumping beans when Dad was racing , and it ’ s sad to see her just jumping all by herself . But the dynamic hasn ’ t changed . Macie supports me like no other , she ’ s always there for me in so many ways , and I love watching her do good . I couldn ’ t be happier for her when she wins , and I don ’ t think she could be happier for me when we win .
She ’ s a huge part of this team , she builds all of the motors and can unbox a brand new AJPE block and build it all the way to a running engine . She absolutely does everything : puts every stud in , times the cam , torques the mains , builds the piston racks , puts the pistons in the motor , everything . Without her , we wouldn ’ t get them together . At the races , she does the top of the motor and then does the bottom end with my dad . We do it all as a team , and without her , we would not be doing what we ’ re doing .
What ’ s it like seeing your dad on the other side of the windshield ? It ’ s so weird . Between-round maintenance , nothing has changed there ; he still does just as much as when he was driving . My dad says the only thing that ’ s changed is the person that goes down the racetrack for five seconds – we just switched who puts on the pants .
The body comes down , it ’ s just you and the car . Does your dad say anything to you before that run ? It depends on the round . He always gives me a fist bump , which is something I did when he was driving , so it ’ s really special . On a qualifying round , he doesn ’ t talk to me too much . I can talk to him on the radio if anything happens , but if it ’ s a big round , he ’ ll always get on the radio and say something like , “ Go kick his ass ,” or , “ Go get him ,” something like that . I love it . It gets you a little pumped up before we go into the lights .
You were runner-up at the Phoenix divisional , your first race , then runner-up at the Las Vegas national , then won the division race at Indy . Did you expect this all to happen so quickly ?
July / August 2024 DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 97