Generations of racers have relied on Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing School to hone their skills and improve their performance both on and off the track. Recently, Justin Arias obtained his Super Comp competition license and is poised to pursue a fast-paced future in the nostalgia racing community.<\/p>\n
The Arias name has been well-known in the aftermarket performance industry for generations, but Justin\u2019s legacy is even more encompassing than the piston company that his paternal grandfather, Nick Arias, founded in 1969. Justin\u2019s maternal grandfather, Steve Gibbs, was the Competition Director for NHRA for nearly fifty years and worked directly under the late Wally Parks. <\/p>\n
\u201cBoth are in the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame and they\u2019re tough acts to follow,\u201d laughed Justin, 30, who had always been encouraged \u2013 but never pressured \u2013 to follow in the family\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n
Growing up, Justin raced go-karts at various tracks in southern California and often accompanied his father, Nick Arias III, to Bonneville. He has a diehard love for true nostalgia drag racing, so, when a friend offered Justin the opportunity to drive his 7.0 Pro front-engine dragster \u2013 which Justin\u2019s father had also driven when Justin was young \u2013 he knew he couldn\u2019t miss the chance. And, with an ultimate goal of racing in Nostalgia Top Fuel, Justin took the first steps toward making his dream a reality by attending Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing School at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 2-3, 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy to get jaded by 300 mph cars,\u201d shared Justin, who works in sales at Arias Pistons and is surrounded by high-horsepower applications all day, \u201cbut I have tremendous respect for Sportsman racers. Letting off the trans brake in the School\u2019s Super Comp dragster and going 160+ mph, well, it\u2019s really fast, especially being so low to the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Justin felt comfortable in the car, he was careful to truly listen to Frank Hawley\u2019s sage wisdom and sound instruction. \u201cFrank has so much to share, even things that don\u2019t have to do with actually driving the car, but that can be applied to the mind and life in general,\u201d Justin said, fascinated by Hawley\u2019s lectures. \u201cFrank puts a lot of faith in his students, never rushes things, is always patient, and that made me want to do well and make him proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Justin, being a third-generation student at Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing School was definitely monumental. Growing up, he idolized Hawley and followed his racing career with passion, so, having his hero as his instructor made the entire experience that much more memorable. \u201cThis was my first time in a full-blown competition dragster and it was amazing. It felt like I had a friend teaching me and having Frank set me up and put me in the beams was so rad,\u201d added Justin. \u201cI\u2019m impressed with how well the School\u2019s cars are put together, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having a driver in his class with the iconic Arias last name was special for Frank Hawley. \u201cI told Justin that when I was a kid, the first set of brand-new pistons I bought was from Nick Arias, his grandfather,\u201d laughed the School\u2019s founder. \u201cIt will be very cool to see the Arias name back on the racetrack. Justin drove well and we wish him the best!\u201d<\/p>\n
Having successfully completed the class, Justin was awarded his NHRA license in Super Comp which permits him to go as quickly as 7.50 seconds in the quarter-mile. To run in the 7.0 category, though, he will have to upgrade to an Advanced ET license and already has plans to do so. \u201cI\u2019m obsessed with nostalgia drag racing and \u201860s Top Fuel,\u201d he affirmed. \u201cIf I can\u2019t travel back in time, then the closest thing I can do is run in the nostalgia classes with a blown alcohol front-engine dragster, and getting my Super Comp license at Frank Hawley\u2019s was the first step in that process!\u201d<\/p>\n
This story was originally published on October 21, 2024. <\/p>\n
The post Justin Arias Readies for Nostalgia Ride at Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing School<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Generations of racers have relied on Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing School to hone their skills and improve their performance both on and off the track. Recently, Justin Arias obtained his Super Comp competition license and is poised to pursue a fast-paced future in the nostalgia racing community. The Arias name has been well-known in the […]<\/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-96593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96593","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=96593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}