12/5/2024
Bunker Hill Dragstrip
Richardson's Focus Leads to 2024 Jr. Dragster Track Championship
At the young age of 15, many Jr. Drag Racers are in the hunt for their first big win. For Brandts Heating Cooling and Electrical Jr. Dragster racer Cadan Richardson, going into the 2024 season, his hunt was to secure not his first, but his second Bunker Hill Dragstrip track championship.
Cadan comes from a lineage of drag racers, whose roots run deep at Bunker Hill Dragstrip. His grandpa Lay, on his mother’s side, raced at Bunker Hill Dragstrip in the One Bad Lay green Firebird, a car that still makes appearances when Cadan’s uncle Joe brings it out. His pappy, on his father’s side, Danny Richardson, raced a blue Chevy II at Bunker. The Richardson family still pits in the same spot they did when Cadan’s pappy was racing and his dad, Dan, was a little boy. Pappy continues to frequent the track, usually there cheering on his middle grandson. Putting two and two together, it’s no surprise that almost 28 years ago his dad and his mom, Becky, met at Bunker Hill Dragstrip. It was pretty much inevitable that they would have a child that was born to race.
Every year, the IHRA track champions from each IHRA track have the privilege of competing at the IHRA World Finals. This opportunity is what drives many racers to sign up for track points. In 2020 Cadan, who at the time had been racing for about 3 years, was fortunate enough to clinch the track championship in the jr. dragster class. Unfortunately, he won the championship after the coveted IHRA World Finals. Because he was not leading the points prior to that event, he missed out on the opportunity to race at the World Finals. Only 11 years old at the time, this missed opportunity wouldn’t be the end, but the beginning of success that would lie ahead.
Over the next two years, Cadan would respectfully finish 7th and 4th in points at Bunker Hill Dragstrip. He would also clinch a track championship at Lucas Oil Raceway. In 2023 with his dad sitting out of points racing to recover from a knee surgery, Cadan decided to take the opportunity to race the Midwest Junior Super Series, and other big junior events. He would still enter points at Bunker Hill, but would miss out on several points races ending his season 10th in points, his worst points finish to date.
At the conclusion of the 2023 season, Cadan had about 30 more race wins than he did at the end of 2020 when he missed out on the World Finals. He evolved into a better racer by traveling to different tracks, and competing against a different group of jr. dragster racers. It was time to shift his focus back to points racing and to concentrate on earning a spot to represent Bunker Hill Dragstrip at the IHRA World Finals as the jr. dragster track champion.
It seemed like overnight that Cadan went from a tall kid, to an even taller young man, and for the fourth time since he started racing, he had outgrown his jr. dragster. This time his parents made the investment in a brand new Half Scale Jr. Dragster, with the intent that this would be the right size to get him through the rest of his time in jr.s. A new race car at the start of the season is an automatic confidence booster, and confidence is essential to success.
It was evident from the beginning of the 2024 season that Cadan was on a mission. The first race of the season, he went straight to the Coan Engineering’s Winners Circle, where he would park his car 7 more times before the season's end. He led Brandt’s Heating Cooling and Electrical Jr. Dragster points the entire season, but never enough to let his guard down. He had to stay focused and couldn’t take any round of racing for granted. At the last points race of the season, by 70 points which equates to seven rounds of racing, Cadan Richardson secured the 2024 Bunker Hill Dragstrip Jr. Dragster Track Championship, punching his ticket to the IHRA World Finals. While his outcome at the World Finals wasn’t what he had hoped, it is safe to say that Cadan’s determination and dedication to the sport will put him in the position to achieve another track championship in the future.
For someone who has achieved a lot at such a young age, we can’t help but wonder what is next for this young racer? Cadan’s plans for 2025 include racing for points in the jr. dragster class, with hopes of reaching his 50th race win and winning another track championship. This will most likely be his last year racing jr. dragsters, however, because soon Cadan will be turning 16. Once he is an official state licensed driver, he can start making laps in a 1997 Camaro that he purchased from fellow Bunker Hill Dragstrip racer, Mike Pyle. Cadan’s intent is to transition out of jr. dragsters and into the Camaro for the 2026 season.
Submitted By: Cori McMillen