Dragstrip Girl: Kelly & Her Wheelstanding Camaro
February 2022 • Photos Adam LaVelle, Mark Malobay, Tony Thacker and the Anderson Family
Presented by MicksPaint.com and USAutomotive.co.uk
I spent my teen years growing up in southern California but drag racing was never part of my life. For decades I raised four kids and knew nothing about burning up the asphalt. Then, in 2019 I discovered drag racing and I was instantly hooked.
The beginning of my racing career didn’t start at the track. It started when I became a certified health coach. My mentor coaches poured so much goodness into me that I started to have goals and dreams. One day at a Coaches’ Breakfast they had us ‘napkin dream,’ and write down our dreams and goals on a napkin. I wrote, “I want to drag race.”
Kelly in her Camaro ‘Stacy’ racing Lydia Meyling in her ’69 Nova.
The next night I was on the track in my daily driver, a 2014 six-cylinder Camaro named Claire—I name all my cars. When we first got to the track JT Hub greeted us and gave me trip zip pointers and on just my fourth pass down the track I got my first perfect reaction time. Seated next to me was my friend ‘Dan the Man’ Marquez who rode with me for my first six passes. I felt that having someone there helping me learn made it so much more comfortable. We were actually on a Face Time call with my daughter during my trip zip pass—the three of us were screaming out loud it was so much fun. Also there for me from day one was my rock Maria Marcelina.
That first night hooked me and although my husband of 32 years Paul, a plumber, and I had no experience we embarked upon an amazing ride that is far from over. I drove Claire one more night before Paul bought me my first racecar, an orange LS1-powered 2000 Camaro that we named Stacy. Stacy had been raced on the street before we bought her and was used to the abuse. I remember, the first night we put nitrous from So-Cal Nitrous on Stacy I got my second perfect reaction time.
We ran Stacy from December 2019 until I totaled her in November 2020 at a no-prep event in Tucson, AZ. I was a novice driver and probably shouldn’t have been trying to race no prep, which is completely different than prep racing and you need to make the proper adjustments for that. Strangely, because I always overreact, I never cried over the crash. I was calm knowing that there was something else in store for us and there was. In February 2021 we purchased another 2000 Camaro and because Stacy was such an outstanding car our race engineer Martin Charles of MC Automotive totally gutted her and swapped everything from the engine to the rear-end into Stacy 2.0 which is the car I race today.
My home track is Irwindale Drag Strip where my best 1/8-mile time is 6.16/110.7—thanks to our tuner Reggie Youmans. I could go faster if we kept the front wheels on the ground but wheelies are beyond thrilling for the spectators and me so for now they’re part of the show. If I get some competition, they might come down.
In 2020, I founded Gorgeous Irwindale Racing Ladies to inspire and empower other women to conquer our fears and become versions of ourselves that we could never have imagined. We currently have about a dozen members who race regularly at Irwindale.
I got my NHRA licensing passes done in October 2021and during that process I scraped the wall on my second-to-last pass. Meanwhile, we have run every test n’ tune they’ve had since October 2019. If my car was running, we were running her and I typically make about 800 passes a year. If the car wasn’t running, we were there supporting. You could say we fell madly in love with the racing Community.
Over the last year it seems like there were more nostalgic racing events where Stacy 2.0 is too new to run. Paul and I decided we wanted to build a pre-’73 race vehicle and as luck would have it he had a ’62 Chevy C-10—an old family plumbing truck—that he wanted to build for car shows. He asked if I would like to race that truck and I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve dreamt of racing a big race truck since I started racing. There are a few fellow racers that I really respect and they drive big, fast trucks.
Concept rendering by Larry Erickson.
Our marketing mentor Tony Thacker hooked us up with CadZZilla designer Larry Erickson who sketched up a stunning rendition that we’ll try to live up to. The chassis is already in progress and we’ll be using the Total Cost Involved Pro Touring IFS but with Wilwood brakes while in back there’ll be more Wilwood brakes and a 9-inch Ford axle, all powder coated by Shawn Killion at Quality Powder Coating. The wheels will hopefully be Weld with Hoosier tires, which is what we use on Stacy 2.0.
We also used the winter down time to form Mavix Community Outreach whose mission is to help underprivileged families and foster children through motorsports. Meanwhile, we are partnering with the good folks at Street Racing Kills.
Action sequence courtesy Adam LaVelle.
Besides those mentioned above, I’d like to thank our families, the Gorgeous Irwindale Racing Ladies past, present and future and the following that have had such a positive impact on my racing career. I couldn’t have done it without them: Chris Agaronian, Sergio Alarcon, Brian Anderson, Gary Ashby, Justin Aveni, Richard Barry, Chris Beanes, Bob Beck, Marlene and Jim Becker, Marcelo Bolentini, Jeannie Byers, C&C Screenprinting and Embroidery, Tim Corbett, Matt Coryell, Will Covey, CP-Carrillo/Arias Pistons, Nick Diaz, Leslie Dultz, Enzo with Aeromotive, Fearles Design, Monti Fitzgerald, Micheal and Jacelyn Gonzaga, Grand Tire Covina, Richard Gutierez, La Verk Harper, Ray Holley, DaJuan Houston, Tim Huddleston, Irwindale Speedway staff, Jorge Montenegro- JMGraphikx, Andrew and Diana Kressin, Adam LaVelle, LBK Construction, Serena Maciel, Mark Malobay, Steve Marquardt, MC Automotive, Johnny Mendoza, MVP Automotive, Dennis Neumayer, Mike Paltakian, Premier Custom Printing, Q, Adam Rivera, Marvin Roles, Jordan Saiki, Merv Scott, Sergio@signman, Steve Sherman, Tanya Shipley, Jim Tanner, Jay Thomas, So Cal Nitrous, Dale and Cindy Thompson, Onney Trujillo, Felipe Valencia, Albert Vazquez, Team Infamous and Team Woods.
For more information visit: www.girlsofirwindale.com