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did not give his all. While announcing and TV work was his bread and butter, Kepner also owned and operated a drag racing school at St. Louis Gateway International Raceway. He would teach bracket racing, going through the staging processes with students and giving his many years of knowledge to drivers. The school operated for 15 years and produced 750 graduates, including the 2024 U. S. Nationals Top Fuel Eliminator Champion [ Clay Millican ].
He also had his own Mercury Grand Marquis that he acquired from Ted Jones and his wife when a hail storm damaged the vehicle. This car had a modular motor and a rare steel intake. He raced the car for many years at his local Missouri tracks. He won the track points championship in 2018 at Sikeston Drag Strip, which happened to be one of the last AHRA-sanctioned tracks, and would be his final track championship.
KEPNER HAS SHARED THE WALL WITH DRAG RACING’ S MOST RESPECTED AND PROLIFIC PHOTOGRAPHERS LIKE RICHARD BRADY, PICTURED HERE WITH KEPNER IN THE MID-’ 80S. of those calls, in the dark, when he said,“ Well, buddy, you’ re the last of the gunslingers.” Those were words I took very close to heart coming from him and still do to this very day. Bret cut a very distinct path in his own work and it continues to influence mine and will until the day I hang up my proverbial spurs.”
There are stories about Kepner’ s adventures from so many drag racers, announcers, media members, and track owners, and many were willing to share tidbits for this article. Mike Carpenter, who is the son of Pro Modified driver Charles Carpenter and COO of Drag IllustrateD, told this story. Of all the Bret Kepner stories and quotes I could share( many of which wouldn’ t be suitable for our somewhat family-friendly publication), one that always resonated with me was a somewhat obscure call on the PA in the early 1980s. As the pre-Pro Mod movement was gaining steam, my dad was competing in Top Sportsman at an IHRA event at Rockingham Dragway, and as he began his burnout in his original steel-bodied‘ 55 Chevy that now resides in the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Bret introduced him and the car to the fans:‘ Coming up, race fans, is, by far, the most popular sportsman machine ever created.’
The audio and video were included in the Jackson Brothers’ iconic 1988 film Shoebox Dream that documented the story of my dad and several other racers as they made the transition from fast bracket or Top Sportsman racing to a
On Competitive Strategy
“ I ended up in the final round against, you guessed it, Bret. Yeah, he kicked my ass. When we got back to the pits I shook my head. He laughed and said,‘ I sure wasn’ t going to teach you everything I know!’”
— SCOTT SPARROW
class that didn’ t even have a name at the time – Pro Modified – a name that Bret would later coin. Hearing that phrase every time I watched the video as a little kid( which was a lot) really hammered home the impact my dad and a handful of other Pro Mod pioneers had on the sport.”
NHRA’ s National Dragster Senior Editor Kevin McKenna has worked with Kepner over many years, but McKenna is described by Kepner himself as one of his best friends. Kevin told us that he knows of nothing that Bret attempted that he
Scott Sparrow, who has been involved on the media side of motorsports the past 40 years, has known Kepner for over 30 of those years. He knows Kepner not only as a broadcaster, racer, and historian, but also a very close friend. The funny thing about Bret is how many see him as egotistical, arrogant, know-it-all. Heck, after meeting him, my own mother said what a prick he was! Nothing is further from the truth, but it takes some time to see the caring side of him. Is he caustic at times? Can he be a total dick? Sure, but that is just a product of him being direct, and if you ever argue with him, you better have your facts straight because he’ ll pummel you. Is he always right? Nope. But when it comes to drag racing, or the Dakar Rally for that matter, chances are, he’ s spot on.
Want to expand your knowledge of obscure Korean or Scandinavian death metal bands? Bret’ s your guy. Are you interested in the life cycle of the Aruban whiptail lizard? Yeah, he’ ll easily take 45 minutes telling you about it, and by the 40th minute of that conversation, you’ ll be ready to blow your brains out! What I am trying to say is there’ s a whole lot more to him than just drag racing. His thirst and passion for knowledge go far beyond the dragstrips. It wasn’ t long ago we were talking about the tonal qualities of the Fender VI, which was a six-string bass guitar they introduced in the early‘ 60s. So, it’ s not just drag racing he has knowledge about. His interests extend far beyond that one dimension.
I feel the arrogance angle comes in because he does know so much about a lot of things, and when talking about those things he is well-versed on, people sometimes challenge that without really knowing a damn thing they are talking about. However, if you don’ t know something and admit it, or just listen to what he is saying, you may actually learn something, and yes, he will also happily listen to someone talk to him about topics he is not well-versed in. Yep, believe
110 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 201