BRISTOL, Tenn. — Gabrielle McDonald was just another kid on summer vacation with her family when a random, unexpected moment changed her young life.
Driving from California to Las Vegas at the age of 12, McDonald noticed an amusement park while staring out of a car window. The park looked promising. McDonald and her family gave it a shot.
Once inside the park, McDonald found her calling.
A dragster sat on a rail. McDonald had never raced before. She didn’t care about racing. She didn’t watch racing. She had absolutely no interest in racing or cars, speed or horsepower. But the dragster was alluring. What was it? What did it do? How fast could it go?
McDonald immediately decided she had to give the car a try.
“I went on it 18 times in a row,” McDonald said. “And the first time I went on it, I got a .001 reaction [time].”
McDonald was hooked.
And another drag racer was born when the ride’s operator offered McDonald, 15, a tiny bit of advice.
“The guy said, ‘You must [get into] Junior Drag Racing.’ And I was like, ‘What?’” McDonald said.
Her reaction to the words “Junior Drag Racing” was part pure, unfiltered honesty; part open-ended question.
McDonald, who grew up and still resides in Dublin, Ireland, wasn’t just on a summer vacation – she was on an American vacation. And in Dublin, one ocean and seemingly half-a-world away, in-person drag races are nearly as seldom and elusive as NASCAR races. McDonald simply had no idea what drag racing was.
Then her father stepped in.
Gerald McDonald grew up in Ireland, reading everything related to auto racing he could get his hands on. He was a racing fanatic. Once, as a child, Gerald found a box of hot rod magazines someone had left out on the street. To Gerald, the box was instant gold.
“My whole life was reading about Bristol and Thunder Valley and drag racing, so I knew all about this from the age of 14,” Gerald said. “I was sitting in Ireland, and everybody else would say, ‘What in the hell is he talking about?’ Reading about Don Garlits – that was my life.”
Gerald’s life-long dreams of racing dragsters suddenly found reality when his young daughter stumbled upon the allure of spinning wheels, revved-up engines, fire and exhaust.
Together, the father-daughter duo learned what it would take to see America through the eyes of drag racing.
Gerald bought a dragster for his daughter. They entered races. They traveled the country. They made friends and became one more member of the racing world’s big, open-armed, all-encompassing family. And they fell in love with the sport Gerald once only knew in dreams.
Today, McDonald will race her Half-Scale Super Light car at nearly 90 miles-per-hour as one of more than 700 drivers ranging in age from 8-17 competing in the O’Reilly Junior Drag Racing League Eastern Conference Finals at Bristol Dragway.
“I want to go into the bigger cars,” McDonald said. “I want to go all the way.”
btsmith@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2569
Schedule
Today
Gates open: 7:30 a.m.
Tech inspection: 8 a.m.-noon
Time trial for all participants: 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
Run order: (Age) 8-9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16-17
First round of eliminations: 2 p.m-7 p.m.
Cookout: 5 p.m.
Special awards ceremony: 7 p.m.
Saturday
Gates open: 8 a.m.
Final eliminations: (Round 2 - Final) 8 a.m.
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