The 2023 NHRA drag racing season has only just begun, but for Cody Krohn, it’s already been an unforgettable year. In February, at just 18 years old, Krohn earned a license to race Top Fuel in NHRA, and less than a month later, he reached his first final round in Top Alcohol Dragster in just his second race. Krohn has ambitious plans, but with a career that started early and has been full ever since, he doesn’t lack for experience.
His family is originally from the Chicago area, but Krohn grew up in the Florida sun, just south of Sarasota. All that alone, and the family’s proximity to Bradenton Motorsports Park, positioned Krohn in a veritable drag racing vortex. Of course, it was in his blood too. His father, Rich, raced in the late 80s and early 90s, and at age 8, Krohn got caught up, too.
“It started as a suggestion,” the younger Krohn recalled. “My dad and I went to Bradenton to see it and he said, ‘Is that something you’d be interested in?’ When you’re seven years old, who doesn’t want to go out and drive a race car? So he built me a Jr. dragster, and it’s been a career for me ever since. There were no other sports, no extra- All my free time has been devoted to racing.”
For such a young gentleman, Krohn has had a wide variety of experience behind the wheel. It started after he retired from Jr. drag racing. at the age of 14, and he and his father began building a car out of nostalgia.
“When I turned 16, it was like, OK, now’s the time,” Krohn said. “Within a year, I got my Super Comp license, then Nostalgia Top Fuel, Top Alcohol Dragster and Nostalgia Funny Car, Top Alcohol Funny Car. That gave me a chance to race a little more, attend some events, and get more seat time. That was always the goal. We knew we were going to move up, we just had to figure out how.”
To reach the highest level of NHRA drag racing is to want to exist in another world. The planet of Top Fuel attracts a rare breed of humans, magnetically drawn to an obscene amount of adrenaline reserved for those willing to face fear for 1,000 feet. Krohn feels his off-piste approach, while slightly different from many, gives him a bit of an edge.
“I think what sets us apart from a lot of others is that when we go back to the pit area, I take off all my driving stuff and put it in the fan to dry,” Krohn explained. “I put on my ‘slop clothes’ and get down to work on the bottom end. I never want to be the driver who just drives. The nostalgia car gave me a lot of time to learn every inch of that car and engine – I could put it together if it was in a million pieces. I think it’s really important to know what you drive and build a respect and connection with it. When you have that relationship, it goes from just being a car to almost being your friend . You are together.”
Last year, Jr. dragster champion Krohn. in 2012, he celebrated his 10th anniversary as a drag racer by claiming the 6.0 eliminator trophy at the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, Ky., in his family’s front-engine A/Fuel. dragster This year, on his 19th birthday weekend, Krohn entered the Samsel family-owned Top Alcohol Dragster in the NHRA Division 4 race at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, La., to begin his first serious foray into the Lucas Oil Series. competition
He was No. 3 in the 19-car field to prove he had something worth showing, and just a week into his season debut, Krohn raced the same rail all the way to the final round in the famous “Baby Gators” . Lucas Oil event at Gainesville Raceway, where he was runner-up to Julie Nataas.
A final round appearance in one of the most anticipated and revered Lucas Oil races on the calendar might have been a highlight of the season for some, but for Krohn, it was second only to an event he had place in Gainesville several weeks earlier.
Krohn earned his NHRA Top Fuel license in former champion Larry Dixon’s car under Frank Hawley just days before his 19th birthday. He made four passes and gained a lot of experience in a very short and powerful period of time.
“This experience contained a little bit of every emotion you can imagine,” he said. “All I had driven before was [a nostalgia car], 3 speeds with a clutch and a lot of driving involved. The whole driving aspect is very different, but the biggest change is the downforce, as anyone would expect. I spent so much time mentally preparing myself that “this thing is going to feel like a rocket when it takes off,” but even that couldn’t describe the feeling. It’s such a surreal experience. It was scary at first, but by the second run I had an idea of what to expect. It was like, “Oh my God, I’m doing this.” It was pure bliss, at that moment.”
Top Fuel is, well, top fuel. It’s the NHRA’s biggest dream, but from the beginning, Krohn’s family has supported a vision that many consider impossible. Mom Luci and dad Rich are always by her side on the racetrack, and sister Katie, a former Jr. runner partner. and the team’s designated weather girl, supports him from afar as he pursues a degree in environmental science at the University of Alabama.
While the family works to find funding for their Top Fuel campaign, Krohn will continue to claim Top Alcohol Dragster points in the North Central Division, where his father raced in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car so many years earlier. They are also on task to begin their national event journey at the upcoming Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
“My dad is a crazy worker,” Krohn said. “I’m convinced that he could be successful in anything he wanted to do, because he wakes up every day with the will to do things. He doesn’t worry about how or why; he just does things. I hope that rubs off. It’s hard to be good at so many things, but everything he does, he does well. That’s amazing to me.”
Krohn’s vision isn’t limited to driving an 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster. Even though he’s barely on the doorstep of the Top Fuel world, Krohn already knows where he’s aiming to go.
“When I plan everything, the future for me is ultimately having a Top Fuel team that I own and run,” Krohn said. “But the near future includes racing Top Fuel and trying to make a name for myself and my family. In the perfect world, we find a way to do that for a living. That’s what we really want.”
