For more than 30 years, Kevin McKenna has reported on NHRA racing for its publication, National Dragster. He’s written reams about the accomplishments of racers from the local bracket level to the top-of-the-heap nitro ranks.
Now it’s time to turn the tables on the 55-year-old Rhode Island native, who recently captured the National Mustang Racing Association’s season championship in the Super Stang ranks. McKenna earned the No. 1 decal for his car in a manner befitting a champion: He KO’d the points leader in the second round, then disposed of his remaining two opponents to win the race and the title by a slim margin.
“I don’t want to say I think of myself as champ,” said McKenna, who lives in Avon, Ind. “It’s really just kind of a hobby thing.”
He rose to the top behind the wheel of a 2014 Mustang GT that he drives to every race — not a car he hauls in, or on, a trailer, but one that gets 20 miles to the gallon in its six- to seven-thousand miles of annual travels. The only big-buck alteration to the showroom Mustang is a supercharger that allows the engine to churn out 650 horsepower.