Sean C. Morgan
Kourtney Dixon, 18, of Sweet Home won the Powderpuff drag racing competition at the Woodburn Drag Strip on Oct. 5.
In the competition, Dixon defeated Amy Fields in the semi-final round while Kacee Pitts, 16, elimianted Karen Kalsch and Lavonne Goodman.
In the final round, Dixon had a stellar .020 reaction time and ran a 16.817 on her 16.79 dial-in to get the win. Dixon also was the No. 1 qualifier with a .004 reaction time.
Pitts is the season champion in powderpuff and high school, said Kourtney’s father Darin Dixon.
She got a late start this season but was able to compete in five races, he said.
“We got the wild hair of fixing the truck up spring break this year,” said Kourtney, who is attending Linn-Benton Community College with plans to transfer to Oregon State University to study business.
“I took a week vacation, got it running,” Darin Dixon said. He said he raced while he was in high school in 1989, and he asked her if she was interested in doing it too. She told him she was and started racing a 1957 Chevy pickup with a 305 Chevy V8 from her grandmother’s car.
“It’s nothing special, pretty much just a boring stock motor,” Dixon said.
“It’s irritating going down the track, and you see them (the opponent) blow by you, and think that, well, I lost,” Kourtney said of her initial experience on the track. “Once you get the hang of it, it’s all right.”
Last week, “when I found out I won, I didn’t believe it,” Kourtney said. “I thought I probably red lighted or something.”
When she saw her time slip, she said, she almost started crying.
She won’t be able to run high school races next year, but she’ll still be eligible for Powderpuff, Sportsman and trucks, Dixon said.
She enjoys the racing and plans to continue, she said. “I got to see so many different old cars, and the people there are really nice, just having fun or really intense and want to win.”
She likes the rush she gets from the race, and the support from other participants.
Everyone at the strip is supportive, Dixon said.
Her brother, Devon, 16, will possibly join Kourtney on the track next year.
Kourtney is also the daughter of Kimi Nash and has one younger sister, Ava Nash, 6.