The opportunity to participate in this ThisIsBracketRacing ELITE Member Spotlight blog gave me the idea that I can be even more connected to the sport we all love. The last few years for me have felt like I’ve drifted from my competitive self on the race track. I don’t think I’ve been as present while at the track, on ELITE, or as strict with my practice regimen. One of my 2026 goals was to really lock in and make the most of each and every day at the track, and being able to give a first hand blog account of it has helped make me be more accountable. Hopefully you, the reader, finds my storytelling entertaining enough to not want to walk away after the first few paragraphs!
My name is Lee Newmeyer, a long time ThisIsBracketRacing ELITE member, going back to some of the original days into “TIBR Pro”. I live in Shelby, Ohio. We’re virtually smack dab in the center of the state, and lucky to be able to reach about every track in Ohio without traveling more than roughly 3 hours. I have a 1976 Chevy Vega that I primarily focus on top bulb racing, but have done quite a bit of bottom bulb and some throttle stop racing with it too. Since we’re in a hotbed of big money bracket races here in the Midwest, I’ve shifted in the last 7-8 years to mostly top bulb racing. Although we’re already deep into summer, a future goal of mine is to get back to being more versatile by racing a wider range of classes. Doing this over the years has helped me to hone in on my skills.
My introduction to racing was pretty similar to a lot of others around my age, considering I’m a second-generation racer. Most of my earliest memories revolved around watching my dad run IHRA Hot Rod, Quick Rod, or bracket racing in either his Nova or dragster. I’ve had the luxury of quite literally growing up at the track weekend after weekend alongside my dad and his best friend Chris Lindsay, knowing the entire time all I wanted to do was race one day. Needless to say, my biggest influence and person I look up to most is my dad. Without him having been involved in drag racing I wouldn’t have jumped into this lifestyle! My first race car was a junior dragster that I made my first passes in just after my 8th birthday. I’ve had doubts and moments where I step back and wonder why I’m still doing this, but it’s the first “thing” I’ve really ever wanted to do, and being extremely competitive as I am, that combination forces me to not have the word “quit” in my vocabulary. I wouldn’t know what to do with my life anyways!!
As I previously mentioned, I’ve run a pretty wide variety of classes since I got into a big car at 16. Naturally after getting out of junior dragsters, I started no box racing. As we’ve all seen in the last 8-10 years, the number of “big money” bracket races exploded across our part of the country. My buddy, Matt Dadas and I have raced together for quite a while and decided to try our hand at a few big money races. After having some success and a little bit of luck, it allowed us both to start shifting most of our focus to these races. We all know Matt’s story and how his racing career has evolved. However I give a lot of credit to him for helping me realize, even though I haven’t knocked down 50 grander after 50 grander, that I’m just as capable as anyone at these events. For the most part, my racing program has remained the same for multiple years with similar goals, to hit as many big money races as possible. This typically winds up being two a month with some local races sprinkled in.
The biggest gap in my racing program, has always been the starting line. I feel like I can drive pretty aggressively and execute at the finish line, but as we all know you’re working from behind if you don’t have the starting line advantage. Sean Graham at Graham Motorsports rewired my Vega this winter, and added a bump up and down button for me. Previously I only ran 1 button, usually set to bump down. It’s been a work in progress, but throughout the year I’ve found myself utilizing both up and down more often. Occasionally I’m splitting hairs a little too much but more often than not, I’ve been able to utilize bumping up and down to my advantage.
Luke talks a lot about setting goals, not just “win this race or that race”, but on-track stats too. I’ve been focusing on tightening my window each race, specifically tightening up my “miss”. At the time of writing this first blog, we still have a pretty long list of races to head to for the year, with an end goal to finish off a $10,000+ race at least once this year. I’ve been knocking on the door having gone deep a few times so far, and a couple $5,000 semi finals but a couple slight mistakes on my end have held me from finishing a race of yet in 2026.
ELITE has helped improve my racing program for years now. I’m not one of the most active members on the live chats or on the page itself. However, if one would look at my saved videos on Facebook, it would look like a video library dedicated to TIBR Elite. I’ve always been a visual learner, and the video examples/tutorials from Luke, Justin, and other instructors have always been extremely helpful. Having been racing myself for closing in on 25 years, I like to think I’ve got the “basics” figured out, but that’s not always the case. ELITE has given me a lot of help from pulling me back to basics to not overthink, as well as guiding me through some tough and complicated aspects I struggle with on and off track. As I’ve said before, I try to hold myself accountable in racing, especially with having many other responsibilities in my personal and professional life. I’ve been able to use TIBR ELITE for that accountability, even if I’ve slacked on it the past couple of years. Although the win column isn’t YET reflecting it, the runs I’ve made have shown I’ve focused on executing a better quality run, from starting line to finish line.
If I could give advice to a racer that’s been the most beneficial to me, it’s finding self confidence in the midst of struggles. Maybe the path to it is switching things up that might not be working for you. We’ve all heard to change transbrake buttons if you’re missing the tree, maybe switch lanes if you’re always getting those “hero” runs thrown at you. I don’t mean small changes like that. I’m talking about going to another race track to race regularly, maybe that’s overhauling your entire setup on the race car, or completely changing what classes you run predominately. I won a lot of races and championships in junior dragsters. When I hopped into a big car at 16, I didn’t think I would instantly go win like I had in juniors, but I thought I could be competitive. Boy was I wrong. My Dad and I worked tirelessly working on my Vega until we finally fell on a car/drivetrain combo that’s happy together. That alone took a couple years until we were satisfied and I was comfortable. I worked on myself mentally realizing that my driving style didn’t have to be the same run to run, race to race. I attest a lot of that to TIBR. Most importantly, I changed scenery and raced at different tracks. I had some success and gained self-confidence, and continue to focus on keeping it to this day. We all have that somewhere in us, we just need to adjust and adapt until we find it and once we do, everything else tends to fall into place. I’ll be the first one to admit I overanalyze and overthink every aspect of my life. I’ve put an emphasis on knowing that I’m capable, and with that comes the confidence I need. Whether it’s telling myself I can out drive anyone on the property, or knowing I have a car under me that I’d put up against any other, it allows me to stay focused on the end goal without any doubts.
As I button my first blog entry up, I hope I didn’t bore any reader too much! Heading into August, I have a pretty packed racing schedule ahead filled with opportunities to make some noise on track. I’ll be heading to the TB Promotions $250K, ACE Ohio Triple $20K’s, and Fling at Norwalk getting us through the Labor Day weekend. The next month is filled with a few of my favorite races of the year, all at tracks I’ve made a massive number of laps at. Looking ahead, there’s a lot of money on the line to win, and I can check off a couple boxes from my personal list of racing goals for the year. Every weekend I head into that has a $50,000 or higher paying race, I make it a goal to make it to the split. When I can get there, anything can happen after that!
Since we have my introduction out of the way, I can’t wait to dive into how my 2026 racing season has been shaping up with plenty of excitement, as well as why I plan my racing schedule the way I do. Being a racer that chases a lot of big money bracket races on a budget, while being employed full time, I like to think I have a bit of a unique perspective regarding how I go about my season. We’ll take a look into that for my next entry coming soon!
As always, I cannot go about my racing program alone. I’d be chasing my own tail if it weren’t for the help and support of my wife Morgan and my Mom and Dad. Not to mention the partners I’ve grown to think of as extended family, notably Race Tools Direct, Mickey Thompson Tires, Abruzzi Racing Transmissions and Converters, Finish Line Race Fuels, Graham Motorsports, XS Power Batteries, Horsepower Sales Engines, BAM Roller Lifters, TJT Motorsports, Advanced Product Design, Foggit, Lindsay Racing Products, ISC Racers Tape, In-Motion Solutions, Race Trailer Solutions/Fleet Doctor, and Pro 1 Safety. Thank you to Luke, Justin, Jordan, and everyone at TIBR Elite for the opportunity, and I can’t wait for the next entry to dive back into my racing life!
-Lee Newmeyer
