|
By Nate Van Wagnen
As Mike Knott came up through the drag racing ranks, from Jr. Dragsters and bracket cars to a 3.60-second Top Dragster, he always had his eye on Top Alcohol Dragster. Now 35, Knott is taking steps towards competing in the sport’ s quickest and fastest sportsman category, as he recently purchased a proven rolling chassis with plans to debut it in Top Alcohol Dragster in 2026. For the last eight years, Knott has raced in NHRA and PDRA Top Dragster and in Outlaw Dragster events in his native Ohio and neighboring states. He gradually progressed from 4.00-second passes in the eighth mile to 3.60-second passes, slowly starting to turn on win lights along the way. By 2021, he started to gain some momentum.
“ Things changed a little bit for me after our first heads up win,” Knott said.“ I think the focus shifted from just wanting to go out there, make some passes, and learn some stuff to‘ OK, we can actually run with some of the quickest guys in the country and make it to the winner’ s circle. We need to push the limits some more. We need
|
to be more consistent’”
Between 2021 and 2022, Knott won a handful of heads-up Outlaw 660 races at Dragway 42. He also added a win at Summit Motorsports Park’ s iconic Night Under Fire, where he raced in front of tens of thousands of fans.
“ The highlight to this day of my entire racing career was winning Night Under Fire, and I think
|
we did that with a 3.73 at 195 mph,” said Knott, who’ s been as quick as 3.68 in the eighth mile and 5.92 at 240 mph in the quarter mile.“ That was a special deal, and we really had to work for it. Truthfully, every race we’ ve won has never been from the No. 1 qualifying spot and never had any free walks into the next round. We’ ve always had to battle our way through, and I wouldn’ t have |
PHOTOS BY DAVID HILNER, KRISTA ZIVCIC AND MK RACING |