Evan Muchler Makes History as 2024 WDRA Summut Junior Dragster World Champion
For three hundred and seventy-one days, Evan Muchler could only think about one ten-thousandth of a second. That was his reaction time in the final round of the 2023 WDRA Summit World Championships presented by SunCoast Performance, but it was a heartbreaking red light that earned him second place in the national standings.
Muchler channeled that defeat into motivation and dominated the US 131 Motorsports Park competition to earn his sixth Junior Dragster Track Championship and another chance at the WDRA World Championship title. This season was all or nothing for the newly eighteen-year-old Michigan native who will age out of the junior ranks this December, but he handled the pressure flawlessly.
“I knew I was going to come back to the World Championships the day after I got second,” explained Muchler. “It wasn’t guaranteed, but I set my mind on it. I didn’t want to end on that note.”
Muchler accomplished that goal and then eliminated fellow champions one at a time while averaging an .028 reaction time. His opponents included Jamie Alexander from Atmore Dragway, Ty Ratcliff from Eddyville Raceway, Autumn Jones from Coastal Plains Dragway, Jase Beams from Holiday Raceway, and CJ Handy from Montgomery International Dragway, before squaring off with Grace Varner from North Florida Motorplex.
Both young but veteran drivers were .019 on the starting line, and Muchler ran dead on his 7.90 to take the $10,000 victory over Varner. Muchler became the first back-to-back finalist at the prestigious WDRA event and could finally claim he was the 2024 WDRA Summit Junior World Champion.
Muchler recalls how he felt on the track by saying, “I lost to Grace during the Gamblers Race on Friday, so that was in the back of my mind, but I was more focused on how last year ended instead of who I was racing, although I was definitely nervous. I think there’s a line where your heart is beating so fast that the nervousness doesn’t affect you anymore. I performed well but was way more nervous than I had ever been, not wanting to lose that race. Again.”
Muchler’s win awarded him ten thousand dollars cash, a billet WDRA Rod trophy, and free entry into any WDRA member track event next season courtesy of the WDRA Champion Card. Additionally, each WDRA World Champion received a $1,000 gift certificate from Technocraft Trailer Cabinets and a Contingency Connection Championship Package.
The only thing better than winning is celebrating with the people you care about most, which were in no short supply around Muchler. He explains, “There was a lot of emotion. I was really happy, and then I hugged my dad, let it all out, and cried for a little bit. I wanted that for a long time, but then it was back to all smiles. It was also a cool experience to have my best friend, Jase Wanamaker, there this year. We’ve known each other since we were like five years old playing with Hot Wheels in the racecar trailer, so it was great to experience this together, too.”
The WDRA World Championship tops a list of impressive accomplishments throughout his junior dragster career. In the off-season, Muchler looks forward to working on his father’s Opal GT project car together and getting ready to enter the No Box ranks next year, most likely doubling with his dad in his Chevrolet S10. The future looks bright for the Kettering University freshman working on a Mechanical Engineering degree, who admits he has a lot of people to thank for getting him to this moment.
“Of course, my dad. The things he’s taught me that nobody else has seen us do. Training in the off-season in the barn with the huge practice tree and different exercises. He’s been with me every step of the way, even when I didn’t want to believe him or said he was wrong. Turns out, a lot of the time he is right. Pretty much all the credit goes to him.”
Muchler also expresses gratitude to the companies that have supported him: FTI Farm Team, Blossom Racing Engines, and Darrell Cox Racing. He mentioned how ThisIsBracketRacing Elite has helped to teach him racing strategies, manipulating a race on-track and shaping him into the racer he is today. Seemingly goal-oriented and successful at the tasks he set his mind to, Muchler discusses what he hopes is next.
“Before the winner’s circle, I told my dad since I wasn’t the first to get two Junior Dragster World Championships, I’ll have to try to be the first to do it in two classes,” he said. “We have to keep the Michigan streak going, since five of the nine WDRA World Champions have come out of Michigan in the last two years.”
Muchler’s countdown has begun once again, and No Box racers, you’ve been warned.
For more information about the World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) and the Summit Sportsman Drag Racing Series, visit our website at www.racewdra.com.
This story was originally published on November 8, 2024.
The post Evan Muchler Makes History as 2024 WDRA Summut Junior Dragster World Champion first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
