Nettie Damron might not be a household name in drag racing, but chances are she’s played a role in your race day, whether you race motorcycles, Jr. Dragsters, bracket cars, or nitro Funny Cars. She’s served the sport in a variety of ways for nearly 30 years, from simply entering race results into a database to managing some of the most impressive facilities in drag racing. Through it all, she’s been motivated by one simple but important mission: ensuring the people who roll through both the front and back gates enjoy their time at the track.
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #195, the Women of Power Issue, in July/August 2025.
Damron’s entry into drag racing came in the late 1990s when her then-husband raced motorcycles in the AMA ProStar series. Merely tagging along wasn’t enough – she wanted to get involved in the event. She answered a help-wanted post on DragBike.com looking for a volunteer to enter race results for the series. After quickly completing her initial task of entering results, she took on more responsibilities – entering tech cards, pairing bikes in the staging lanes, and pitching in wherever help was needed. AMA ProStar took notice of her initiative and hired her full-time in 1998, and she traveled with the series once a month through the 2006 season.
In the meantime, Damron also worked as a real estate appraiser. When Summit Motorsports Park owner Bill Bader Jr. heard that she’d prefer to work in drag racing rather than appraising homes, he offered her a position at the track just as it was preparing to transition from the IHRA-sanctioned Norwalk Raceway Park to the NHRA-sanctioned Summit Motorsports Park. Once again, it was Damron’s willingness to learn that landed her the job.
“Over the course of my years with ProStar, I worked almost every position and I even dabbled as a race director, which was one of the reasons why Bill hired me,” Damron says. “I became their race director or competition director. I did a little bit of everything at Norwalk.”
Damron spent the next 15 years at Summit Motorsports Park, working anything from Wednesday night test-n-tunes to marquee events like the track’s NHRA national event and its iconic Night Under Fire. Though the late Bill Bader Sr. had largely handed over the reins to the track to his son by the time Damron joined the team, she did get the opportunity to work with the legendary track owner and promoter quite a bit. Both generations placed a strong emphasis on guest service, even going as far as giving employees buttons to wear that said, “Yes. Now what’s the question?” It was at Norwalk where Damron really learned how to deal with racers and fans.
“Lots of lessons were learned there,” Damron says. “I think they made me a strong individual. There are not a lot of women that are race directors or competition directors at this level. There are a lot of women who are in motorsports, but there’s not a lot of women that can do what I can do. I was really happy that I got to learn everything I know from the Baders. They fine-tuned me to the next level.”
Like so many others, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a career change for Damron, who had started dating track specialist Kurt Johnson of Total Venue Concepts (TVC) and moved to St. Louis to join World Wide Technology Raceway as their Director of Operations. Today, she oversees not just the dragstrip, but also the security and operation logistics for the NASCAR, IndyCar, and Formula Drift events that take place at the facility’s oval track.
Damron’s 15 years at Norwalk and experiences with AMA ProStar inform the way she operates at World Wide Technology Raceway. She’s constantly working on ways to improve the guest experience and aims to deliver on what they promise, from payouts to start times. She works closely with Dragstrip Manager Brad Cannon on a variety of initiatives, including maintaining the track surface using techniques she learned from Johnson at tracks around the world. The couple has worked events together in Australia and Aruba, and when Damron’s schedule allows, she’ll join him on the NHRA national event tour, where he serves as Tony Stewart Racing Nitro’s track specialist.
A runner in her free time, Damron had the opportunity to race but didn’t enjoy participating in the sport as a competitor. Instead, she thrives in the behind-the-scenes roles, playing a part in the guest’s experience at the track whether they realize it or not.
“I love helping people,” Damron says. “I do what I do so that people can do what their passion is. They love to race. I want their dreams to come true. I love to see the excitement that they get when they have success.
“I love watching the fans come through our gates and knowing that for 90 minutes or four-to-six hours, they can forget their problems at home and have a good experience,” she continues. “That is so important to me. Whether they’re a racer, whether they’re the people sitting in the stands, I want our guests to have a good experience here. I will do whatever it takes.”
The post WOMEN OF POWER 2025: Nettie Damron Does Whatever It Takes first appeared on Drag Illustrated.