NHRA: Young Australian Top Fuel dragster racer to compete at Mopar Nationals & Route 66 Nationals

20 April 1999

Nineteen year-old Australian Top Fuel Dragster driver, Andrew Cowin will make be making the long haul to the US for his East Coast debut at Englishtown during the Mopar Parts Nationals, and then on to Chicago for the Route 66 Nationals.

Andrew competed in the first two events on the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Winston Championship Series this year. The young Sydney (Australia) driver along with his father, Graeme and twin brother, John made quite an impression on the better known competitors by defeating current Top Fuel hot shot Larry Dixon in the first round of competition at the Arizona Nationals in Phoenix.

Were real excited about runnng at Englishtown & Chicago, I never imagined that I would be racing here. From the photos and stories I have seen, they look like two of the best facilities for drag racing so we couldnt have picked better tracks to have a crack at Andrew commented.

Riverside California based K&N High Flow Air Filters & Sycamore, Illinois based company, Auto Meter Competition Instrument are supporting the Australian team for their tour. Representative Mr Chris Philips commented that the response to the Top fuel team has been fantastic, the staff at Auto Meter & K&N have followed enthusiastically the progress of the car, from a bare chassis to the incredible results at Phoenix, we are proud to be associated with such an inspirational team

At the Arizona Nationals at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, Andrew ran the K&N/Auto Meter dragster to his first 300 miles-per-hour quarter mile pass with a 303.64MPH blast, becoming the only All Australian Top Fuel team to break the 300MPH barrier. He qualified for the event in only his seventh full run before defeating the Miller Lite dragster of Dixon with 4.71 second elapsed time. That was fantastic, the reaction from the crowd and media was unbelievable, we set goals for ourselves and we went far beyond those enthused Andrew.

Andrews father, Graeme commented that the team , apart from himself, was the youngest in terms of age among the professional ranks on the NHRA tour, noting that he had the greatest confidence in their efforts. Andrew and twin brother John who recently turned 19 along with Shane Olive and Shane Place, both 23 years old, had handled all aspects of assembly of the car and its engines.

Andrew is well known in Australia as the youngest licensed Top Fuel competitor. He holds the record of running the quickest ever licensing pass down under of 4.92 seconds on his first full power quarter mile pass when he was 17 years old. As a clutch technician on his family owned Top Fuel dragster, Andrew has helped his dad run record breaking elapsed time and miles-per-hour records culminating in a Top Fuel Championship and three of the quickest ETs in Australian Drag Racing History.

The young Cowins achievements in the intense world of Top Fuel Drag Racing would be enough to satisfy most, but not the ambitious Cowin. Drag racing is what I do, I grew up around the sport and now I have the opportunity to compete against drivers who have been my heros. I am sure that every competitor at some stage in their career has wondered about how they would stack up against the best in their chosen sport, this is our teams opportunity and we want to make the best of it a confident Andrew commented.

We are taking the race programme step by step, we are developing the car and growing as a team, it taken us a few runs to get acquainted with the tracks and procedures and from now on we can feed the car what it needs Andrew mentioned.

Andrew has gained a legion of supporters and fans for his efforts, not only at home in Australia, but in the US as well.We received faxes and calls from all over the world, from general public to other racers and sponsors, congratulating us our first 300MPH run Andrew said with a smile.

So how does he feel about living and racing in the USA? Great, we are only here for two months and thats just enough time to start feeling home sick. There are some beaut places, but Sydney is still the best city in the world.

Home sick or not, when Andrew takes control of the Cowin Family K&N High Flow Air Filters/Auto Meter Competition Instruments Top Fuel Dragster it will be done with the commitment and dedication that has seen Andrew give up a normal teenage lifestyle to pursue his dreams. Unlike his peers, Andrew spent his nights and weekends at the teams workshop learning the intricacies of his family owned dragster. He graduated from parts cleaner to clutch technician, helping to establish track and national records for his father, himself a multi Top Fuel and funny car event winner and former NHRA Winternationals Funny Car runner-up.

Andrew has the right attitude to driving and I have no hesitation in putting him in the seat Graeme commented after stepping aside from a driving career spanning 30 years.

The results speak for themselves. Andrew steered the car to the teams first 300 mile-per-hour pass during qualifying for the Arizona Nationals, ran consistent 4.71 second ETs and took his first round win in competition. After the Chicago event, Andrew and team will be heading back to Riverside, California to unwind a little, just in time to catch a plane to Australia.

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