Please be advised: The Hudson family’s enthusiasm for sportsman racing is highly contagious. Prolonged exposure could lead to increased levels of energy, fierce competition, and high levels of engaged interest in all of the complexities associated with sportsman drag racing. Read and proceed with caution.

Those lucky enough to have met this impressive family will almost certainly agree with the statement above. The Hudsons, Ashton, and Mignon, who have been married for 31 years, met when they were teenagers and one of their first dates was to a points meet in Baton Rouge. The couple are beyond passionate about the sport, and they raised their daughters, Bliss and Ella, with the same enthusiasm and desire to improve the experience for everyone.

Anyone who’s been following Competition Eliminator for the past couple of years has undoubtedly seen evidence of the Hudson family’s mark on the category. Whether you’ve shared one of Bliss’s outstanding videos that outlines the complexities of Comp or read one of Ashton’s honest and cheeky event recaps on the Comp Eliminator Bonus Fund Facebook page, they’ve been instrumental in bringing the bonus fund, started by Rodger Brogdon, to life. And they are also responsible for the WFO Qualifying Competition at every Division 4 event.

If this family has a motto, we’re pretty sure it’s something along the lines of, “If it’s to be, it’s through me.” These folks don’t sit around wishing someone else would start implementing new programs to breathe life into the sport; they take action. They’ve also created an NHRA contingency package with their company, AMBE Ampersand Soap Co.

“We are up to our eyeballs in the Comp Eliminator Bonus Fund,” said Ashton, or “Doc,” as many know him at the track. “We’re not only a sponsor in it and racing in it, but we are also covering it and working on getting more exposure for it.”

Ashton works full-time as an ER doctor, operates his soap company with Mignon, and builds his own engines for his H/Altered-Automatic Comp Eliminator car. Not to mention, he’s a great father to his two daughters, who are both in college. So, how does this busy family find time to take on all of the moving parts that come with creating a new points program, a competition-within-a-competition, and the operational backend of such a venture? It all comes down to a genuine love for the sport, and specifically, the Competition Eliminator category.

“Comp was always Ashton’s favorite,” said Mignon. “His dad raced Super Stock, and we raced Super Stock for 15 years, but his heart was always Comp. It’s always what he wanted to do. I remember early on, races we would go to, just as spectators when he was in medical school. He would have me film all of the Comp runs just so he could come home and watch them again because he loved it so much. We all knew that he was just biding his time until he could run Comp. Now that we are, we are the happiest we’ve ever been.”

Ashton was quick to add, “When I was in medical school, we were way too busy to race, so I was a spectator at these events, and we didn’t have enough money for a hotel room. So we would leave at three in the morning and drive on a Saturday, get there at 8 in the morning, stay and watch all day and then head home. Whenever we would watch Comp run, I would get so frustrated because, during qualifying, everyone was trying to play the ladder, so there were a lot of 1,000-foot runs or eighth-mile runs. And I just thought, ‘There are actually people out here watching you, and they would love to see you run it all out. No one wants to watch cars that are this awesome shut off at a thousand feet.’”

The WFO (Wide Freaking Open) competition happens during qualifying. They incorporate a handicapped tree, and drivers are incentivized to beat the person they are lined up with, thanks to quite a bit of organizing by the Hudson family and backing from Brogdon. Drivers have really enjoyed the program, bringing a new level of excitement to qualifying. Combining this program with the Comp Eliminator Bonus Fund, a points-based competition that lasts all season long makes Division 4 events fresh and exciting for competitors.

“For the last two years, we did the Comp WFO qualifying competition, which is basically a race within a race during qualifying,” said Ashton. “We put the handicap tree in place, so that way comp looks like what it’s supposed to look like even in qualifying. No one has to tighten up the stripe on the other end. So that program was my program that we got Rodger to thankfully sponsor so we could get some winnings in place. But that’s one of the reasons I did it was to kind of show people that this is what Comp actually is because it’s so hard to watch qualifying and try to understand why the cars are leaving at the same time when they do not leave at the same time in eliminations.”

“When we first met Rodger, we wanted to talk to him about helping with the Comp Bonus Fund and doing the WFO program with us,” said Bliss. “In 2019, he put up money just for the events. At some events, there would still be fewer cars than we wanted. We realized that if we made it about points, it would drive participation further. And it worked really well. Every racer was telling me they haven’t seen this many cars in decades. If you add up the racers who came out this year, we have 53 different cars that have competed in Comp in Division 4.”

Those numbers speak for themselves, and the Hudson family loves being even more involved and connected with their racing family. Bliss relishes spending time in her color-coded spreadsheets, analyzing the points and determining how they can make the program even better moving forward. She’s indeed found her niche.

“This year, we kind of changed the rules a bit and created our own points system based off of the NHRA points. We are basing it off of only Division 4 races, including the two national events in Dallas and Houston. We have extra incentives for their participation in those events by making them worth points and a half. It’s working really well too. People are really checking out the points here. I have a color-coded spreadsheet keeping it all straight. It’s fun. It’s so cool to see all of the possibilities.”

Ashton knew they needed to find a way to create interest in the program for the whole season. “When we were looking at the events, all of the Division 4 racing was going to be done by June. We didn’t want the fun to end there. The Ennis national event (the Texas NHRA FallNationals) was in October, so we thought that would be an excellent opportunity to get most of the races done early. It would weed out the people who didn’t participate in enough events earlier in the season. But with points and a half, you still have quite a few people who are competing to get into the Top Ten. Each person in the Top Ten wins some prize money.”

“As the points stand, there are 20 drivers eligible for the fund that will have attended six out of the eight possible events. And the person in the No. 20 position right now could actually get into the Top Ten based on their appearance at the FallNationals, so those 20 drivers are most likely going to that event in October. And we won’t even explore the possibilities for drivers if they bring blockers to the FallNationals. It’s going to be very intriguing to see how everything shakes out.”

Mignon quickly notes that none of this would be possible without the entire community’s support. On that note, they are feeling the loss of one of the most beloved figures in the sport, Bob Unkefer.

“This year, we are really feeling the loss of Bob Unkefer,” Mignon said. “He was a huge help in the program for us and also a good friend. Your racing family is family. You know these people, your kids grow up together; they are people you absolutely love, even though they are competitors on the track. And Bob was such an integral part of that, especially at the track. He was so good at promoting it and really getting behind it. I think he saw the value in what we’re trying to do. Now we are just trying to figure out how to move forward without him.”

However, there are so many others who are supporting this program in numerous ways. Again, the passion that the Hudsons have for the sport is so contagious that it feels impossible NOT to help this family of go-getters achieve their goals. They have a slew of other ideas that will undoubtedly be implemented with the same determination and attention to detail. This won’t be the last you hear about this impressive family.