Marty Gordon
Jayden Dickerson of Christiansburg only started drag racing last year and he is already looking toward recurring appearances in the victory circle.
The 15-year-old has just wrapped his first complete Junior Dragster season that included eight wins, five runner ups and one Wally trophy.
He has traveled over 12,000 miles to race at six different tracks, which included a third place in points at Elk Creek Dragway and a first in the Division I International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) TCR championship.
He might have gotten hooked in just his first race, taking first place and making it to victory lane. His father is a former dragster in his own era and leads his son from the pits.
“I get a lot of enjoyment out of it (racing),” Jayden said earlier this week. He took time to discuss his racing career in between hunting and playing junior varsity football at Christiansburg High School.
He looked back at beating other racers who have been doing it a lot longer.
“My ultimate goal is to keep racing and winning.”
NHRA unveiled the Jr. Dragsters in 1992, during the 23rd annual Mopar Parts Nationals. The WDRA Junior Dragster program allows drivers aged 6-17 to run in half-scale Dragsters, Funny Cars and Roadster chassis.
Dickerson’s ultimate goal is to keep racing and winning with a possible move to Super Pro or Footbrake.
Super Pro ET is open to full-bodied cars with working doors, Funny Cars, Altereds and Dragsters, while the Footbrake or Modified class is for race cars that don’t run electronics.
Earlier this week, Dickerson took time to thank his local sponsors that made all of his racing possible. That includes Darian Durham, AA Transmission, Halfscale Dragsters, S&W Powersports, Sun Solutions and Logo Hub.
His next turn of the wheel will be next February when drag season resumes. For now, he just dreams of being in victory lane for years to come.
