W Mr. Dirt W

Drag IllustrateD Top 8 program, a comprehensive list tracking the eight quickest or fastest competitors across all aspects of drag racing worldwide. It’ s just one of Kepner’ s countless contributions to the sport. In celebration of Kepner’ s 50th year as a writer documenting the sport’ s history, Drag IllustrateD commissioned contributing writer Denise Schmidt to assemble a look at Kepner’ s history. Schmidt contacted those who know Kepner best, and they shared their candid thoughts on the man known at dragstrips across the country as“ Mr. Dirt.”

The Encyclopedia of Drag Racing, bracket racer, announcer, television personality, photographer, writer, track researcher, track manager, and friend. These are just some of the descriptions of who Bret Kepner is to the world of drag racing. Member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame is one title that Kepner says is one of

his proudest moments.“ There are several other moments in my life that have come very, very close to proudest moments,” Kepner tells me.

Health issues have stopped Kepner’ s traveling and bracket racing, but that does not mean sitting idle in his house. These days, every race fan has access to live feeds and live results, and Kepner has a network of informants and stays up to date with race results. He started writing in 1976, and 50 years later, he still writes for several publications including Drag IllustrateD. Kepner keeps a database that can only be described as“ the most detailed statistics database, updated weekly, that exists in our sport.” Before the internet, Kepner would run up large $ 500-600 phone bills in order to know all that was happening in the sport that was once put above all else.

John DeFlorian, Mountain Motor Pro Stock driver and longtime shop manager for Jerry Haas Race Cars, has known Kepner for as long as he can remember. Bret had a one-track mind and would tell the women in his life that drag racing was always going to be first, and they needed to understand that fact. The comparison in his appearance to Tom Selleck was a joke among friends, but Bret was only interested in drag racing. His knowledge of drag racing is so vast – so much more than people realize. Bret made notes on everything, filling notebooks with information from every event he attended. The most amazing thing about Bret is the willingness to share every bit of knowledge gathered in the many years of attending events. He made it a mission to visit every track in the country when traveling and has notebooks full of those experiences

There were so many nights in my life when I was driving late into the night headed to a race and it was Bret that I called to keep me awake and alert. Bret would call to be supportive of everything in my life on and off the track. I consider him a dear friend.

“ The Dragstrip Project” is what Kepner says he works on almost daily. He spends his time confirming and chronicling the entire history of every dragstrip ever to operate. This 30-year venture currently sits at over 4,000 tracks globally, and the text compiled adds up to 1,770,000 words. Kepner has personally visited 434 dragstrips.

When Kepner was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of fame, it was Ted Jones, owner of Masters Entertainment, who did

PRACTICING WHAT HE PREACHES, KEPNER HAS LONG HELD THE BELIEF THAT THOSE WHO COVER THE SPORT SHOULD ALSO HAVE FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE AS A COMPETITOR.

106 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 201