By By Matthew Nascone
James Dean tasted the thrill of winning a dragster race last weekend in Holt, Fla. Dean, 13, is a seventh grader at Escambia Academy and the son of Jimmy and Kimberly Dean.
And on Feb. 24 he grabbed his first ever dragster victory from a field of 16 cars at the Emerald Coast Dragway.
Dean has been racing for six months and in the finals he faced a fellow classmate in 12-year-old Dustin Mack, a sixth grader at EA. Mack is the son of Mark and Renee Mack.
Neither of the two racers lost a round before the finals and Dean took the championship with an 8.39 finish time and ran at 76 mph.
Both racers are part of the NHRA Junior Drag Racing League. This was the opening race of the season for the NHRA Juniors.
Dean said he would like to thank Creek Indian Enterprises, Pee-Wee Powell Construction of Atmore, Hog Heaven BBQ and Gleaton's Guns of Brewton.