POMONA, CA – The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series is coming to a close, but Sportsman star Mia Tedesco will race in the Auto Club NHRA Finals this weekend at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona confident in the knowledge that she’s already a champion.

Tedesco secured the Super Gas national championship last weekend in Las Vegas, becoming the first woman in the ultra-competitive class to do so. She’ll return to the seat of her CARS Protection Plus/VP Racing Fuels Super Gas Chevrolet Cavalier this weekend, driving it and her Super Comp dragster at Pomona.

“No, it hasn’t sunk in yet,” Tedesco said of her championship. “I didn’t go to Vegas and win the race – and then win the championship because I won the race. We won the title because we did well all year, and then last weekend, everybody who was in the title race got taken out.

Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – Mia Tedesco became the first woman to win the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Super Gas national championship when she claimed the title during the running of the Division 7 event Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Tedesco led the Super Gas national points standings heading into this race, and the 22-year-old had already finished accumulating points to her national-title count with her CARS Protection Plus/VP Racing Fuels Super Gas Chevrolet Cavalier. She had to wait on challengers Tommy Phillips and Brad Pierce, who were racing in Vegas, before she could celebrate.

But when Phillips and Pierce went out in the second round, Tedesco was assured the championship.

Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – As Sportsman star Mia Tedesco races in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 7 event this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, she’s confident in the knowledge she’s already wrapped up two championships.  And she has a good shot at a third.

Tedesco will drive the CARS Protection Plus/VP Racing Fuels car in Super Gas and Super Comp this weekend, chasing the national championship in Super Gas. She has already wrapped up the Division 3 Super Gas title as well as the North Central Region championship with her CARS Protection Plus/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster.

Continue reading →

REYNOLDS, GA – As Sportsman racer Mia Tedesco prepares to race in this weekend’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Silver Dollar Raceway, she can be confident her body and mind are in the right shape to compete.

Tedesco, the 22-year-old emerging NHRA star, includes a physical fitness routine as part of her preparation for drag racing. Not only do her workouts help her stay fit physically, they keep her mind sharp, too, as she races the CARS Protection Plus/VP Racing Fuels Super Gas Chevrolet Cavalier and CARS Protection Plus/VP Racing Fuels Super Comp dragster.

“I like being in shape and fit, especially for racing,” Tedesco said. “I can see a big difference, the way I’m feeling, the way I can react, the way my mind works. If I take a few weeks off and then get back in the gym, that next week I’m thinking more clearly and everything is flowing a lot more. I definitely think fitness is a big part of success in this sport.”

Continue reading →

READING, PA – It should come as no surprise that Pennsylvania native Mia Tedesco loves racing in her home state.  The up-and-coming NHRA racer gets a rare chance to race in the Keystone State when she competes in Top Alcohol Dragster and Super Gas during the Dodge NHRA Nationals this weekend at Maple Grove Raceway.

Tedesco, who lives in Pittsburgh, will drive the CARS Protection Plus/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster and the CARS Protection Plus/VP Racing Fuels Super Gas Chevrolet Cavalier in Reading.

“It doesn’t happen very often, so it’s pretty cool when we do get to race in Pennsylvania,” Tedesco said. “It’s neat. The weather doesn’t look that good, but Reading isn’t too far from home. My family will be there, and I definitely like Reading a lot. We’ve had a lot of success there.”

Continue reading →

CHARLOTTE – Sportsman star Mia Tedesco will be happy to get out of the Carolinas summertime heat.  With the temperature and humidity rising Sunday for the NHRA Carolina Nationals, teams had to face a recalcitrant racetrack, and many, including some of the top pros, had trouble making good runs. Tedesco’s was no different, and it didn’t help that her CARS Protection Plus/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster was a little down on power in her second-round race Sunday.

“It’s tough out there,” Tedesco said after falling to Duane Shields. “You see all the Top Fuel guys going out there smoking the tires, not able to make it down. To see all that and know that it’s hot and it’s not ideal conditions, you try to compensate for that, but it’s hard sometimes. We did the best that we could, and we’ll try to get them next time.”

Continue reading →

CHARLOTTE – Mia Tedesco showed why she is an emerging star in the world of NHRA drag racing on Saturday. Tedesco won on a holeshot in the first round of Top Alcohol Dragster and posted a combined reaction time of .025-second over her first two rounds of Super Gas at the NHRA Carolina Nationals in Charlotte.

Tedesco earned the victory in her CARS Protection Plus/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster on skill behind the wheel. She left with a .025-second reaction time and then had to pedal the car mid-track. Tedesco recovered and made a pass of 5.469 seconds at 271.79 mph that overcame Josh Hart’s 5.435-second run at 257.87 mph.

Continue reading →

CHARLOTTE – Sportsman star Mia Tedesco hopes to be rushed during the NHRA Carolina Nationals this weekend in Charlotte. Tedesco will again pull double duty at the national event, driving the CARS Protection Plus/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster and CARS Protection Plus/VP Racing Fuels Super Gas Chevrolet Cavalier.

“Charlotte has treated me well these past two years,” Tedesco said. “I really like it here. You always kind hope that you’re rushed to change and run both classes because that means you did well in both. The goal would be to be rushed and have to jump from car to car.”

Despite driving in two distinctly different classes, Tedesco has been rushed from one car to another “plenty of times” in her young career. It has happened so much that the 22-year-old has gotten used to the rush of going from one to the other.

Continue reading →

INDIANAPOLIS – A strong semifinal run at the 62nd annual U.S. Nationals in her CARS Protection Plus/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster has Mia Tredesco and her teammates feeling pretty good about themselves. Sure they would have liked to win the sport’s biggest race, but getting down to the final four in a superstar field of drivers is quite an accomplishment.

“A semifinal finish at Indy, the U.S. Nationals, that’s a pretty big deal,” Tedesco said. “It’s probably way better than we could have hoped for coming in, but at the same time we had the quickest car in qualifying, so you’re always a little disappointed when you don’t close it out.”

Continue reading →

INDIANAPOLIS – To be the best, you have to beat the best, and Top Alcohol Dragster upstart Mia Tedesco did exactly that Sunday afternoon, taking out 2014 world champion Chris Demke in the second round of eliminations to advance to the final four of the 62nd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

Needing a big pass after a pedestrian opening-round clocking of just 5.565 against Ken Perry, which gave Demke lane choice in the quarterfinals, Tedesco responded with a massive .108-second reaction-time advantage that helped her lead the champ from start to finish. Her 5.289 at 273.72 mph in the CARS Protection Plus/Schepel Motors/NGK/Lucas Oil injected dragster sealed the deal ahead of Demke’s 5.345 at 273.16 mph.

Continue reading →