NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Doug Gordon has experienced quite a bit of success in recent years. In 2020, he captured the world championship title and last year, he came in a close second to Sean Bellemeur. He and his father Mike have built a solid reputation in the sport as fierce competitors, and now the next generation is ready to follow in their footsteps. At ages 17 and 16, respectively, Maddi and Macie Gordon are like sponges, soaking up every bit of knowledge their racing roots have to offer them. 

“We’ve always had a passion for drag racing,” said Macie. “Now that we are older we have more opportunities to do something with it.”

While it’s obvious that these two dynamic and ambitious young ladies have drag racing in their blood, the amount of responsibility they’ve taken on over the past couple of years is beyond impressive. “When Covid hit” is a refrain we hear all the time these days, and it typically preempts a statement about how life changed during that time. For the Gordons, when covid hit, their lives certainly changed, and they’ve become a closer family with a stronger racing program because of it. Maddi and Macie decided that, since they were attending school remotely, it was the perfect time to learn the family trade - the art, skill and science that goes into maintaining a Top Alcohol Funny Car - so they could go out on the road, not as family supporters but as bonafide, knowledgeable crew members. Their father and grandfather welcomed the idea and began teaching them everything there is to know.

“Every Saturday since I was a baby we’ve gone to the racecar shop which is at my Papa’s house. We would work all day long on racing - racecar parts, the trailer - just learning about the cars,” said Maddi. “When Covid hit, we realized we could do school online. (At that point) we knew some of the basics, but not that much at all. When dad said we could go out on the road with him, we basically spent days at the racecar shop and dad would explain this and that, showing us what all the parts are.”

Maddi and Macie are more focused than many teenagers. They paid attention and were diligent in their work. In fact, they took the entire motor apart and put it back together again at least four times before they attended an event in their new elevated crew positions. 

“When it was time to tear everything apart and get ready for the new season, we were like, ‘Now’s the time to learn,’” said Macie. “So my dad would just teach us everything step by step, like what each process was and we had our set jobs. Now that we knew we wanted to be more involved and go to each event, we practiced routine maintenance like we would do between each round so we were prepared.”

Perhaps most remarkable is the passion that these ladies have for the sport and their role within it. The excitement is palpable in their pit as they continue to work to refine their skills on the track. 

“Being a part of the team is different,” said Maddi. “If we do really well it is so much more rewarding because we actually helped get there instead of just tagging along like we used to. We are much more nervous but also much more excited when everything goes right. It’s super cool when you’re actually able to be a part of the team.”

While they’ve expanded their knowledge base exponentially over the past couple of years, the Gordon sisters are no strangers to the sport of drag racing. Not only have they attended several events each year to support their father and grandfather, they also compete in the NHRA Summit Racing Junior Drag Racing League. However, this will be their last year to compete in their junior dragsters. 

As they finish high school (Maddi is a senior and Macie is a sophomore), the Gordon sisters are preparing to take the drag racing world by storm. They both recently obtained their NHRA licenses at Tom Bayer’s School Of Drag Racing. Macie already has a Super Comp dragster and plans to begin competing with it in 2023. For Maddi, her sights are set on her dad’s current seat. She’s preparing to take over driving their TAFC in 2024. 

Most importantly, the sisters say that their increased involvement has strengthened their family bond. Both girls agree that they’ve become closer since they started dedicating more time and energy to drag racing. They enjoy spending so much time with their parents and grandparents, demonstrating what many sportsman drag racers love about this sport. It ties generations of families together.