NHRA World Champion Drag Racer Dan Fletcher Continues Family Tradition of Winning
- 28 Sept 2010
The car went straight from the dealership to the race track, where it ran in Modified eliminator thru the mid 70's. As young Dan competed in Little League Baseball, and Pop Warner Football, priorities changed, and the Camaro was parked. When Dan turned 16 he found himself another 1969 Camaro to drive to High School, and was ready to start racing his pop's original Camaro. Running at the local Bracket races with tuning help from his father, Dan learned the craft of driving a racecar. By 1991, he was ready for the big leagues, so the Camaro went through some major changes, and evolved into a Super Stocker. Dan & his father entered their very first race in Montreal Quebec, and walked away with a runner-up finish. Sadly, Dan's father passed away in April of 1993. With the car in pieces, and no experience of actually working on the car, Dan made the commitment to continue on with what they had started.
In 1994, Dan entered the NHRA Nationals in Columbus Ohio and WON! Not to rest on the one victory, Dan decided to participate in the "Western Swing", a grueling 3 weeks of racing that goes thru Denver, Sonoma, and Seattle. Dan didn't win just one race, but all three, becoming the only sportsman driver in NHRA history to accomplish this feat. Fast forward 16 years, and Dan is still driving, and winning in that original 1969 Camaro, so many times, that it is now the winningest car in NHRA history. Not satisfied with winning in the Super Stock class, Dan decided a few years ago to pull the High School driver Camaro out of the barn and turn that into a race car as well. He now competes and wins in both of his nearly identical 69 Camaro's. If that wasn't enough, Driving and winning a World Championship in the Competition Eliminator class also was in the cards. To Date, Dan has won 69 NHRA National events, three World Championships, and six Divisional titles. Along the way, Dan found time to get married, and raise three kids; 20 year-old Thomas, 18 year old Timothy, and a 14 year old daughter named Taylor. With help from his wife Donna, all three kids have spent plenty of time at the track, and have learned from the best. Thomas' first race was an Open National at Maple Grove Raceway, where he wheeled the Family's Stocker to a Runner up Finish. Thomas followed that up with a win in Stock at the Keystone Nationals, the same race that Dan won in the Competition Eliminator class, making it only the 3rd time in history that a father & son have won at the same event. Next up was Timothy's turn. He took to the wheel of the family's Stocker and won the very first time driving that car, at the Division 1 race at Lebanon Valley New York. Timothy decided to try his luck earlier this year at his 1st NHRA National event, and scored a runner-up finish at Denver. Keep in Mind, Taylor is only two years away from earning her license. K&N has been supporting Dan Fletcher for the past four years. 1st as an associate sponsor, then in 2009 becoming Dan's major sponsor. When asked about K&N, Dan made it clear that competing at this level without the help of companies like K&N is impossible. As a Professional Sportsman racer Dan relies on the best products on the market to continue winning. K&N is one of those companies. "K&N has tremendous products, they make the best oil filter in the world. We work in a dirty, dusty environment, and K&N protects the air that goes into my engines, and the oil that pumps thru them. When I pull the bearings down at the end if the season, they look like new. K&N is a great company to work with, and I'm proud to be associated with them". If Dan trusts his cars to K&N, so can you. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
