Date of birth:
Nov. 18, 1976

Hometown:
Griswold, CT

Sponsor/Car:
Mohegan Sun,
Sterling Homes,
Fragola Performance,
FK Rod Ends

Crew Chief:
Paul Athey and
Paul Athey Sr.

Career Wins: 3
Class: Pro Mod

Career Final Rounds: 3
Class: Pro Mod

Career Best E.T.: 6.20

Career Best Speed: 229

Hello. Welcome to my page on the web. Everything we do here at Red Eagle Racing is a team effort. We have had success both on and off the track and it is possible only with the help of our many sponsors, partners, crew, friends, and family. Those of you that have seen our team race know that we are there to put on the best show we can for our fans. That is our main goal. Our pits are always open and never roped off. My entire team and I are always willing to talk to anyone who has questions or wants to know more. If there’s anything you’ve ever wanted to know about drag racing, Pro Mods or anything else just let us know.

Once we’re out on the track, we are all business and are there to win. I love to do long burnouts and have done many half track burnouts with my current 1941 Willys Pro Mod. Not only is it fun, but I remember how cool it is to watch also.

I’ve been around drag racing most of my life as my dad used to race pretty regularly when I was younger. I remember towing the race car to the track with his '66 Ford pickup, sitting in the stands and eating peanuts all day. Good times!

When I turned 16, I was getting into plenty of trouble with the police about my aggressive driving. I had gotten many tickets and was in danger of losing my license. It was at this time that I turned to racing more seriously. I had messed around at the track a few times, but now I decided to get serious about it. I raced my street car at New England Dragway off an on and then bought my first serious drag car in 1997 when I purchased the rear engine dragster that I still own to this day. I’m very happy to have had the opportunity and support of my family to start drag racing as doing what I was doing on the street was not safe. I encourage any of you reading this who are younger to speed on the race track rather than the streets. Speeding on the streets is a dangerous thing to do. On the race track, you can win money, trophies and bragging rights!

From here I moved up quickly. In 1998 I raced the dragster at New England Dragway and Lebanon Valley Dragway. This also marked the start of our marketing partnership with Mohegan Sun! I earned enough points in the ET series at New England Dragway to represent the track at the Northern Bracket World Finals in Norwalk, Ohio. We went a couple of rounds and had a great time. When we returned home, I got a call from someone on Ed Parker’s crew saying that the seat of his Funny Car is open. Soon afterwards I was in a Funny Car doing license runs! This was a dream come true. I had seen Ed Parker’s Cape Codder run many times before from the stands and know I had the chance to drive it. There were a couple of other drivers also trying out for the open seat, but Ed picked me to drive his car.

I drove for Ed Parker for the 1999 and 2000 seasons behind the wheel of his Alcohol Funny Car in the IHRA national series. We won a bunch of rounds and made it as far as the semi-finals at some of the national events. We also did a bunch of match racing and select NHRA events and we had a great time doing it! While with Ed, I learned a lot about how race cars work. It was a great learning experience.

The 2000 IHRA national event in Shreveport, LA proved to be my first experience behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster. Prior to the event I had reached a deal with Wayne Bailey to driver his Top Fuel car starting in the 2001 season. I made my first licensing pass at Shreveport running a sixty foot time of 0.846! However the weekend would not be so good as on the last qualifying run Wayne Bailey had a severe crash in the car and he ultimately didn’t survive.

For 2001, I teamed up with Johnny Rocca to drive the famed Ironhorse 1951 Mercury Pro Mod. This was a great deal for me as Pro Mods were stealing the spotlight at many shows and this was one of the most famous cars out there. Additionally, 2001 was the first year that Pro Mods were to be run at NHRA national events. We ran the entire IHRA schedule as well as many NHRA events and had a full schedule (23 races I believe was the number). Although I was already known for my quick reaction times in Funny Car, I really made people take notice of my skills in this high profile class. I won many rounds on holeshots. The competition was very tough and it wasn’t uncommon to have 50 cars trying to qualify for a race. We just missed finishing in the top 10 by only a couple of points.

From here I went on to join Quain Stott as he wanted to add a blower car to his team. For years Quain had made a name for himself as one of he frontrunners in Pro Mod running a nitrous powered corvette. No he and I teamed up and we had one blower car and one nitrous car. We stayed teamed up for 3 seasons running the entire IHRA series each year. Quain and I switched cars numerous times depending on points standings, weather conditions and preferences. In 2004 we made both cars supercharged and really worked on that combination. The dividends paid off as Quain made a serious run at the championship. I myself had gotten as high as 4th in the IHRA Pro Mod points standings.

For 2005 I got the opportunity to try Top Fuel again and teamed up with Grant Flowers. We ran the entire IHRA season and finished 10th in the points standings. It was quite an experience to run the quarter mile in 4 seconds! While we had a good time, I was missing the Pro Mod class as they became my favorite cars to drive and be around. In the fall of 2005 I purchased my first professional team with the help of Mohegan Sun. I purchased a Tommy Mauney built 1941 Willys, which is the car we campaign to this day.

The 2006 season marked the first time that my dad and I would head up a professional team on our own. It was a daunting task, but after all of the experience we had gained up to this point, we felt we were ready. During the year, we entered a variety of races from IHRA events, ADRL events, Super Chevy Nitro Coupe and outlaw shootouts to match races. Our learning curve was very steep, but we managed to win two races that year. We did more of the same in 2007 and also stepped up our participation with our partners as we created the Mohegan Sun/Sterling Homes VIP guest area. Being that we now race more at New England Dragway in Epping, NH and Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ we were very close to our main partner – Mohegan Sun. We have been using these races to provide hospitality to many guests from all of our partners. The response has been very positive from our guests and sponsors! The 2006 season also marked the start of our partnership with Cruisin’ New England magazine.

For 2008 our team is determined to run hard and put on our great show everywhere we go. At Red Eagle Racing, we are constantly doing maintenance on our race cars and also working on improving things. We are not happy with the status quo and are always looking for something that will give us an edge against our competition. The competition is so tough that we need every edge we can get! My dad and I work together on tuning the car and our crew continued to do a great job in doing the maintenance on the car. Since the beginning of my racing career, family and friends have been very important. My dad and brothers help out a bunch with the car. My youngest brother Tim still drives the team dragster at many races. I have met many great people along my travels and wouldn’t trade any of it for anything. For those I met at the races over the years, I hope I get to see you soon. I’m also looking forward to meeting many new people this year. If you ever see us at the track, stop b y and say hello!

Thank you for visiting my page on the web and for reading my story!