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Pennzoil Racing Team
Backgrounder - Bill & Terri Kent
Success in business has allowed Bill
Kent to indulge his high school passion, drag racing. He rreturned to his
favorite sport in 1991, driving a '27 Model T roadster powered by Chevrolet. At
first, his wife Terri went along with him to races, but soon she caught the bug,
and by 1993 she had enrolled in the Frank Hawley Driving School in Gainesville,
Fla., and was racing her own car in another class. Last year Terri Kent
surprised competitors in the Super Comp class by winning a division championship
at Denver, and then went on to win her point championship. The Kents race in
separate classes. Bill in NHRA's Competition Eliminator, and Terri, the champ,
in Super Comp.
Bill Kent was born in Monahans, Texas, on Oct. 13, 1955.
He graduated from Arizona State University in 1978, and by that time he had
earned a black belt in taekwondo. He opened a studio to teach the Korean art of
self-defense in Midland, Texas, and over the years he has fought in more than 100
karate tournaments, winning countless tournaments.
He is president of
Kent Oil Co. of Midland, Texas, which operates a chain of 25 Kent Kwik
convenience stores in Texas. He also owns Kent Lubrication Centers, which
operate 19 Avis Lube Fast Oil Change Centers in Arizona and Texas.
Terri, born Aug. 29, 1960, enrolled at Bill's taekwondo studio in Midland, a
romance blossomed, and they were married. She now holds a third degree black
belt earned through 14 years as a student, competitor, instructor and manager of
the family martial arts business in Midland. As a high school student, she
competed on the girls' varsity track and field team in 100 and 220-yard dashes,
but never signed up for sports at Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas,
although she remained athletically inclined despite her diminutive size -- 5 ft.
2 in, 110 lbs. She earned a degree studying psychology with a minor in business
at Angelo State.
When her husband organized a team in 1991 with his
brother Tom, Terri was first exposed to drag racing, going to races and doing odd
jobs on the Kent race car. The exposure made an enthusiast of her; she decided
to go racing herself. Terri first attended the Hawley school, then sharpened her
racing skills at a Roy Hill school at the Texas Motorplex and set an impressive
rookie mark in 1993, finishing 17th in her NHRA division and 70th in the world.
In 1994, she finished 17th in NHRA Division 4 again. Late in 1994 she earned her
third degree black belt, as the Kents continue to blaze the trails as a
successful two-sport family in unique combined fields.
