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Teen dreams of becoming Top Fuel
racer
Its safe to say that racing is no longer a
guys game, and 17-year-old Megan Daymude is
certainly proving that theory to be true at
speeds up to 160 miles per hour.
Daymude, who began racing in the spring, said
she grew up watching her father Greg Daymude race
at shows.
Because of that, Ive wanted a race
car since I was little, said the smiling
blonde teenager, a senior at Musselman High School.
It was inspirational to watch him.
Greg and his father are both racers, so it comes
as little surprise that the love of all things
racing has trickled down through three
generations.
Shes always worked with me and the
crew, so I knew it was something she might want to
do someday, and I knew we would support that,
Greg Daymude said.
Upon turning 16 in August 2009, Megan was
eligible to begin racing. Not only had she turned
the eligible age to begin driving, but she also
received a race car a sleek, slender hard
tail dragster on her 16th birthday.
Its an S&W 253-inch wheelbase
tail dragster, with a 496-cubic-inch motor and 794
horsepower, she said. Over the winter,
I helped my dad and granddad rebuild the
motor.
She began to make her dream into a tangible
reality in April, when in just a two-week span, she
earned her National Hot Rod Association
license.
From there, she was able to take off.
She was able to make her first run at the
end of April, her mother Rhonda said.
Megan Daymudes racing takes place along
the Mason Dixon Dragway, a quarter-mile NHRA
dragstrip in the heart of central Maryland near
Hagerstown.
Still in the early stages of her racing, Megan
Daymude said she focuses much of her time and
energy into continuing to learn about the mechanics
of the automobile that she hopes will always
transport her across the finish line more quickly
than her competition.
Shes been working very hard to learn
the technical stuff about the cars and shes
learned just a tremendous amount, Greg
Daymude said. Its important that when
she takes the car out on the strip. Shell
always tell me when something doesnt feel
right or sound right.
The father-daughter duo are joined in their
efforts working on the dragster car by her
grandfathers Raymond Daymude and Bill
Brandenburg.
They are so proud of her, her mother
said. She really is a minority in this game,
but I think she feels that thats more of an
incentive to kick butt and do her best.
Her mother also admits that while her daughter
is indeed the new girl on the track, the guys she
races alongside have cordially accepted her into
the extreme sport.
Theyve all really embraced her as
one of them, she said. Most of them
were junior dragsters and have had a lot of prior
experience racing, but she wasnt.
Megans not only one of them now, but
shes also become fierce competition to them.
Megan Daymude laughed when asked what her
classmates, and her boyfriend, think about her love
of racing.
A lot of them didnt actually believe
me at first when I told them what I do, especially
my boyfriend, she said. He had to come
out and watch me at one of my races to really be
convinced.
Racing goes above and beyond just a
hobby for the teen, as she says she plans to
attend Frank Hawley Drag Racing School in
Pennsylvania after graduation to perfect her racing
in the hopes that it will become a career.
Id like to become a Top Fuel pro
driver, she said.
Top Fuel dragsters are the fastest category of
drag racers, with the fastest drivers reaching
heart-racing speeds of up to 333 miles per
hour.
I guess you could say Im a speed
junky, but my mom always tells me just to keep
everything on the road, she said
jokingly.
In the brief period of time Megan Daymude has
taken up racing, she has placed second in two local
competitions, and recently was handed her first
check recognizing her for her high rank.
Its clear that she has the unyielding
support of her parents, as well as that of her
younger sister, Shelby.
They promise to stay behind her all the way
that is, if they can keep up.
We feel she has such an amazing future
ahead of her, her father said.
Shes running with the big boys
now.
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