Page 24 - Jan 2019 IWMA Nation News interactive magazine

Cali Dragster Kaycee Mela Loves Nothing More Than Racing
Kaycee Mela grew up in a very small town called Loleta, located in the Northern part of California in Hum- boldt County. She grew up with her mom and younger sister and her grand- parents lived very close. “There’s not much to do in Humboldt County, so we spend lots of time going on road trips. We’re only 5 hours away from Sacra- mento and the Bay Area, which are fre- quent stops for us. More often than not I would be spending time with my mom and grandparents going to drag races. Even when I’m not racing we are still usually at race tracks watching friends race. My mom, sister and I often go out to dinner together, we have some really good Mexican restaurants here which are our normal stops.” she shared.
As a little girl, Kaycee played with both cars and dolls. You could find her playing with Barbie’s and dolls, but she also liked to go outside, playing in the dirt or getting her hands dirty at the race track.
Kaycee’s favorite TV show is Chopped, and she likes to watch a lot of the shows on the Cooking Chanel.
Christmas is her favorite hol- iday because it’s such a happy season and she loves all the family time.
Something most people don’t know about Kaycee is that she drag rac- es. They are very surprised when they find out that she does. She appears to be pretty girly, but she can be fairly shy and more quiet, so they’re shocked when they find out she does something so bold and crazy.
Kaycee works at Wyatt, Whitchurch and Anderson, Inc. It’s a tax service and bookkeeping office. All her coworkers are very supportive and think it’s awesome that she races.
Kaycee’s long term goal that she pictures for herself is racing Top Fuel, doing what she loves as much as her job.
When Kaycee is not racing she tries to catch up with friends and
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family, either shopping, going out to dinner, or just hanging out. Her family enjoys road trips to bigger cities for fun events or just to get away.
Erica Enders is a driver Kaycee has always looked up to since she was young. “I grew up with Hillary Will as a close family friend, so of course she was a favorite and someone I really looked up too.” she said.
Kaycee’s grandpa, on her mom’s side, started getting involved in drag racing when he was a teenager and has kept it in the family ever since. He drove throughout his life and also owns a Top Alcohol Dragster. From the time she was born she has spent her days at a race track. He inspired her to start rac- ing.
“All my summers growing up I would travel with my grandparents go- ing from race to race. It’s been some- thing I’ve always loved and wanted to be a part of. When I was 10 years old they bought me my first Jr Dragster and
I spent 5 years racing in the Jr Dragster League. After Jrs, I started licensing in Super Pro. I currently run in Super Pro and Top Dragster and hope to keep growing with the sport and make a ca- reer out of Drag Racing.” she told us.
Her most memorable moment in her career so far would be her first Top Dragster win at Sonoma Raceway this past Labor Day.
Kaycee’s grandparents, cous- ins and mom all help her with her car. The past two seasons at Samoa she has finished 4th in the points in the Super Pro class. Her home track is the Samoa Dragstrip. It’s located right on the ocean in Northern California. Sonoma Race- way is their other home track, and also the Redding Dragstrip, which is the old- est race track in California.
Kaycee races a dragster in the Super Pro and Top Dragster.
Kaycee’s first win at Sonoma Raceway was a monumental day for her in so many ways.