Maddi Gordon Discusses Her Exhilarating Rookie Season in the Family’s Top Alcohol Funny Car

The heavy horsepower and short wheelbase of a Top Alcohol Funny Car make it a tremendous challenge to drive, but throw in the fact that the driver actually has to shift, and you’ve got a tricky situation few can manage effectively – especially in their first foray into the class. For 20-year-old Maddi Gordon, though, there is nothing she’d rather do. 

[Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #189, the Women of Power Issue, in July/August of 2024.]

Following in the footsteps of three-time world champion and dad Doug Gordon, who retired from driving at the conclusion of last season, Maddi was handed the reins of the No. 1 Top Alcohol Funny Car ahead of the 2024 season of NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. So far, her youthful exuberance and bottomless optimism have been well-matched with a skillset that she’s been developing behind the scenes for years as she patiently waited for her turn. Five races into her debut season, Maddi had recorded a pair of runner-up performances and claimed a win at venerable Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park to prove that she is very much her father’s daughter.

Maddi sat down with Drag Illustrated contributor Kelly Wade to talk about her success and challenges in her first season in the family Funny Car.

First and foremost, what does it feel like to be in the driver’s seat of an alcohol Funny Car?

It’s just like a dream. I really dreamt of being in that seat my whole life, seriously, being able to sit in the seat and see the blower and my foot on top of the throttle pedal. It’s living a dream. I’m on cloud nine. 

You say your whole life, but how old were you, really, when you decided you wanted to drive this car?

I went to my first race when I was eight days old, and I have always wanted to race, but I really have wanted to drive an alcohol Funny Car for as long as I can remember. We made a time capsule one year in school, one you would get when you were older, and I wrote, “I hope when I’m older my biggest dream will come true: driving Dad’s alcohol Funny Car.” I was 12 when I wrote that, and I still want to drive the alcohol Funny Car. 

When did you really begin to realize it was going to happen? 

Even though it’s always been a dream, I never really thought it would ever happen, just because of how much time it would take and how gnarly the car is. When COVID started, me and my sister, Macie, started working on the car, and we just loved it. But I think it was the middle of 2022 when Papa and Dad were like, “Hey, are you really serious about this?” It was a long conversation, because not only is it a lot of pressure, but to a certain extent, it’s dangerous. 

After my dad’s crash [at Brainerd in 2022], my grandparents [Mike and Cheryl] and parents [Doug and Christina] discussed whether they wanted me to be in that car. With the Jonnie Lindberg chassis and all the safety requirements, they were OK with it. 

Do you remember the first time you sat in the seat of an alcohol Funny Car?

That was at the race car shop. We go every Saturday. We were getting ready to pour the seat, and I had my whole suit on and my hands on the wheel. It was like, “Oh my gosh, can I really do this? I wanted this for so long, but is it something I can really do?” There was definitely a little bit of, “Am I sure I want to do this?” and the answer was, “Of course!” But man, this is kind of crazy. 

You’ve spent a lot of time working on the car, thinking about the car, being near the car, but how difficult was it for you to learn the ropes inside of the car?

It’s really challenging. I do think that driving Jr. Dragster, Jr. Comp, and Super Comp cars has really helped me with the natural “seat of the pants” driving, but it’s just gnarly driving a short wheelbased car with so much horsepower, shifting, and trying to drive when the thing doesn’t want to go straight. It’s been a huge learning curve, and I’ve made some mistakes that I don’t take lightly. But I think what’s really helped me are the GoPro videos. We put them in my dad’s car when he was driving, and I think I watched them a thousand times to just try to minimize the learning curve as much as could.

Your sister, Macie, is such a big supporter, and you support her just as much.  Has the dynamic between the two of you changed at all since you made this transition into the car? 

No, I wouldn’t say so. But I do feel bad – me and her were always on the starting line together, jumping up and down like little jumping beans when Dad was racing, and it’s sad to see her just jumping all by herself. But the dynamic hasn’t changed. Macie supports me like no other, she’s always there for me in so many ways, and I love watching her do good. I couldn’t be happier for her when she wins, and I don’t think she could be happier for me when we win. 

She’s a huge part of this team, she builds all of the motors and can unbox a brand new AJPE block and build it all the way to a running engine. She absolutely does everything: puts every stud in, times the cam, torques the mains, builds the piston racks, puts the pistons in the motor, everything. Without her, we wouldn’t get them together. At the races, she does the top of the motor and then does the bottom end with my dad. We do it all as a team, and without her, we would not be doing what we’re doing. 

What’s it like seeing your dad on the other side of the windshield? 

It’s so weird. Between-round maintenance, nothing has changed there; he still does just as much as when he was driving. My dad says the only thing that’s changed is the person that goes down the racetrack for five seconds – we just switched who puts on the pants. 

The body comes down, it’s just you and the car. Does your dad say anything to you before that run? 

It depends on the round. He always gives me a fist bump, which is something I did when he was driving, so it’s really special. On a qualifying round, he doesn’t talk to me too much. I can talk to him on the radio if anything happens, but if it’s a big round, he’ll always get on the radio and say something like, “Go kick his ass,” or, “Go get him,” something like that. I love it. It gets you a little pumped up before we go into the lights. 

You were runner-up at the Phoenix divisional, your first race, then runner-up at the Las Vegas national, then won the division race at Indy. Did you expect this all to happen so quickly?

Oh, absolutely not. Not at all. There is just so much to this car and the team and everything that has to go into it. Everything has to be perfect. To be where we are today – I couldn’t be more happy, but I have so much to learn. I’ve made mistakes, and I’m trying to minimize my mistakes as much as possible. 

Getting your first win at Indy, at the most prestigious racetrack on the NHRA tour, has the magnitude of that sunken in yet?

Well, up until race day, that weekend at Indy was probably one of the worst I’ve had as far as the 2024 season. The prior weekend, we blew up a motor. It was 100% my fault, and I didn’t take that lightly. So, we were down a motor for Indy, and in the second qualifier we kicked the rods out for no reason. That’s so much work, so much money. My papa was like, “I don’t really know that we want to go out there and run an engine and potentially blow it up.” We were all really down coming into race day, but we put a new motor in it, and we held our breath. We had no spare parts, no engines, no spare cylinder heads. It was our last try. 

Then we won first round by six thou, and I’m like, “Holy mackerel, that actually went our way.” We haven’t had many of those close races go our way, so that was a huge confidence builder. Then, racing Sean Bellemeur the next round, it was like, “Are you kidding me? I get to line up next to Sean Bellemeur?!” That was awesome for our team to get that win. The final, I have so much to learn that I wasn’t thinking too much about the end goal – although, how can you not? But I really didn’t know that we were going to win. We had a great car, but I didn’t know that I could win yet. Gosh, that win light turned on, and I didn’t believe it. I seriously held my breath, like, “This can’t be real.” Dad radioed and said, “You did it, babe! We won! We won!” I just started screaming and crying and freaking out. I can still relive that feeling. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

Did your dad give you any advice before the final? 

I think because I’m so new, nobody was really expecting me to win. Nobody was putting any pressure on me to stay in it or anything like that. My mom suits me up and buckles me in, and she gave me my good luck fist bump. Dad just looked at me and said, “Good luck; go have fun.” I said, “OK, sounds good.” 

So much has happened at that racetrack, so much drag racing history. Did you feel the impact of that? 

Absolutely. Just pulling under the arch in Indy, it’s like, “What is happening? This is crazy.” It was also the Cleetus and Cars event, so the stands were packed. There were so many people there, and so many bigshots in drag racing. It wasn’t a national event, but it sure felt it. It was so special to have my first win at Indy. It wasn’t the Big Go, but it was still Indy and pretty cool to me.

You’ve raced Sean Bellemeur a few times now, and he’s been on the other side of many battles with your dad. You touched on this a bit, but what’s it like to be in that position now? 

I’ll never get to race my dad, we’ll never be able to have two alcohol Funny Cars, but I’ve watched Sean and Shane Westerfield race my dad for my whole life. I remember waking up when we were at home to watch Dad and Sean race on the computer. It’s such an honor to race against him and the whole team. Our teams are such huge competitors, but we could not be better friends. When I tried to get my license in Bakersfield, Sean and one of his daughters came to the racetrack a day early to just give me advice. It was so cool to be able to race him, and really just an honor. 

You had some obstacles trying to get your license. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yes, I tried to get my license in Bakersfield, but the track was 150 degrees, and we couldn’t get down. We tried seven times and gave up, and I ended up getting my license at another racetrack. 

That had to be frustrating.

I wasn’t that frustrated because I wasn’t really ready to go all the way down the racetrack yet. It sucked, but it gave me really good experience. The first seven passes, it was either smoking the tires or shaking, so I got to learn what that felt like. I knew what a bad run felt like, so when we went to Brainerd and made a good run, it was like, “Whoa, this might be OK.” The first time down the racetrack, I had never felt tire shake before. It shook about 200 feet – it was carrying the front end and started shaking, and I let off the gas pedal thinking, “What did I just get myself into? If that was a good run, I don’t know that I can do this. This is bad.” But Dad got on the radio and he said, “Great job, Maddi. That was tire shake.” Then it was like, “OK, I can do this.”

Is it intimidating at all to follow your dad’s footsteps? 

It was so intimidating. We’ve talked about it – I don’t know if there has ever been an alcohol Funny Car driver who got the opportunity to race their first season in the No. 1 championship car. We’ve been on such a high lately. Our family of six has won three world championships in the last four years, and those are huge footsteps to follow. But my family has really helped out, and there is no pressure to try to win a world championship my first year. I’m also not trying to put that pressure on myself, but how can you not? You’re in the world champion’s car, and you want to be able to uphold that reputation. But I’m really happy with how everything has been going. My family is really happy, and we’re having a good time still. That’s what’s most important, having fun. But it’s a lot more fun when you win. 

What’s been most challenging to you throughout this process?

It’s all challenging. To be honest, what’s most challenging for me at this current moment is, number one, learning how to pedal the race car and be good at that, and two, trying to get used to the speed. At the end of the racetrack, the car is going so much faster than what my mind is comprehending, so I’m having trouble letting off at the finish line right when I’m supposed to. It isn’t anything bad, I just have to get used to the speed in my mind, let off the gas at the right time, and not drag it out too far. 

What’s been most rewarding as you learn the ropes as a driver in this tough class and make your own mark in drag racing? 

The win lights. I think about the Funny Car all day, every day. I’m looking at every picture, watching all of the videos, thinking about it. I want to be the best I can be. Seeing a good light is so exciting, leaving at the right rpm is exciting. It’s all exciting right now. 

No emphasis or expectations here, but starting off so strongly, are you seeing the possibility of a championship?

Me and my grandma were talking about points standings today. So yes, we’re looking at points, but me personally – I am not setting that as a goal, because I do not want to be disappointed. I don’t think it’s a fair goal to set for myself because it’s unrealistic at this point. It’s a hopeful scenario, but it is not a goal at this point. 

How important is it to you that this is always a family operation? 

I can’t really put into words how much it means. My papa, before I go down the racetrack, he gives me a huge fist bump. It’s so special, to be able to spend that time with your grandparents and family and parents and sister like this. It’s such a rare situation, and I know it’s not forever, so I really try to soak it up as much as possible. Nothing can really replace what this is right now. 

Looking way down the road into your future, what do you see? 

Alcohol Funny Car has been my dream, what I always wanted to do, but drag racing is my life. It’s everything to me, and I’ve truly set my whole life around it. I see myself driving alcohol Funny Car as long as I possibly can, as long as my family can do it, as long as we can afford it. I can’t imagine ever getting out of drag racing, whether I’m racing a Pinto or an alcohol Funny Car. I see myself doing this my whole life.

This story was originally published on August 20, 2024.

The post Maddi Gordon Discusses Her Exhilarating Rookie Season in the Family’s Top Alcohol Funny Car first appeared on Drag Illustrated.