Linda Vaughn, “First Lady of Motorsports,” Shares Stories, Wisdom and Optimism for Drag Racing
Iconic ambassador joins Race Industry Week to react to NHRA’s new era, celebrate Pro Stock, and call for a return to hands-on American performance
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In a warm, wide-ranging conversation during EPARTRADE’s Race Industry Week, motorsports icon Linda Vaughn — the “First Lady of Motorsports” — reflected on her remarkable career, the health of the sport, and why she believes drag racing is poised for a powerful new chapter as NHRA enters its 75th season.
Joining host Joe Castello immediately after the high-profile announcement of the new TSR Elite Top Fuel alliance with Tony Stewart, Leah Pruett and Richard Freeman, Vaughn brought her trademark energy, perspective and storytelling to a global racing audience.
Applauding a New Era for NHRA
Vaughn opened by praising Tony Stewart, Leah Pruett and Richard Freeman for what their new alliance is bringing to drag racing.
“I think it’s outstanding. I’m so proud of what they’ve done,” she said. “They’ve brought in so many more fans. More women are involved with our sport now. People like Richard are coming in. They’ve created a great situation that we’ve needed in NHRA.”
Vaughn, who once married a drag racer herself, noted the parallels with her own life and laughed that Pruett was “about to find out” what it truly means to be married to one.
From Big Daddy to the First Lady
Vaughn traced her love affair with drag racing back to her childhood in Georgia, when she rode her bicycle to watch engine builds and sneaked away to see “Big Daddy” Don Garlits run.
Her very first race?
A trip to Brighton Optimist Dragstrip to watch Garlits, after “Grady Pickle” built his engines near her grandmother’s house. To a young Linda, the sound, smell and feel of drag racing became a lifelong imprint.
“I slipped off to see Big Daddy run,” she recalled. “That was the first race I ever went to in my life. I’ve been hooked ever since.”
The Health of Motorsports: “Don’t Forget Where We Come From”
Asked about the overall health of motorsport amid electrification and shifting technology, Vaughn stressed a simple theme: remember the roots.
“Don’t forget where we come from,” she said. “America is beautiful. Run America, build America, put America back to work.”
She recalled how, when she was involved with the Indy 500 pace car programs, they turned to drag racers to solve real problems: better clutches, brakes, flywheels and shifters to get in and out of the pits safely.
“We went to the drag racers,” she said. “We used a non-union group to put together shifters and flywheels and clutches and brakes. Drag racing helped build better parts for Detroit, and I’d like to see that happen again.”
Vaughn believes drag racing remains one of the quickest ways to translate racing technology into real-world parts and to keep American performance manufacturing strong.
Getting Young People Back in Cars
Vaughn is candid about the work it takes to attract young fans and future racers in an era dominated by screens and phones.
“Hard work pays off,” she said. “We’ve got to get kids back involved with cars again—taking them apart, putting them back together, like Don Garlits talked about. That’s how we all got our start.”
To Vaughn, a car is more than transportation; it’s emotion and identity:
“What’s more entertaining than picking up your girlfriend or your boyfriend in a nice car and going out and enjoying yourself? The sound, the smell, the taste, the feel—there’s nothing like it.”
She still enjoys “stepping on the gas” in her own Chevy SS, and jokes that her mother once asked if she’d ever grow up. “There’s no age limit to good music,” Tom Petty once told her — and she says there’s no age limit to good cars and good racing, either.
The Power of Drag Racing’s Sensory Experience
Echoing Tony Stewart’s comments earlier in the day, Vaughn reinforced that drag racing simply has to be experienced in person.
She recalled taking the Rolling Stones to the starting line at Orange County International Raceway (OCIR):
“They had no idea how much horsepower was on that track. When the cars launched, one of them grabbed himself and said it was louder than his guitars. They loved it.”
For Vaughn, stories like that prove drag racing’s unique power to impress even the world’s biggest performers — and why NHRA’s live product remains one of motorsport’s greatest untapped assets.
Pro Stock, Made-in-America Parts and Putting People Back to Work
Vaughn’s affection for Pro Stock runs deep. She proudly recalled being a driving force behind the original Hurst Pro Stock Shootout, a program she pitched to bring Detroit back into NHRA through factory-connected door cars.
“I kind of started Pro Stock’s money,” she said with a smile. “We need to do that again.”
She believes Pro Stock has a crucial role because fans can directly relate race cars to their own street cars:
“It’s what you get in and drive home after the drag race, or what you take out on a date. No age limit. I still like to smoke my tires.”
Most importantly, she emphasized, Pro Stock and drag racing keep American manufacturing vibrant: clutches, shifters, tires, brakes and more.
“I think it puts America back to work,” she said. “Most of the parts on these drag cars are made in America. That’s important for jobs and for our industry.”
Safety, Tire Testing and Moving Forward Smartly
Vaughn also spoke frankly about safety at modern speeds and called for more tire testing as performance climbs ever higher.
Remembering her time working with Goodyear and pace car tire tests at Indianapolis alongside legends like A.J. Foyt, Garlits, Warren Johnson and Grumpy Jenkins, she said:
“We learned so much together at those tests. With the speeds we’re going now, we need that again. We want to be as safe as we can and put America back on top of the world again — safely.”
Bridging Racing and Pop Culture
Throughout the interview, Vaughn shared stories that highlight how deeply motorsports is woven into American culture — and how often she’s been the bridge between the two.
Among them:
- Bringing Neil Diamond to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
- Sneaking Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band into the Indy 500 at 3:00 a.m. via a call to Tony George so they could experience the race for the first time.
- Hosting Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones at Pomona, where a Top Fuel burnout left him stunned at the noise.
- Encouraging Blake Shelton — a big NASCAR fan — to come feel the shock of a Top Fuel run.
- Planning to attend a Kid Rock/American Rebel event during PRI.
“They’re all just people,” she said. “They eat, sleep and go to the bathroom like everyone else—but when you put them behind a drag car on the starting line, they become fans just like we were as kids.”
A Career Built on Respect, Relationships and Storytelling
Vaughn also reflected on her years in the booth and on pit road, especially calling Pro Stock alongside Bob Fry, and the trust she built with teams and families across the sport.
She spoke fondly of time spent in the pits with Warren Johnson, Grumpy Jenkins, and the Glenn family, learning details and “secrets” she never betrayed.
“I was strictly business,” she said. “I did my homework. I never told what I wasn’t supposed to. I wanted to help each person and each company, not hurt them. That respect mattered.”
For fans like Castello, those broadcasts were formative. Vaughn was visibly moved hearing that her work in the booth helped inspire his own NHRA career.
“That makes me feel real good,” she said. “I didn’t do it just for the girls. I did it for everybody. I’d love to do more of it.”
Looking Ahead: PRI, NHRA’s 75th Season and Beyond
Vaughn closed by looking forward, not backward. She’ll be at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show, greeting fans at Booth 7057, and plans to attend as many NHRA events as possible in the 75th anniversary season — especially with storylines like Tony vs. Leah, new alliances, and a resurgent Pro Stock class.
“I want to go to every drag race I can next year,” she said. “I want to see Leah and Tony, Alexis, everybody. And I want to see those grandstands full.”
As always, her mission remains simple:
“Anything I can ever do for this sport, just let me know. I love racing. I love this industry. And I’m not done yet.”
