This is the story of a man who, every time he went to the dragstrip, was like a kid in a candy store, and his wife ended up with the same sweet tooth. They also made acquaintance in stacking at an NHRA national event and became partners in the two-car NHRA Competition Eliminator team. 

The story of Andrew Moeck, his wife Melissa Murphy, and driver Allen Wilson is both entertaining and inspirational. 

Murphy, a freshman drag racer and driver of a B/Dragster Automatic entry, said her husband is her 52-year-old child, and his youthful enthusiasm created this story. 

"About four or five years ago, he said he wanted to buy a new car and get back into drag racing, and I thought that this was a sport for younger people," Murphy recalled. "I said, 'Aren't you too old for that?" 

"He said, 'Ah, I don't think so." 

"So he bought himself a car, went to get licensed, and brought me along to the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School in Denver, and he signed me up for their adventure class. I'd never even thought about being inside a drag car. And I went inside that, and I said, 'Holy crap, that's something I want to do." 

All Murphy did was encourage her husband, and the rest came naturally.

"Every single time I come to the drag strip, I'm like a kid in a candy store," Moeck said. "All the cars are cool; I like them all. I want to be here doing nothing else. I mean, it's all I want to do."

If one is going to go, then go big, which is precisely what Moeck did. He purchased a Pro Modified GTO and converted it to the Competition Eliminator version for the class. 

Going big is nothing new for Moeck, as he grew up racing on the streets of Northern Colorado. He graduated to the strip in the early 1990s and purchased a Competition Eliminator car, yet he knew little about the complicated eliminator. He raced primarily in NHRA's Division 5 and had a fast car, yet no money. Moeck wrecked the car in 1998 during an event in Boise, Idaho, and decided to take time off to finish college, get a job, save some money, get a solid career, and start a family. 

Then came kids, and they'd make an annual pilgrimage to the NHRA Winternationals. 

Once the kids were of age to the point where their lives led them elsewhere, Moeck proposed that they go to the drag races as competitors to Murphy.

"Let's go buy a car and figure some stuff out again," Moeck said, referring to Murphy. It had changed a lot. Sport had changed a ton since I was racing in the '90s to 2020. So we had a big learning curve."

It wasn't difficult for Murphy, who wasn't going to be arm candy in the pits. She wanted the thrill of driving a race car, and Moeck can thank past NHRA Funny Car champion turned drag racing school instructor Frank Hawley for that. 

 

 

"I am all in," said Murphy, whose passion was elevated by the Adventure Ride in a Frank Hawley Drag Racing School dragster. "When Andy says he's going to go do something to the car, I want to be right behind him and learn about what he's doing because I didn't grow up around cars and building cars, and don't know really, I didn't really know anything about cars, so I don't like him doing anything without me. I don't like the tune-ups going in without just me standing behind and listening. 

"I definitely would never let him go to a race without me because I want to be there, whether I'm behind the car, in the car, or just watching the car. I think that I am all in on drag racing."

Moeck said her passion for the sport has consumed her.

"It's funny because she will watch the NHRA TV from the second it starts to the second it's over, every single class, everything that goes on," Moeck added. "We leave the house; she has to be on her phone. We're at a restaurant, she's watching it. She checks the schedule, everything. So definitely, she's been bitten hard by the bug."

Murphy has parlayed passion into competition. She first began in Top Dragster before converting to Comp this year. In her first season, she earned a final-round appearance and two semi-finals. 

While Murphy shined in her drag racing experience, Moeck did too, but in a not-so-positive outcome. This event is where NHRA Division 3 racer Allen Wilson entered the picture. The two met at the NHRA Vegas Four-Wide Nationals while in the stacking area last season. 

"We swapped cars in Vegas [2]. He had taken some index in Dallas, so I called him on his way home to make sure he wasn't on the suicide watch," Wilson recalled. "I said, 'Hey, let's just put you in my car, maybe."

"He had a chance for the world championship. He was clean in my car, so we swapped cars, and I think he was standing outside the car. I think he loves tuning it more than driving it, so that became the relationship. We decided this year to put me in it, and we would run the whole deal."

This year's arrangement was solidified when Wilson went to the NHRA Finals without a crew, and Moeck and Murphy became his crew. 

Wilson believes their passion for drag racing leaves a lasting impression when one looks at Moeck and Murphy. 

"They're great people," Wilson said. "They're high energy, and they love it. They love it as much as I do, so that's kind of hard to find. We really click really well. We have a really good vibe together as far as the direction we're going, and we just really click. [They are] a lot of fun."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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