Teen Sensation At just 18, Ty Gaynor is making his mark on history By Kelly Wade
When he was five years old, Ty Gaynor was tearing it up in go karts, but it wasn’ t until he moved into a Jr. Dragster at the age of eight that his eyes were fully open to the future. At nine, he competed in his first full season in NHRA’ s Jr. Drag Racing Series. A decade later, the Vancouver, Washington, resident was making history at Seattle’ s Pacific Raceways. On Sunday at this year’ s Muckleshoot Casino and Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle, Gaynor achieved what only a select few have accomplished when he won not just a single NHRA 75th Anniversary Diamond Wally, but a glimmering pair of the coveted commemorative trophies. With victories in both Super Stock and Top Dragster, Gaynor became the 32nd driver and youngest in NHRA history to double at a national event.“ It still hasn’ t set in, and I don’ t know if it will for a long time – it might not be until I’ m older that I truly understand,” says Sun Auto Tire & Service campaigner Gaynor, with a tone of wisdom far ahead of the birthdate on his driver’ s
|
license.“ I hold myself to a high expectation because I know my equipment is good, and I know I can be good. To some degree, I feel like I’ m just doing my job.
“ I was texting my girlfriend Neely and just watching what everyone else was doing,” Gaynor continues.“ My buddy Dalton was there and helped me quite a bit, but honestly, the whole weekend I kept to the rule of going to bed early and not messing around between rounds.‘ You’ re here to race; you need to do your job.’ That was my motto, and it paid off.”
He was born into a racing family, but Gaynor
|
has worked hard for all that he has – including the double-up win at his home track. Leading up to the Seattle race, Gaynor’ s season had been on an uptick. A wounded engine negated his efforts at the Boise divisional in Super Stock in May, but in June he rebounded with a runner-up at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series division race at Mission Raceway Park. The weekend prior to the Northwest Nationals, Gaynor put together a monster weekend at the Night of Fire at Woodburn Drag Strip, and he believes that contributed greatly to his powerful weekend in Seattle.
Gaynor raced both the Electronics and Non- Electronics classes at the longstanding bracket race held at the Oregon racetrack, where the three-day event included shootouts on Friday and Saturday for a total of five races. On Friday, the third-generation racer drove his Sun Auto Dragster to victory in one class, and on Saturday night, he fell in the semifinals in another car and reached a second final in his own.
“ I made 42 runs down the racetrack in one weekend [ at the Night of Fire ], and I definitely think that helped. I’ m a firm believer in repetition and the 10,000-hour rule,” he says.“ If you want to master something, they say you have to do it for 10,000 hours. I don’ t know if that’ s exactly the right number, but I do know that practice is going to create improvement. It’ s a lot like golf; you don’ t just show up and play a round and you’ re good. You have to go to the range and practice. If you want to get good at racing, you have to go race.”
It started early and on a strong note for Gaynor, who ended up in one of the early electric Jr. dragsters thanks to his parents, JEGS, and Jeg Coughlin Jr. While a typical Jr. is prone to wear and tear that can create variances in performance( just like with any traditional race car), Gaynor’ s electric model was consistent and reliable. That allowed the young man to focus intently on becoming a better driver.
For those who follow young Gaynor’ s expeditiously developing career, the success in Seattle did not come as much of a surprise. He actually
|
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SADIE GLENN AND AUTO IMAGERY |