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"This is my favorite race all year to work," said Dawson, who was tasked with creating qualifying sheets and ladders and delivering printed results during the course of the event. "This is just so much fun, and it's really cool to see all the cars that are a blast from the past. I like to imagine that this is what it was like for my parents when they were racing back in the 1960s and 70s." Dawson's dad, Norm Welch, in essence traded racing for marriage in the beginning, but the trade was eventually followed by some careful bartering that brought the sport back into their world and would prove to be a very positive influence in the family. Welch and partner Ken Coleman co-owned the Destroyer Jeep AA/FC, an intriguing entry built over a chassis purchased from the original - and very successful - owner, Gene Conway. Welch owned the engine and Coleman owned the car, and they split the driving.
When Jenny was old enough to put two-and-two together, she realized that the racing they were watching on television was taking place in Pomona, not far from their Southern California home. "I asked him one day, 'Hey dad, there are all of those people sitting in the stands, and that's just Pomona - why can't we go?' Finally, when I was 13, he agreed to take us to the national event," recalled Dawson. "He didn't want to go because he missed it so much and was afraid to go back out there, but we finally did. While we were there, they were running Jr. dragsters during down time. That's when his wheels started spinning."
"She was not expecting the ring," said Dawson. "She didn't actually get him anything, so he said, 'You know, you could give me permission to build the kids a Jr. dragster, and I would be a happy man.' The rest is history." Dawson and Pat shared the first car for a year, and they didn't just share the car - they shared the pants, the jacket, the helmet, and everything needed to suit up and drive. Dawson, three years older than her brother but just about the same size then, would make a run and then rush back to quickly hand off the warmed-up uniform and car. She earned her Super Comp license with the help of friend and fellow drag racer Tracy Fischle at LACR when she was just 16, but it would be four years before the piece of paper would be utilized. Dawson's capabilities caught the eye of engine builder Ken Lane, who was involved in the Jr. program through friends, and that would turn out to be very important for her future in the sport.
Dawson thought it was great, but she had doubts. "I told Joe that I thought who he really wanted was my brother," she said. "Pat was really good; he won the Western Conference Finals in Denver and the Pomona track championship, which was very prestigious. I told Joe this, so he actually got another car and we both raced. It was crazy, and it was lucky. We came to really know Joe and his family, and we raced with them for four years running Super Comp at divisionals, nationals and Super Comp Association [races]. When Joe decided to pull out of it, my brother bought the car." Pat took possession of the '05 Worthy dragster equipped with a 598 Chevy engine and continued to race while Dawson's life took a different turn; she moved to Las Vegas to attend University of Las Vegas Nevada and began to really build on her relationship with Mark Dawson, a racetrack pal who would become her husband.
When she settled down for school at UNLV, Mark had moved up in his career and was settling into a full time job as Operations and Promotions Coordinator at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Dawson took on part time work in the tower. They enjoyed their time there, but it was exciting for them when Mark was offered the opportunity to work as the Director of Racing Operations at Maple Grove Raceway, the track where he had parked cars as a kid and worked his way up, gaining as much experience as possible before joining NHRA's starting line manager Rick Stewart and the traveling tour. After three years in Vegas, the couple moved east, and Dawson made the most of it, first working as the Communications Director at Maple Grove, producing the track's newspaper and working at the facility on the weekends, and finally taking on a marketing position with Pierce Fire Trucks. Soon, though, Southern California beckoned, and Dawson was happy to return to family after Mark was offered his current position of Dragway Manager at Auto Club Dragway Fontana.
It turns out that when she does race, even though it's not as often anymore, she is actually pretty good. Dawson has done particularly well at The Strip, going rounds a few years ago after being out of the car for two seasons and then winning the Las Vegas Bracket Nationals last fall in what she calls "one of the best moments in racing." Another proud moment as a Super Comp racer was beating Jack Beckman when he had the No. 1 on his car following his 2003 championship. "It was in Palmdale, and it was one of those races where he didn't red-light, it was a through-and-through win," remembered Dawson. "It felt awesome, and it was the highlight of the day, even though it was only first round and I went all the way to the final. I was insanely nervous because Jack Beckman, he was at the top of his game, and he had beaten me before. He beat me at my first divisional ever in my first round. I was just going to give it my all, but I had kind of written the round off in my head. When I got around him - and I had room to play at the top end - I was like, my gosh, I have this. That was one of the sweetest win-lights I ever saw."
In addition to acknowledging Mark, Dawson also said, "I could never express enough gratitude to my parents, Norm and Carol, for all that they've done over the years for Pat and I to race. When we were kids in the Jr. Drag Racing program, Dad spent pretty much all of his vacation days taking us all over the western half of the U.S. so we could race at various tracks. There are also so many people behind-the-scenes and seldom recognized who we owe many thanks to: Matt Woodard for building a reliable and deadly consistent motor, the Ferre family and Brico Lines and Designs, Paul from Nitrohead Racing, Jill Sumiyasu, Tim Sieger and last but not least, Joe and Charly Malizia. We wouldn't be racing today if it wasn't for Joe. For that, we are forever grateful. "I love driving, first and foremost, but I love spending time with my brother. I think the world of him," she continued. "He really is the better driver, but we make a good pair. He is very good at dialing the car, and he's also very mechanical. Racing together is always awesome. The best days of my life have been the days I've been racing with my brother."
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