Featured Racer: Melanie Monagon

Finding Melanie Monagon shouldn’t be a challenge.   The 22-year-old account manager from Amherst, Ohio can be found on any given weekend touring her local drag strips with her father and their eye catching 1972 AMC Gremlin. Keeping up with her, however, is a whole other task.

Cinched between the narrow wheel wells of her short wheel based Gremlin is a 350-cid small block Chevy. Atop the small block rests a 6-71 super charger, helping the wild combination produce nearly 1,300 hp. While piloting this machine down the quarter-mile may seem a daunting task for most, Monagon handles the car with ease, as she will soon roll into her tenth straight season behind the wheel of her Gremlin in 2010.

Being a “Featured Racer” is becoming old hat for the young driver, with past features in such major publications as Hot Rod Magazine and Hemmings Motor News, with additional other online feature stories. Her goal for the 2010 race season is to reach television stardom on SPEED’s Pinks: ALL OUT this coming August. 

Melanie owes a lot of her on-track success to her father, who has taught her a great deal about racing and working on her own cars. The young lady isn’t afraid of hard work and has even spent time working in an engine shop, loving every minute of it. “I’m proud of my car and put my blood, sweat and tears into it!” says Monagon, with enthusiasm. The personable, positive, and fun racer hopes to one day turn her passion for drag racing into a professional reality, serving as a role model for young girls and racers chasing her same dream.

If you want to catch Melanie piloting her super charged Gremlin down Ohio’s Summit Motorsports Park, Quaker City Raceway and Thompson Dragway, then you better move fast. This young hot shoe is gearing up for the big leagues in pursuit of a professional career as a touring drag racer.