Kieffer Simpson grew up idolizing his grandfather, John Ulrey, a Super Stock racer who nearly went Pro Stock racing like his fellow Hoosier, the late Bob Glidden. Ulrey\u2019s racing endeavors inspired Simpson to start racing Jr. Dragsters when he was old enough, and nearly 20 years later, he continues to race as a tribute to his grandpa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was my biggest example of why I wanted to go far in racing and do it for the rest of my life,\u201d says Simpson, 29. \u201cHim and Bob Glidden were best friends, and an opportunity came up for one of them to go Pro Stock racing. They just wanted him, not him and all of his brothers. My grandpa said, \u2018No, you take me and my brothers or you don\u2019t.\u2019 He chose to ride with his brothers. That was one of my biggest motivators. I don\u2019t know where I\u2019m going, but I always want to be drag racing forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simpson dipped into his college savings fund to buy his first Jr. Dragster, a move that had a domino effect as Simpson\u2019s four younger siblings eventually got into Jr. Dragsters as well. Between index racing and heads-up Outlaw 330 competition, Simpson racked up numerous wins, championships, and other accomplishments driving his own family cars or driving for other families. He also helped the Indianapolis Raceway Park team win the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern Conference Finals as part of a group that also included past 30 Under 30 honorees Devin and Nick Isenhower.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simpson also picked up experience as a crew member on an NMCA Nitrous Pro Street team and an NMCA Pro Mod team. While working with these teams, he met his now fianc\u00e9e, 2019 30 Under 30 honoree and multi-time NMRA champion Haley James. In another moment that helped shape his future, Simpson got a behind-the-scenes look at Don Schumacher Racing\u2019s graphic design setup, which inspired his college studies as well as the launch of Kieffer Simpson Designs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simpson\u2019s future father-in-law, Dwayne James, took notice of Simpson\u2019s hard work in the industry and as a crew member on the team\u2019s Ultra Street car. When Haley qualified No. 1 at the Yellowbullet Nationals, Dwayne told Simpson he was looking at buying a second car and wanted Simpson to drive it. Simpson took the opportunity and ran with it, reaching the final round in Ultra Street at the 2021 Snowbirds at Bradenton before a breakout full rookie season in 2022. Highlights included numerous holeshot round wins and a win at Donald Long\u2019s Sweet 16 5.0 at South Georgia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t run NHRA races, so I would assume that it feels like winning the U.S. Nationals to an NHRA driver,\u201d says the Speedway, Indiana-based driver. \u201cThat is kind of our \u2018granddaddy of them all.\u2019 It\u2019s obviously a very prestigious event. If you race in it, it\u2019s a very, very intense feeling. At the time there was just a lot of personal stuff going on with some family stuff and it really meant the world when I won that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simpson closed out the 2023 season with a hot streak that highlighted by a semifinal finish in Street Fighter at the Haltech World Cup Finals at Maryland and a runner-up finish in Quarter-Mile Elite at the Mod Nationals at Bradenton. He and James have also worked hard on their new business, 4.44 Custom Apparel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Simpson\u2019s big-picture goals include driving a Funny Car, Pro Mod, or Pro 275 car. But like his grandfather, Simpson realizes racing isn\u2019t just about him. He\u2019s determined to help others accomplish their goals, whether that\u2019s his fianc\u00e9e or his youngest brother, Klein, who races Jr. Dragsters when he\u2019s not crewing on the Haley James Racing entries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means a lot to me when I see that kid win because he\u2019s the youngest of five and he\u2019s been through a lot, so it\u2019s awesome when he just gets to focus on himself and win,\u201d says Simpson, who thanks his fianc\u00e9e, Haley, and her father, Dwayne; his mother, Kelli Ulrey; brother Klein, crew member Johnny \u201cDrama\u201d Maguda, and his \u201cpapa,\u201d John Ulrey, along with a long list of sponsors and supporters.<\/p>\n
The post DI 30 Under 30 2023: Kieffer Simpson<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kieffer Simpson grew up idolizing his grandfather, John Ulrey, a Super Stock racer who nearly went Pro Stock racing like his fellow Hoosier, the late Bob Glidden. Ulrey\u2019s racing endeavors inspired Simpson to start racing Jr. Dragsters when he was old enough, and nearly 20 years later, he continues to race as a tribute to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91662\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}