JANUARY RACER OF THE MONTH, KENNY TEER

by Tim Glover

enny Teer from Dallas, Texas, used to race motorcycles under the WERA sanction. After five years, and several bad crashes, he decided he needed to do something safer. "I didn’t heal as fast as I used to," he said. Bracket racing proved to be an excellent next step for him.

He got his start in bracket racing eleven years ago after attending a Super Chevy show at the Texas Motorplex. He thought to himself, "This is easy. I can do that." He drove a ’69 Camaro to Trophy night shortly after, and immediately won his first race. "Little did I know it got a LOT harder," he exclaimed about his early beginnings in bracket racing. "This sport sure can humble you quick," he added.

He started out footbraking, and then moved over to the electronics classes after a few years. He always did well, finishing top five in the points at Texas Motorplex. His current machine is a 2000 Cameron dragster. He stated, "I’ve got the car. If it had a really good driver, it would never lose."

Teer is 39 years old, married to his number one sponsor, Windy, and has a daughter, Carissa, who is 12 years old. Carissa thinks his racing is great, but she hasn’t indicated any desire to drive herself. During the times Teer has considered quitting, Windy has always encouraged him to get back into the sport. "I think she’s just trying to get me out of the house," he said with a smile.

He did suffer a crash drag racing five years ago, when his dragster suffered mechanical failure at the 1/8 mile mark and barrel rolled. He said he thought the crash was minor (maybe that was in comparison to the motorcycle crashes), but it destroyed the car. He expressed his satisfaction with all the safety equipment and the design of the dragster.

The Texas Motorplex was Teer’s weekend home for more than nine years, and he rarely missed an event. Eventually, he decided to start traveling, and has never looked back. He raced all over the United States, and has even raced in Canada. In 2001, he chased NHRA and IHRA points, but added that it was really a grind. He claimed Division Seven in NHRA and Division Four in IHRA, enjoying top ten finishes on the divisional level.

The highlight of his 2002 season was winning the Divison Seven Summit ET Series Super Pro crown. He then went on to Pomona, finishing runner-up in the National Summit event. He was floored when named Division Seven ET Driver of the Year for 2002. He added another highlight was winning Top Comp in Vegas at a divisional race. He knew his car wasn’t the quickest (he qualified 31 in a 32 car field), but announced beforehand, "If you let me in this race, I’m winning it." He told me he had to win then, because he had already opened his mouth.

Teer also won the Ron’s Fuel Injection / DragRaceResults Desert Bracket Classic in 2002. "I think Danny’s races are great. I wish he’d come to Texas now. There’s never enough Big Money races," he added.

He also gave his mom, Bobbie, a lot of credit for his success. He said she always stood by him in whatever he tried to do, even if she didn’t agree.

A full divisional schedule, both NHRA and IHRA, is planned for 2003, although he said he doesn’t plan on any IHRA nationals. He is also scheduling some of the DragRaceResults.com Tuscon races and some Super Tens series races as his schedule permits. He is scaling back some, planning to stay mainly less than 1000 miles from home. Look for more top finishes from this guy.

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