Frank Hawley’s NHRA Drag Racing School recently completed its very first Super Classes in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the four days and a total of two complete classes, the school licensed twenty-five new drivers in either Super Comp or Super Gas categories.

“Chris Blair (VP of Racing Operations at LVMS) and his staff really made it a pleasure for all involved,” Frank Hawley explained. “I think our staff was just as excited as our drivers to be at the top notch facility. We knew going in that it should be a fabulous location to hold our classes and our stay there met and even exceeded those expectations.”

During the school’s two classes that were held near the end of September, more than one-hundred seventy-eight runs were made by the students. The classes consisted of more than forty people and most were drivers seeking to acquire their competition license. Some attended class purely for the classroom portion known as the Reaction Time Clinic. Frank Hawley’s NHRA Drag Racing School recently completed its very first Super Classes in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the four days and a total of two complete classes, the school licensed twenty-five new drivers in either Super Comp or Super Gas categories.

“Chris Blair (VP of Racing Operations at LVMS) and his staff really made it a pleasure for all involved,” Frank Hawley explained. “I think our staff was just as excited as our drivers to be at the top notch facility. We knew going in that it should be a fabulous location to hold our classes and our stay there met and even exceeded those expectations.”

During the school’s two classes that were held near the end of September, more than one-hundred seventy-eight runs were made by the students. The classes consisted of more than forty people and most were drivers seeking to acquire their competition license. Some attended class purely for the classroom portion known as the Reaction Time Clinic.

Tina Young from California was looking to get, as she refers to it, her “asphalt license”.  Prior to attending Frank Hawley’s NHRA Drag Racing School, Tina had been racing dragsters on dirt for the past six months.  “The biggest difference between what I have been doing and this type of racing is of course, the surface,“ Tina chuckled. “The staging is very similar but we only go three-hundred feet on dirt.”

“My goals in attending Frank’s school were two main things, confidence and obtaining my license,“ she continued. “Frank teaches mindset. That was one of the biggest things I took away from the class. Frank spoke of so many things that I never thought would have anything to do with the racing experience. I did everything I could to absorb what we are supposed to be doing as a driver. Frank was so good at teaching us to be (pauses) and how to be -- calm. The entire experience was amazing from the driving to the classroom.”

“I have been racing on the short dirt drag tracks, but I was really amazed of what it feels like to go the longer distances and to do a burnout. That was fun!” she added.

The students that make up the Super Classes at Frank Hawley’s NHRA Drag Racing School come from many backgrounds. Some do not have any drag racing experience at all while some have been racing for years.
A good example of an already experienced drag racer would be Dave Thornton from Washington. Dave raced a D-Modified Camaro back in the 1970’s and more recently, now that his family has grown, a 1966 Chevy Nova with a triple-nickel big block Chevy. Dave has been licensed in Super Gas for many years so what would bring him to attend the school?

“I actually came to the school because my nephew was attending to get his Super Comp license. But I felt it may help me because of my lack of confidence or maybe my thinking that I’m getting too old to do this and the kids are all out there putting it on me. So I decided I would drive the dragster for something different and get my cross grade all while trying to learn something,“ Dave reflected. “Now I know this is going to sound like some canned response but Frank is the best teacher ever. I was totally amazed at what he taught us. I can’t believe what I learned and was immediately able to put it to the test at my local track the weekend following my class. For the first time in my racing career, I cut a perfect light and my lights stayed consistently better that weekend then they had ever and I mean ever been.”

“Folks need to go to this class. New drivers, old racers like me, just go. Frank really helped me get rid of some of those bad habits and negative thoughts that I had about myself and my capabilities.  I had been beating myself up for no reason,” Dave said. “Like I told my buddies, I put all this money in this car and the car is always right on. It’s the driver that has been screwed up or at least that’s what I thought until I learned otherwise during class. We invest in all the right parts for our cars, why don’t more of us invest in ourselves? This class is something I should have done a very long time ago. It has got to be the least expensive investment I have made for my racing and the payback is tremendous.”

“I will carry what I learned from Frank with me for many years to come. All I can say is thanks, it was just the greatest thing ever,” he added.