Mendy Fry: Queen of the Drags

At the recent California Hot Rod Reunion presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, Mendy “Nitro Kitty” Fry, once tagged Drag Princess, was finally crowned Top Fuel Champion — the first ‘Queen’ of drag racing.

I first saw Mendy race at Sears Point (now Sonoma Raceway) in 1989 driving a bright red, injected ’27 T roadster that she had built with her father Ron. It didn’t matter that she was a 19-year-old female, she raced hard and was admired for that. In fact, while she was driving the Super Street T in the NDRA/Street Rodder Magazine Series, she was also racing an NHRA Top Alcohol dragster. The summer before, at age 18, she became the world’s quickest Top Alcohol driver while racing at Fremont, California.

But let’s back up a little to the staging lanes. How did she get there? To say that Ron pushed her would be an understatement. At age 4 she was driving quarter-midget sprint cars saying, “I was my father’s only boy. He was an engine and chassis builder and wanted a son. Instead, he got me so he cut his losses and took me racing. I started racing quarter-midgets before I was in kindergarten. My family didn’t vacation, we raced.” Realizing even at such an early age that she preferred straight line racing to roundy round, she retired from the ovals at age five.

When she wasn’t at school, Mendy worked at Fry Racing at Sears Point, answering the phone, paying bills, chasing money and learning to build racecar bodies saying, “I guess it was a different life than most girls had but it was all I knew.” Ron was one of those rare talents who could do it all from designing the car to building the engine to coaching the driver but he was an exacting taskmaster.

In 1985, Judy and Tom Boswell were looking for somebody to build a fast street rod. At the time, guys like Steve Castelli, Cole Cutler, ‘Fat Jack’ Robinson and Jerry Moreland were vying for the unofficial title ‘The World’s Fastest Street Rod.’ Ron’s response was a lightweight, full-fendered ’27 T roadster powered by an injected Rat. Initially, Mendy was the test driver while Jeff Gillette was slated to race the car, however, at age 16, Mendy was soon in the hot seat while Ron ran the car. Eventually, the brashness of youth beat out the ol’ guys and Mendy and Ron won all but two of the races they entered.

Mendy got married in 1989 but the following year would be memorable. It began well when father and daughter traveled to Indianapolis for the Goodguys Hot Rod Nationals where Mendy won the event. Unfortunately, the year ended badly when the dynamic duo suffered a major setback after they installed a new 8-71 blown alky big-block with a Crower pedal clutch and a Lenco in the T. In their quest for speed she admits they made a lot of bad decisions. It was time for a change.

Suddenly, father Ron died all-too-soon in 1995 at age 51 and Mendy’s racing career with him. She hung her race suit in the closet, graduated as a CPA and stayed away from the strip for almost a decade. Finding it difficult to ignore what was so ingrained she revisited the strip in 2000, the same year she became the president of the San Diego Chapter of the American Women’s Society of CPAs. She was surprised at what she saw, how nostalgia drag racing had progressed and indeed, that people remembered and missed her.

Later that year, she got back behind the wheel of a Junior Fuel Dragster thanks to Ron “Big Yohns” Johnson. She raced Jr. Fuel for two years but yearned and lobbied hard for a Top Fuel ride. It finally came in 2004 when Frank “Rootbeer” Hedge and Tom Shelar of HighSpeedMotorsports.com (HSM) gave Mendy her first Top Fuel ride. A two-car team, she was racing alongside Sean Bellemeur but an engine explosion caused her to comment, “There was a flash of fire that singed my eyebrows and there was all of this hot, burning oil in my face, and I couldn’t see snot. Imagine roller-skating down a hill in San Francisco and suddenly someone puts a paper bag over your head. The lights go out, and I am reaching for the brake and the parachute and just have to trust that the car is still going straight, that the end of the track isn’t too close, that the other car didn’t come into my lane. And then I had to unpucker my ass from the seat when I tried to get out of the car.” It was a ride in the hot seat to hell; nevertheless, she became the first woman to run a 5-second E.T. at 5.87 with a top speed of 251 mph.

The deal with HSM ended at the end of 2005 but not before gonzo journalist Cole Coonce interviewed her for the LA Weekly in a story titled Drag Princess. It’s obvious that the boy was smitten—it’s not every day you meet a tall, slim, attractive female Top Fuel driver. During the next decade, Mendy went on to drive four different Top Fuel dragsters and three nostalgia Funny Cars.

In 2016, she was invited back to HSM and it’s been a race to the finish ever since with major wins at the California Hot Rod Reunion, March Meet, Nightfire Nationals and the Nitro Nationals. Oh, and by the way, having got divorced, she also found time to marry that smitten reporter Coonce.

This year, 2018, has proven to be Mendy’s year and the planets aligned at the March Meet where she was runner-up and again at Bowling Green where she won the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion. She went on to win the Nightfire Nationals at Boise, ID. Consequently, a rainout at Tulsa mathematically gave her the Championship but there’s nothing quite like winning as, well, winning. Hence, all fingers and toes were crossed for a win at Bakersfield Reunion.  She set the pace as top qualifier and set low E.T. for the meet at 5.55. In the final, she took out Rick McGee with a blistering 5.61 pass at 259.36 mph. Suddenly, the Princess was crowned Queen.

You can’t do it alone though and Mendy would like to thank Tom and Rick Shelar for giving her the seat, Walt and Maria Stevens for their continued support, the High Speed Motorsports team and their families and not least their sponsors: Cam2 Blue Blood Racing Oil, The Blower Shop, A&A Precision Machining, Donovan, SCE Gaskets and Webster Cylinder Heads for their support.

Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum

Located at Fairplex, Pomona, California, about 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles—conveniently on the same piece of property as the Pomona drag strip and the Pomona Swap Meet—the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum opened in 1998. The 28,500 sq ft Art Deco building houses approximately 80 vehicles along with photographs, trophies, helmets and driving uniforms, artifacts, paintings, and other memorabilia chronicling more than 65 years of American motorsports. While the vehicles on display are primarily drag cars, you can see a smattering of other types including sports cars, customs, hot rods, and land speed cars.

On the first Wednesday of the month from April through December (but not September) the museum hosts a cruise that used to be free but now you have to pay. It runs from 3 until 7 pm but check their website for full details.

One of the best times to visit is on a Sunday of one of the monthly Pomona Swap Meets. You can do the Swap Meet in the morning and then visit the museum when the parking is free. Make sure you visit their website www.pomonaswapmeet.com for dates and times because there are no Swap Meets on the weekends when there are drag races or when the Los Angeles County Fair is on.

The Fairplex itself hosts hundreds of events each year from reptile shows to the LA County Fair. It is well worth checking their website, as there might be something worth a visit: www.fairplex.com

HOURS

The museum is generally open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. However, it is best to check their website or call because hours can change due to other events at Fairplex. Entrance is just $10 for adults, $8 seniors. Children under 5 are free. It is air-conditioned.

GETTING THERE

Driving is the best option. It is possible to get there by public transport but not easy. Trains do run from Los Angeles to Pomona but it’s a 2-mile hike from the station to the museum, you’d have to take a taxi or Uber especially in the summer months when it can be 30°C.

Parking is usually free, however, on special event days such as during the drag races, the Grand National Roadster Show, or the LA County Fair in September, parking can be as much as $25 per car.  There is an adjacent Sheraton hotel but book well in advance if there is a special event on as the hotel does fill up www.sheratonfairplex.com. For further information check the museum’s website at www.nhramuseum.org.