Junior Dragster - Brown Claims 2 Title For Team JEGS

HEBRON, Oct. 2, 2011: Makenna Brown delivered her grandmother a surprise birthday present Sunday by surging to the Jr. Dragster 2 JEGS ET Series championship at National Trail Raceway.

Makenna's grandmother, Sue, is married to JEGS founder Jeg Coughlin Sr. The Coughlin family has produced champions in drag racing for years, and Makenna joined the tradition Sunday.

She came into Sunday's final race of the JEGS ET Series 10 points behind leader Nick Altenbach in the Jr. Dragster Division 2 for 10-12-year olds. But Makenna advance one round farther, reaching the semifinals, and clinched the championship by one point.

"I feel great," Makenna said with a smile. "I'm still trying to process it in my mind."

Makenna won three of the 13 races in Jr. Dragster 2 at National Trail and made one other final-round appearance and four semifinal appearances – including the final three races.

"I was a little nervous this morning, but I thought, 'I know I can win this. I know I can do it,'" Makenna said. "My mom and dad told me, 'You can do this. We know you can.' Everybody in the whole family believed in me, my whole team believed in me. That gave me confidence I could do it."

Altenback finished second, with Jacob Oiler third in Jr. Dragster 2.

Makenna will race next weekend for the overall Jr. Dragster track championship. The top five drivers from each of the three Jr. Dragster divisions will compete for the honor.