Top Dragster Driver Kathy Fisher Looks Toward a Strong 2017 PDRA/NHRA Season
- 2 Dec 2016
“We didn’t make it to a final round and win like we did last year, but we put a lot of rounds together in many races,” Kathy said. “Anyone who knows the sport knows that at the end of the year it comes down to ‘Hey, where’d you finish in the points?’ And we finished Number 4 in the PDRA in Top Dragster, which is pretty good for only making six of the nine events.” She capped that late-season points charge with her quickest-ever eighth-mile pass at the PDRA World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park in October. The team had been chasing some gremlins in the car that weekend, but a solo run in Round 1 of eliminations helped her and her husband/crew chief Kevin Fisher find the missing piece and nail it for the next run. “When I did my burnout, I went, ‘Oh, we’re fixed!’” Kathy said. “My competition broke during his burnout so I got to make a single pass and the darn thing went out there and made a 3.935 with 0.935 sixty-foot time. She was just absolutely hauling the mail.” The Ohio-based Performance by Fisher crew also put another huge feather in their collective cap: Across all of the PDRA and highly competitive NHRA events—both Divisional and National—they ran, Kathy qualified for all of them, averaging a ninth-place spot on the Eliminations ladder every weekend. She attributes that consistency to a reliable combination of 547 cubic-inch engine with an F2 Procharger.
It’s not just the dragster breathing air and moving oil through K&N filters, either; the Fishers also installed a heavy-duty K&N filter on their toter-home, which has improved mileage on the long hauls to and from the racetrack. “When you’re towing all of those miles, every little half-to-one miles per gallon you can get on those big rigs towing all of that weight,” Kathy said. “We saw immediate advantage when we switched over to the K&N.” The quickest pass at the season’s end and consistency all point toward big things in 2017; Kathy expects the chassis should be able to find another 0.05 to 0.07 in elapsed time. The Fishers will be working on a new Procharger combination that should help her find that time. In addition, after making six of the nine PDRA events, Kathy has plans to run the full eight-race PDRA calendar to chase the top championship spot along with several NHRA divisional and national events. K&N will be onboard at all of the team’s 2017 stops.
Kathy met Kevin, her husband and crew chief, through drag racing 17 years ago. After celebrating their nuptials at the local track while they were both bracket-racing, they eventually increased the capability of their equipment until they took on running a Top Dragster in PDRA and NHRA competition. Kevin raced alongside Kathy until stepping aside after the 2014 season to take over crew chief duties with Kathy in the Top Dragster for 2015. The couple star in their own reality show, Married With Dragsters, about their marriage and racing partnership. 2017 PDRA Schedule March 10 - 11: South Georgia Motorsports Park (Cecil, Georgia) March 31 - April 1: Galot Motorsports Park (Dunn, North Carolina) May 19 - 20: The Legendary Darlington Raceway (Hartsville, South Carolina) June 2 - 3: Maryland International Raceway (Mechanicsville, Maryland) July 14 -15: Lucas Oil Raceway (Indianapolis, Indiana) August 11 - 12: Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park (Tulsa, Oklahoma) September 8 -9: Galot Motorsports Park (Dunn, North Carolina) October 20 - 21: Virginia Motorsports Park (North Dinwiddie, Virginia) | ||||
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