JR. DRAG RACER GETS ‘PROPS’ FROM CARTOON NETWORK
Wed, 2007-09-12 15:14
At 13, Gunnar Boelman is already a local celebrity.
He’s been praised by his middle school principal, he’s on a first-name basis with two professional drivers, and he can even do a pretty smooth interview with media.
He’s just short of signing autographs at the lunch table.
Boelman, an NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League driver from Diamond Bar, Calif., was one of six finalists featured in September on the Cartoon Network program “Props,” a contest that lets online users choose the most impressive American kids from a field of 16 using links on the network’s website. Boelman was nominated by his AYSO league soccer coach.
To select the six finalists, fans watched special videos made for each contestant and voted for their favorite one. Boelman knew his friends, family and NHRA fans were voting in the hopes of pushing him to the Final Six, but he didn’t expect what came next. At 13, Gunnar Boelman is already a local celebrity.
He’s been praised by his middle school principal, he’s on a first-name basis with two professional drivers, and he can even do a pretty smooth interview with media.
He’s just short of signing autographs at the lunch table.
Boelman, an NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League driver from Diamond Bar, Calif., was one of six finalists featured in September on the Cartoon Network program “Props,” a contest that lets online users choose the most impressive American kids from a field of 16 using links on the network’s website. Boelman was nominated by his AYSO league soccer coach.
To select the six finalists, fans watched special videos made for each contestant and voted for their favorite one. Boelman knew his friends, family and NHRA fans were voting in the hopes of pushing him to the Final Six, but he didn’t expect what came next.
He thought he was going to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona to register for the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals in Denver, Colo. Instead, he and his parents, Ingrid and Dave Osborne, pulled in to find one motor home sitting in the empty lot by the track.
Jack Beckman, driver of the Mail Terminal Services Funny Car on the NHRA POWERade Series and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley, the host of “Props,” stepped out.
“Just to see them there, that was cool,” Boelman said. “They started talking to me about ‘Props’ and told me I won. Jack told me I was going to go participate in one of his classes (at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School in Pomona).”
Boelman was invited to sit in on the Super Comp/Super Gas class Beckman was teaching at the track that day for Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School.
He was the youngest driver in the class.
“He was just pretty blown away by the entire day,” said Beckman, one of three Funny Car drivers under the Don Schumacher Racing umbrella. “He’s attentive in the classroom and took some notes, which I appreciated.”
Then Beckman pulled out one more surprise for his newest student – the best gift a driver can get. A new car.
Boelman’s yellow 2007 halfscale junior dragster, painted, Ingrid believes, by the same man who painted Del Worsham’s Funny Car, was quickly teched so he could make a few passes down the famed Pomona quartermile. It was a lot different from his old one, dated 1998.
“I think that was the biggest surprise of his entire life,” Beckman said. “It was a lot of fun and rewarding to see our sport start to receive some mainstream attention in that we were now getting a junior dragster finalist in amongst swimmers, tennis players, surfers and snowboarders. It’s nice to see our sport get that kind of recognition.”
Boelman’s stepfather and inspiration, Dave Osborne, assembled the new ride. He eventually did compete in Denver and brought home a junior-sized Wally when his team, the Auto Club Dragway at California Speedway team, won the team championship title.
Boelman hopes to continue racing his junior dragster for three years, until he turns 16. Then he hopes to make a move to a Super Comp or Super Gas car and eventually aim for the pros.
For now, he competes in an average of two events per month from March to December, with a Christmas race in Barona.
“It’s just unreal,” Ingrid said. “These things don’t happen to ordinary people. For my son to get that kind of an opportunity, I feel so fortunate he’s been able to do so well with this and get so far. I hope even more of his dreams come true, because I know they’ve come true so far.”
He’s been praised by his middle school principal, he’s on a first-name basis with two professional drivers, and he can even do a pretty smooth interview with media.
He’s just short of signing autographs at the lunch table.
Boelman, an NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League driver from Diamond Bar, Calif., was one of six finalists featured in September on the Cartoon Network program “Props,” a contest that lets online users choose the most impressive American kids from a field of 16 using links on the network’s website. Boelman was nominated by his AYSO league soccer coach.
To select the six finalists, fans watched special videos made for each contestant and voted for their favorite one. Boelman knew his friends, family and NHRA fans were voting in the hopes of pushing him to the Final Six, but he didn’t expect what came next. At 13, Gunnar Boelman is already a local celebrity.
He’s been praised by his middle school principal, he’s on a first-name basis with two professional drivers, and he can even do a pretty smooth interview with media.
He’s just short of signing autographs at the lunch table.
Boelman, an NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League driver from Diamond Bar, Calif., was one of six finalists featured in September on the Cartoon Network program “Props,” a contest that lets online users choose the most impressive American kids from a field of 16 using links on the network’s website. Boelman was nominated by his AYSO league soccer coach.
To select the six finalists, fans watched special videos made for each contestant and voted for their favorite one. Boelman knew his friends, family and NHRA fans were voting in the hopes of pushing him to the Final Six, but he didn’t expect what came next.
He thought he was going to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona to register for the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals in Denver, Colo. Instead, he and his parents, Ingrid and Dave Osborne, pulled in to find one motor home sitting in the empty lot by the track.
Jack Beckman, driver of the Mail Terminal Services Funny Car on the NHRA POWERade Series and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley, the host of “Props,” stepped out.
“Just to see them there, that was cool,” Boelman said. “They started talking to me about ‘Props’ and told me I won. Jack told me I was going to go participate in one of his classes (at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School in Pomona).”
Boelman was invited to sit in on the Super Comp/Super Gas class Beckman was teaching at the track that day for Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School.
He was the youngest driver in the class.
“He was just pretty blown away by the entire day,” said Beckman, one of three Funny Car drivers under the Don Schumacher Racing umbrella. “He’s attentive in the classroom and took some notes, which I appreciated.”
Then Beckman pulled out one more surprise for his newest student – the best gift a driver can get. A new car.
Boelman’s yellow 2007 halfscale junior dragster, painted, Ingrid believes, by the same man who painted Del Worsham’s Funny Car, was quickly teched so he could make a few passes down the famed Pomona quartermile. It was a lot different from his old one, dated 1998.
“I think that was the biggest surprise of his entire life,” Beckman said. “It was a lot of fun and rewarding to see our sport start to receive some mainstream attention in that we were now getting a junior dragster finalist in amongst swimmers, tennis players, surfers and snowboarders. It’s nice to see our sport get that kind of recognition.”
Boelman’s stepfather and inspiration, Dave Osborne, assembled the new ride. He eventually did compete in Denver and brought home a junior-sized Wally when his team, the Auto Club Dragway at California Speedway team, won the team championship title.
Boelman hopes to continue racing his junior dragster for three years, until he turns 16. Then he hopes to make a move to a Super Comp or Super Gas car and eventually aim for the pros.
For now, he competes in an average of two events per month from March to December, with a Christmas race in Barona.
“It’s just unreal,” Ingrid said. “These things don’t happen to ordinary people. For my son to get that kind of an opportunity, I feel so fortunate he’s been able to do so well with this and get so far. I hope even more of his dreams come true, because I know they’ve come true so far.”
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