This edition of Mover & Shakers highlights some of the young guns in our sport who are following in the footsteps of those who have been at the track for decades. As the reins are handed down to the next generation, drag racing has a promising future.
“This is one everyone wants to win. It’s the Super Bowl of drag racing. To get this win, I feel like I’ve kind of accomplished what I wanted in Pro Stock Motorcycle. It’s crazy to say that a year and a half into my Pro Stock Motorcycle career, but I’m not stopping yet.” – Gaige Herrera, NHRA U.S. Nationals winner
Photographs by Joe McHugh, Tara Bowker, Van Abernethy, David Hilner, and NHRA
[Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #191, the 30 Under 30 Issue, in November / December of 2024.]
YOUNG GUN: Ronny Young, who has fostered the iconic “Blue Max” brand for the past two decades, stays cool in his tow vehicle before making a pass in Funny Car Chaos with the Blue Max ‘78 Plymouth Arrow nostalgia nitro Funny Car.
TEAMWORK: PDRA Pro Boost contender Scott Lang gets a helping hand from his wife, Dorie, as he suits up to wheel his ProCharged AML Motorsports Camaro.
DYNAMIC DUO: PDRA Pro Street standout Ty Kasper and his longtime girlfriend, Jade Maloney, pose for a pre-race photo in the staging lanes at Bristol Dragway during the inaugural PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown.
OUTLAW 10.5 VETS: PDRA Pro Street racer Jerry Morgano takes a photo with his son, Tyler, while waiting to make a run at the PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown. Morgano previously organized the Atomizer Outlaw 10.5 National Championship Series with assistance from his son.
FAMILY FUN: Drag racing is most assuredly a family hobby for 2023 PDRA Pro Street world champion Bill Riddle, who’s joined here by his wife, Leslie, and daughter Brooke, who competes in Pro Jr. Dragster while also crewing on her dad’s roots-blown Camaro.
WHEELIN’ & DEALIN’: Vic Wood, the Business Development and Race Team Relations Manager for wheel manufacturer Sander Engineering, catches up with longtime friend Billy Meyer, owner of the Texas Motorplex, in the tower suites during the Texas NHRA FallNationals.
WIN ON SUNDAY, SELL (AND WRITE) ON MONDAY: DI Senior Editor Craig Cook snaps a winner’s circle photo with eight-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher and JCM partnerships guru Kevin Contardo at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis.
THE TEACHER & THE STUDENT: Ron Capps, who started his illustrious NHRA Funny Car career driving for Don Prudhomme’s Snake Racing team, shares a laugh with “The Snake” during a Q&A session at the 70th annual U.S. Nationals, where Capps ran a tribute to Prudhomme’s Army car.
HALLOWED GROUND: With the iconic Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway arch behind him, five-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion Greg Anderson is introduced to the crowd as the No. 1 qualifier at the 70th annual U.S. Nationals. He’s now a seven-time No. 1 qualifier and seven-time winner of the Big Go.
HIGH ROLLER: Funny Car pilot Paul Lee, who competes in high-stakes poker tournaments on his weekends off from the NHRA Mission Foods Series tour, pops out of the roof hatch of his FTI Performance Dodge Charger as he celebrates winning the $80,000 Pep Boys Funny Car All-Star Callout at the U.S. Nationals.
FALL FLING FANATIC: Veteran drag racer Michael Jackson has won countless races at various tracks in the Southeast, but nothing compares to the unforgettable week he had during the Bristol Fall Fling in 2023. Jackson went deep in the money on the first pair of events, then won the best door car package in the shootout, eventually clinching the championship of the week-long event after winning the final eliminator. Along with some great prizes, he also took roughly $30K back home to his native Newton Grove, North Carolina.
STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION: Ida Zetterström, the 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion, reviews her winning time slip after defeating four-time world champion Steve Torrence in the opening round of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, where she made her NHRA Top Fuel debut. The round win gave her a second-round bye run into the semifinals.
TWO-WHEEL TITANS: NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle young guns Chase Van Sant (left) and Gaige Herrera, both 2023 DI 30 Under 30 honorees, prepare to take to the track at Maple Grove Raceway. Several races prior, Van Sant ended Herrera’s historic 11-race win streak to earn his first career win.
STILL CRAZY: Camp Stanley, known for his antics as a driver in the “Wild Bunch” outlaw doorslammer group and later as a tuner for his son, John Stanley, in Pro Extreme, remains heavily involved in blown alcohol tuning as the crew chief for Clay Cunningham and the “Still Crazy” Funny Car in the Funny Car Chaos series.
TUNED IN: Kirk Williams, who won the 2022 Funny Car Chaos championship, listens closely as series founder Chris Graves addresses the crowd in a pre-race drivers meeting. Williams and his Williams Brothers Racing team have a brand-new car on the way for the 2025 season.
This story was originally published on January 10, 2025. 
The post Movers & Shakers: DI #191 30 Under 30 Issue first appeared on Drag Illustrated.