Whenever Amber Denton takes to the starting line, her mother, Judy Franklin, isn’t far behind. She takes her role as the “team mom” very seriously, cheering on and supporting the four Tommy Franklin Motorsports drivers and their crew members with passion and purpose.
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared as a side bar in Amber Denton’s cover story in DI #195, the Women of Power Issue, in July/August of 2025.
“She comes along every weekend, week in, week out, going to the racetrack,” Denton says. “And it’s not always the perfect weekend, whether it’s 100 degrees out or 50 degrees out, and she’s out there sweating or freezing with us and making the sacrifice to allow us to accomplish our goals, and I’m really grateful for that. She’s always making sure we’ve got all the right safety equipment and all the small things that a lot of people forget about. She’s the one that makes sure we have what we need.”
Every once in a while, the roles will reverse and Judy will hit the track in the family’s bracket truck at one of VMP’s weekend points races or test-n-tune nights. It gives Denton and the rest of the family the chance to return the support Judy provides, though getting behind the wheel is more about having fun than collecting trophies or earning points for Judy.
“We have more fun watching her than I think she realizes because she just doesn’t care,” Denton laughs. “She’s like, ‘Yeah, if I want to race, great. If not, oh well.’ She really, truly does it just to have fun, and I think that’s what’s important. At the end of the day, that’s why we all do it. It’s great to have passion, but realizing that at the end of the day we do this for fun, and if we’re not having that, then there’s no reason that we should even be doing it in the first place. I think she’s a good reminder of that to us all. Watching her have fun while she does it and being in reverse roles and being able to do that for her is really fun.”
Drag racing has become more than just a hobby for the Franklin family. In addition to businesses outside the sport, they own and operate the PDRA and Virginia Motorsports Park, with Judy playing major roles in each of those ventures. But team matriarch at TFM is where she thrives, and her family takes notice.
“We always say she’s our biggest cheerleader, and we mean that loudly too,” Denton says. “And now with Blake, too, she cheers him on just as much as the rest of us, and that’s something that means a lot to me and I know it does to him too. She is going to cheer us on no matter what, and she always has our back at the end of the day, and we’re really grateful for that.”
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