Cathy Belcher isn’t the first female to drive an ADRL Pro Extreme doorslammer but she is the quickest and for now, that niche suits her just fine.

Belcher, of Rantoul, Ill., pilots a former Ray Commisso Camaro in a class where the weak are chewed up and spit out.

Even a DNQ in her first race and an accident in her second, hasn't discouraged Belcher as she races this weekend at the ADRL Independence Drags in Topeka, Kan. Belcher was the first alternate with a career best.

Cathy Belcher isn’t the first female to drive an ADRL Pro Extreme doorslammer but she is the quickest and for now, that niche suits her just fine.

Belcher, of Rantoul, Ill., pilots a former Ray Commisso Camaro in a class where the weak are chewed up and spit out.

Even a DNQ in her first race and an accident in her second, hasn't discouraged Belcher as she races this weekend at the ADRL Independence Drags in Topeka, Kan. Belcher was the first alternate with a career best.

“It’s a thrill,” Belcher answered when asked if being outside of the field, yet close in her first ADRL race was deemed as a positive or a negative. “We set a personal record in qualifying and we’re hoping to have it down into the 3.90s soon.”

Belcher piloted her Camaro to a 4.06 elapsed time at 182.74 miles per hour and then followed it up with a 4.04 at 184.22 mph in the third and final qualifying round.

That’s no small feat for Belcher, who is credited as the first female in NHRA Division 3 Top Sportsman with a competitor’s license. She was also the first female to compete in Super Chevy’s Nitro Coupe division.

Belcher started racing sixteen years ago in a 1957 Chevy Nomad that at 3,800 pounds ran a lumbering 5.30 elapsed time. The classic Chevrolet was destroyed in a racing accident. Her next venture was a high-horsepower, Pro Modified style dragster until it became evident to her and the team that race fans won’t pay to see the dragsters; in addition, she broke every part they had at a Quick Eight style race in West Virginia.

That’s when her husband and crew chief Doc Belcher handed down the edict that if they were going to race fast that it was going to be in a doorslammer.

She’s fallen head over heels in love with the ADRL concept.

“It’s a blast,” Belcher beams. “Bracket racers have issues with women [drivers] going fast. Top Sportsman drivers have really bad issues [with it]. Some tracks and some guys [do], not all of them.

“We are going to stick to SUPER CHEVY, match racing and ADRL … it’s a blast.”

Her ADRL experience in Michigan went beyond her imagination.

“More so,” she added.

She also added an exploded supercharger to her list of growing experiences.

“First time I ever did that and had the supercharger sitting sideways on the engine,” Belcher explained. “We broke a valve and a piston and figured our day was over.”

Assistance from a fellow racer kept Belcher in the show, at least throughout qualifying.

“I owe a lot to Bubba Stanton and his whole crew. They were unbelievably friendly and nice for someone who they had never met before.”  

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