Founded in 2005 by longtime racer Vic Puglia, a graduate of the IHRA Junior Dragster program himself, Vic Puglia Race Cars is an award-winning shop that designs both Junior Dragster and full-size racecars and engines. Through his own experiences in the Junior Dragster program, Puglia has committed himself to building the most state-of-the-art race machines in the sport and looks forward to once again being a part of the Junior Summit SuperSeries program after a very rewarding first year with the program.
“I love what I do. I love what Junior Dragster racing meant for my family and what it means for kids today. It was such a rewarding family experience and something that was a big part of my life growing up,” Puglia said. “When I heard about the IHRA’s new Junior Dragster World Championship I knew I had to get involved. When I raced juniors we never had such a spectacular prize package and championship to compete for and for me to be able to contribute to that and award the winner a brand new car, it is such an incredible feeling.”
Puglia began racing in 1998 with a pink dragster his father purchased for him not knowing how much interest he would have in the sport, but before long drag racing began to consume his life. During those early years Puglia met and befriended Mike Bos who helped he and his father build a state-of-the-art racecar a few years later, a car that would go down in history as the inspiration behind Puglia’s designs.
“In 1998 we built a brand new Junior Dragster which was a state-of-the-art design between my father and Mike Bos. That car took me to seven track championships and multiple national championships,” Puglia said. “Essentially that car never lost a points series it was entered into and it was that car that was pivitol to Junior Dragster design and my future with Vic Puglia Race Cars.”
Today Puglia races in the much faster class of Top Dragster and he is even venturing into the world of nitro racing with plans to campaign the “Nitro-Diction” Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragster this season. But even with new racing ventures, Puglia remains dedicated to the Junior Dragster program and became further recommitted to the series following a phone call with 2012 IHRA Junior Dragster World Champion Austin Johnson’s father.
“Austin’s father called me right after his son won the car and he was basically in tears and really that was the greatest feeling in the world to see how much this meant to that family,” Puglia said. “Hearing from him was worth more to me than all the money in the world and I am thrilled to be back with the program this season. We are working on the new car everyday piece by piece. This year’s car is going to be bigger than ever. It is a new pro series with a new design, a lower profile and all kinds of new additions. It should be a real exciting deal.”
This season the winner of the Junior Dragster category at the Summit SuperSeries World Championship presented by AMSOIL at Memphis International Raceway will become the proud owner of the ready-to-race Junior Dragster from Vic Puglia Race Cars. It is the world’s only true Junior Dragster World Championship and it is proudly brought to IHRA racers by Summit Racing Equipment, AMSOIL and Trick Flow Specialties.
For more information on the Junior Summit SuperSeries and its lucrative prize package and for more information on the 2013 Summit SuperSeries dragster build, visit www.ihra.com/JuniorDragsters . For more information on Vic Puglia Race Cars visit www.vicpugliaracecars.com .
