MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (July 18) — Team JEGS driver Makenna Brown steered her Junior Dragster to victory lane twice Saturday at Pacemakers Dragway Park, winning the track’s regular points race and the All-In Second Chance Race.
The 11-year-old Brown beat Nick Burson in the regular points race final after Burson red-lighted. Brown had a reaction time of .5688 seconds and then made a pass of 9.088 second on a 9.06 dial to give her the victory.
“My Uncle Jeg (Coughlin, five-time world champion) has been working with me to help me become the best driver I can be,” Brown said. “As I went into the final round, I remembered his words: ‘No matter what happens on the starting line, take a deep breath, stick to your staging routine and you will do great.'”
After her first win, Brown entered her 2005 Spitzer dragster in the Second-Chance race. In the semifinals she earned a holeshot victory over Elwood Kennedy with a perfect .000-second RT, making a pass of 9.100 seconds on a 9.08 dial. Kennedy had a pass of 8.687 second on a 8.62 dial.
Brown then won her final-round matchup when Bret Hal red-lighted, cutting a .5561-second light and making a 9.128-second pass on a 9.09 dial-in.
Brown and her Team JEGS Junior Dragster race next July 28-30 at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn., for the 2011 NHRA Junior Dragster Eastern Conference Finals with her National Trail Raceway team.
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