{"id":99887,"date":"2025-04-02T18:18:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T18:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/miranda-herrera-chases-dragster-dreams-at-frank-hawleys-school\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T18:18:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T18:18:27","slug":"miranda-herrera-chases-dragster-dreams-at-frank-hawleys-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/miranda-herrera-chases-dragster-dreams-at-frank-hawleys-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Miranda Herrera Chases Dragster Dreams at Frank Hawley\u2019s School"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing up in a family focused on two-wheeled racing, and alongside her brother and reigning and two-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion rider, Gaige Herrera, Miranda Herrera shocked and surprised their father, Augustine, when she decided she wanted to drive a dragster instead of pilot a bike.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although Miranda grew up at the track and out in the sand dune deserts near southern California\u2019s Mexico border, she always took her own path in life. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was the bright orange-haired one in the staging lanes, and I played softball for eight years. It wasn\u2019t until I turned 16 and realized I was burned out from sports that I told my dad I wanted to go racing,\u201d shared Miranda, now 26 and working in Indianapolis as a chemist in the nuclear medicine industry. \u201cHe was shocked when I said I wanted a dragster!\u201d<\/p>\n

Augustine, an accomplished racer and respected track tech official, obliged his daughter\u2019s wishes with a dragster, which she enjoyed testing as much as possible. When Miranda turned her focus to college and her career, though, she put racing on the back burner. \u201cI\u2019ve had the dragster for ten years now and decided to put more time and effort into myself,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

Being exposed to higher levels of NHRA racing, Miranda often heard other successful racers praising their experiences at Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing School. As Miranda had not yet been cleared to run faster than 135 mph, Gaige suggested she sign up for the school\u2019s Super Comp licensing course. So, she flew to Florida to be on the property at Gainesville Raceway for support and celebrations as Gaige cliched his third NHRA Gatornationals win in a row, and just a few days later, she attended the school and successfully earned her Super Comp license.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cEven though I had experience with my dragster and was familiar with a lot, it was still a great learning experience. Frank\u2019s stories, techniques, and in-depth lessons were so beneficial for me, especially his emphasis on how drag racing is more of a mind game than a physical sport,\u201d Miranda said, appreciative of how Frank\u2019s knowledge helped boost her confidence behind the wheel and grateful for his positive feedback on her driving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Miranda, it was the little details she either had overlooked or had no reason to think through previously that were the biggest benefits of attending Frank Hawley\u2019s Drag Racing School. <\/p>\n

\u201cI usually race in the Midwest and put my helmet\u2019s face shield down before the burnout as part of my routine, but Frank told me not to in case I\u2019m racing somewhere humid like Florida where it would fog up,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone in our sport knows Miranda\u2019s brother, Gaige Herrera, world champ and rider for Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle team.\u00a0Driving DNA may be in the Herrera family as Miranda easily earned her license in our Super Comp car,\u201d affirmed <\/strong>Frank Hawley, <\/strong>the School\u2019s founder. \u201cMiranda has a car waiting for her, so the competition should be on the lookout for another Herrera on the track!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Now, the brother and sister fourth-generation drag racers are planning more time at the track together. Working around Gaige\u2019s racing schedule and Miranda\u2019s day job can be tricky, but she\u2019s blessed to have several top-notch facilities nearby where she can spend weekends racing and learn new skills thanks to the School, which will certainly help her progress more quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a lifetime of doing things differently, Miranda Herrera is the first female in the family to earn her NHRA license. Now, she\u2019s on track to follow in the footsteps of not only her father, Augustine, but also her grandparents and great-grandparents \u2013 she\u2019s just doing it in a dragster instead of on a bike.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published on April 2, 2025. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post Miranda Herrera Chases Dragster Dreams at Frank Hawley\u2019s School<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up in a family focused on two-wheeled racing, and alongside her brother and reigning and two-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion rider, Gaige Herrera, Miranda Herrera shocked and surprised their father, Augustine, when she decided she wanted to drive a dragster instead of pilot a bike.\u00a0 Although Miranda grew up at the track […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99887","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"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}