JEGS RACER OF THE MONTH, RACHEL HENDERSON

By Tim Glover

When growing up, Rachel Henderson used to go to the races to watch her brother race, so it was only natural she began bracket racing when she was 15 years old. Her first "race car" was the family's '84 Ford F-150 tow truck, which she raced in foot brake. She took it to the winner's circle at Owensboro Raceway in Kentucky the first time out, setting the racing "hook" permanently. Although she didn't win all the races she entered, she won her share.

When she turned 16, she ended up taking over her brother's Pro car, a '69 Fastback Mustang. About that time her dad, Jack Clark, decided to build a Super Pro '69 Fastback Mustang, which would go in the 6.0 second range (eight mile). They had a driver for it, but after she won more races with the Pro car than their Super Pro driver was doing in his class, she decided she wanted to try the Super Pro car. Her dad was a bit hesitant, but then her mom, Pat Clark, came to the rescue, persuading her dad to let her try it out. She took to it easily, adding, "I didn't run over anyone."

They were frequent racers, racing at Chandler Motorsports Park in Indiana, Owensboro Raceway in Kentucky, and Bowling Green Kentucky. She qualified for her first bracket finals, which were held at Indianapolis Raceway. She won the first round, and after the day was done, they decided to go to Muncie, Indiana to race. The promoters weren't quite sure about a 16 year old girl racing 6.0, so they held a driver's meeting to decide if the racers thought she was safe enough to race. They did, and she got to six cars that night, demonstrating not only could she drive, she also wasn't an easy target.

When she was 17, her dad took her to the Moroso 5-day race, with an NHRA competition license and all the proper credentials in hand. Promoters there were "again" worried about how safe she was, and made her run a single before allowing her to compete in the series. She just bit her tongue and went along. She recognized the fact that drag racing is predominantly a man's sport, but didn't let that slow her down.

Later, she graduated High School and stepped into an '86 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe her dad and Ray Jenkins built, which was originally named "Cardiac Arrest". The car ran 5.60s and she won several Quick 16 races at her local track. Later, in 1995, she was sponsored by Roy Hill's Drag Racing School, so they flew the Roy Hill colors on the T-Bird for a couple of years.

Rachel made it clear she didn't accomplish everything by herself. Her dad was a big influence, along with her husband of eight years, Jim, who helps her get to the races, takes care of the car, consoles her and does whatever is needed to keep racing. She put it concisely with the statement, "Dad started me, Jim fine tuned me." She met her husband Jim at a race in Memphis. He noticed her reaction times were all over the place, and began helping out with the new (to her) delay box. All of a sudden she started hitting the tree, so she turned over control of the delay box to him. The rest is history.

After retiring her dad's T-Bird due to living in different states, Rachel began driving a 5.50 second '70 Opel GT in 1998, which originally belonged to Jim's dad. Eventually, they bought the car, which she raced until the end of 2001. She recently bought a 2001 Undercover dragster from Scotty Richardson, and although the car was great, she struggled in the transition from door car to open body. In the first part of 2002, she couldn't seem to get past round four. Finally, she made the decision to "retire" from "big money" racing and stay local until she figured the car out and could get past the dreaded fourth round. However, her retirement was short lived, because one week after the decision, she won the fourth round at Lassitor Mountain in Alabama on June 7th, and then went on to runner up. She hit the road again, making it down to the late rounds, and topped it off with a $10,000 win on Saturday, July 13, 2002, during the Tenn-Tuck race held at Bowling Green, Kentucky. Although she doesn't really race for points, she is currently doing well in the Tenn-Tuck
series.

She has been a factor at all the Million Dollar races, up until the Atlanta edition of the Million Dollar Race last year, which she chose not to attend. She earned the best package award for round two (which turned out to be the best package of the event), in the inaugural Million Dollar Race, winning an Altalab weather station for her efforts. In the 1999 and 2000 editions of the Million, she earned the Woman that did the best award.

"I have been blessed in my racing career from the North to the South," she said. When George Howard was promoting the Sunoco series in the mid 90's he noticed this lady racer making rounds, and thought she would be ideal for helping promote Roy Hill's Drag Racing School. He helped put them together, so Rachel Henderson ending up advertising for Roy Hill's school with her Thunderbird. She was very positive about the experience, adding, "He is a very good teacher. I had to re-learn how to drive. He helped me break a lot of bad habits. You have to have thick skin, but he's very good. I also want to thank George Howard for believing in me."

Henderson worked for Howard a couple of years at his truck lot and his B&M Series. She is now a receptionist for Maynard, Cooper & Gale, a law firm in Birmingham. Her work experience around drag racing led her to state, "Everyone bracket racing today should have to spend a weekend working at a drag racing event. They would gain a lot of respect for what is really involved in running an event."

She pays her own way, using winnings and proceeds from her receptionist job. She takes her vacation days one at a time, to fit her racing schedule. She said if the money runs out, she just parks the car until there is enough to go again. "As long as I can afford it, be competitive and have fun, I definitely want to race as long as possible." "She's a die hard," added her husband, Jim.

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