Maryland Girl Races Mini Dragster

Maryland Youth Fulfills

Need For Speed

Story and Photographs by Bob & Cindy Savage

Publication Date: January 1997

Located at the very southwestern corner of Delaware is the small town of Delmar. Delmar receives its name because half of the town is in Delaware while the southern part of town is in Maryland. Race fans in this area are able to watch their favorite drivers at a nearby motorsports complex that consists of three different tracks. For the stock and dwarf car enthusiast there is the Delaware International Speedway, which is open on Saturday nights. Go-Kart races are held next door at the Delmar Speedway on Sundays during the spring and fall, and Wednesdays during the summer. Finally, for the drag enthusiast, there is the US 13 Dragway that is open on Sundays from March to October.

Several times throughout the year I had watched the drags while working the go-karts and had observed the mini-dragsters from a distance. These vehicles had sparked my curiosity. Recently, I was at the Delmar Speedway photographing their last race of the season, when I decided to go over to the dragway and watch some of their action. It had been some time since I had been at a drag race, so seeing these mini-dragsters up close was something new. I was somewhat impressed with what I saw and learned.

The mini-dragster looks exactly like the nitro-burning rails that you usually associate with drag strips. They are built to the National Hot Rod Association specifications. Unlike the rails that have supercharged engines and scream down a 1/4 mile track, the mini's have five horse power, alcohol burning engines, and only race 1/8th of a mile.

Walking through the pit area, one car caught my eye. The Wild Thing is a multi-colored mini that stuck out from the others. It wasn't as much the colors that caught my attention as the lightning bolts streaking from the Fear Starts Here sign in driver's cage. The driver wasn't in the car at the time, but soon I heard the track announcer call all mini drivers to their cars. As I turned back to mini's, I observed 12-year-old Candi Pearce, of Glen Bernie, Maryland, climbing in and strapping up.

After taking several photographs of Candi in her mini-dragster, I went out to the track to watch them race. These cars go through the same routine as the larger dragsters while racing. They heat up their tires in the burnout, pull up to the starting line, and watch the Christmas tree lights for the green start light. Candi's mini is powered by a 5 h.p. Briggs & Stratton engine and is sponsored by her parents, Warren and Debbie Pearce. As we watched, Candi raced down the track, beating all others, with a top speed of 69.27 miles per hour.

Later, I had the opportunity to talk with Candi and her parents about her racing. Candi stated that she first got interested in motorsports at the age of five when "my baby-sitter got me into dirt bikes." Her parents are very happy with her accomplishments over the past few years. Last year, Candi set two individual track records at the Can/Am Nationals in London, Canada. Turning the 1/8th of a mile in 9.14 seconds at a top speed of 72 miles per hour, Candi set records for both top speed and elapsed time. If Candi's performance so far is a sign of what is to come, race enthusiasts across the country will be seeing her name a lot more in the future.