She caught everyone\u2019s attention in 2022 when she defeated motorsports icon Tony Stewart in the final round of Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Nevada Nationals to claim her first win, but that isn\u2019t what Madison Payne should be known for. The third-generation racer\u2019s accomplishment that day was tremendous, but it\u2019s only an indicator of what\u2019s to come. With one of the most successful and driven racing families behind her, Payne is equipped to continue a strong charge well into the future.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cVegas was my proudest moment \u2013 not because it was Tony Stewart, but because the week before I\u2019d been to the final in Dallas and come up short,\u201d says Southern California native Payne. \u201cWe managed to get there again, but I remember how many eyes were on that race. It was only my second national event final, so to be able to win that race instilled a lot of confidence in me that in those high-pressure situations, I wasn\u2019t going to choke \u2013 and I hope it stays that way. Even though I won on a baby holeshot, it was a holeshot, and that gave me a lot of confidence. It was also really special for me because Vegas feels like a home race. My grandparents, my family, my uncle, they were all there. I\u2019ve always wanted to win Pomona, but Vegas is close.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although this season \u2013 her first full pull in Top Alcohol Dragster \u2013 has had its ups and downs, Payne accomplished something that every NHRA racer dreams of when she claimed a coveted U.S. Nationals Wally. Her grandfather, legendary racer and innovator Brad Anderson, won Indy multiple times, as did her father Jay Payne and uncle Randy Anderson, both multi-time champions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of those moments where it just didn\u2019t feel real,\u201d says Payne, who reached the final at Maple Grove Raceway at the very next event. \u201cWhen I won, everyone around me was screaming and having a blast, but all I could do was smile. I was in a state of shock. My dad won Indy four times, and I was there for all of them and remember how big of a deal it was. He was the guy, in my eyes, so to be able to win Indy like he did \u2013 it felt so weird. I didn\u2019t feel I was on the same level as the rest of my family members who have won Indy. I mean, I hold them in such a high regard that it didn\u2019t really make sense that I had won it. It was really cool, but it probably took me three weeks to get a grasp on it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Payne, who races Super Comp as well, was slated to debut a Top Sportsman car this season, but the project was put on hold when her grandfather found one last thing he wanted to work on in the engine. If everything goes as planned, Payne will have her license before the 2024 season and race next year with her grandpa. She also plans to continue learning and growing in the alcohol car with team owner Duane Shields.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As for the future, family has played a large role in Payne\u2019s growth behind the wheel, and that will continue to be true.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople give me a lot of grief and make jokes about my parents being hard on me,\u201d says Payne, whose mother is notoriously boisterous Shelly (Anderson) Payne, who raced successfully through the ranks to Top Fuel and understands the ins-and-outs of race cars like the back of her hand. \u201cWhat they don\u2019t realize is that I have an unfair advantage, with all that my family has accomplished at such a high caliber. I get so much knowledge and information from them. Yeah, I get critiques, but they\u2019re honest, and it really helps me. I\u2019m very fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post DI 30 Under 30 2023: Madison Payne<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" She caught everyone\u2019s attention in 2022 when she defeated motorsports icon Tony Stewart in the final round of Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Nevada Nationals to claim her first win, but that isn\u2019t what Madison Payne should be known for. The third-generation racer\u2019s accomplishment that day was tremendous, but it\u2019s only an indicator of […]<\/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-91667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91667","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=91667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91667\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}