John Randell - Randell Racing

 

 

 

 

John Randell and his his family have been around the sport of Drag Racing  almost from the beginning and when he is not racing he's protecting the State of Nevada as a Police Officer.

John stated that his family has been involved in the sport for the last 50-55 years and we still keep going!  He learned everything from his father and often picks his head for knowledge about engines. 

John said at Randell Racing we build our own engines and transmissions , one of the few teams who do.  Eventually we plan on taking everything to a professional basis , but for now we enjoy having fun and being a family. Drag Racing is our life, this is where I learned how to swear, open a beer, and learned about life all from a young age.

 

This is John around 3 years old, and he is helping his father work on his race car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see I live out my dream everyday. It’s great to look back on old photos to see how you achieved your goals . Personally for me it was getting my first fire suit at 3 years old and living out a fantasy. Hard to believe a 3 year old would trade anything in world to be a professional race car driver. Twenty one years later I’ll still trade in anything to have the opportunity!  

 

 

 It all started in the 1960’s, my father Jim Randell was working at a local Plymouth dealership and got involved with the A/FX and Stock class. He used to drive  Dodge Chargers  and a Chevy II. My father also was involved with a AA/Fuel Altered called Re-Entry. 

 This is the first “Re-Entry” AA/FA that my father helped build in the 60s and 70s. It was very short lived (1 pass) so I couldn’t tell you everything. But this is the car I will be paying respect and homage to,not only to the original scheme but to everyone who worked on the car. I still have my fathers helmet which I will do a scheme of it on mine.

 

Back in the 70s it crashed and burned in St. George due to a crew member forgetting something.  My father was one of the crew members and drove it one time. My father used to run around with team owner Ken Black and his wife Judy going to different racetracks such as Stardust, OCIR, Lions, Irwindale, and many more! He used to race against guys like Bill Jenkins, Dick Landy, Don Nicholson, The Ramchargers, and many more. My father quit racing like many in the 70s due to having a family and less time to race.

 In the 1990s he came back to racing with our 1976 Vega. My brother and father built the car an raced it in Super Street and Super Gas and had great success. After we sold our Vega we bought a 93 Victory Super Comp Dragster, my mother Patty took over the wheel.

This is a 93 Victory Super Comp Dragster known as “Katy Ray” she is the first Dragster I drove in Super Comp and she’s also my moms dragster. It has a 468 Cubic Inch BBC, Dino rear end which is in alcohol cars, Hughes transmission and converter. She goes 8.40s at 160mph and runs 112 octane Sunoco Fuel .

John said his mother drove the Vega before they sold it and even drove it when she was pregnant with him so you can say Drag Racing was in his blood.She raced the best like Shaun Langdon, Alexis Dejoria,and the Force girls during her time. John was working as a sheet metal fabricator when he bought the 93 Victory Super Comp Dragster which was also the old Crower Dragster. 

 John also owns a Front Engine Dragster, he races it in the Nostalgia Series in Jr. Fuel.

 This is a 01 Chrisman chassis built by Brad and Phil Woodward. This is the new “Re-Entry” dragster. This has a 406 cubic inch SBC. We are still learning about the car but runs on Alcohol and has a Mag 40 to start the car. 12” tires so should do 7.00 at 180-200mph. 

 

 John stated, at the end of the day my family and I are one of the very few that have been around from the Prime days of Drag Racing.    We will run for Top Alcohol and hopefully Top Fuel later on but building experience means a lot more than paying for a ride.

 When asked about about his future in Top Fuel and who he looked up to John replied - When drivers think of the big show drivers, I think about guys like Mike Sorkin, Pete Robinson, Art Chrisman, Joe Schubeck, and Mike Snivley, These are the guys I look up to. Eventually I’ll race Top Fuel that’s my dream and goal.

I live by a old school mentality and that’s how we race and continue to race. But when it comes down to it I’ll race the best and give them a race. When I get my opportunity I know I’ll be a success because, I've learned from my father who learned how to race during the 60s. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to John Randell  & Randell Racing for sharing their story with us , we look forward to updating it as their team progresses .

                                                                       Take a ride with John down the 1320 ! 

 

Photos & video courtesy of Randell Racing 2021