IHRA: Bowen's title march a family affair

Talk about baptism by fire: Shawn Bowen's first drag race came behind the wheel of an alcohol dragster.

More surprising?

"I won," he said. "No one was expecting me to, including me!"

Racing has always been a family affair for Bowen. His father, Mike, drove their dragster until he had neck surgery, so Shawn took over in 1993, "and it just kind of snowballed from there."

Bowen currently leads the IHRA Drag Racing points in the AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car class, with 206 points to Jason Rupert's 190. Bowen is going for the championship. "We plan to make all the IHRA races this year," he says.

The car, The Violator, a beautiful 1971 Dodge Challenger, was built in the family's Bowen Race Cars shop in Montrose, Michigan. "We did the chassis, hung the body, did all the tin work, all our own motor work, all our own machining," Bowen says. The Chassis Shop and Mickey Thompson Tires help out, too.

Bowen's performance so far this season has been powerful. He lost in the final round to Rupert at the Good Vibrations Texas Nationals at San Antonio Raceway despite a massive holeshot, with a reaction time of .0532 compared to Rupert's 1.052.

At the season-opening AMSOIL Nitro Nationals at Orlando SpeedWorld Dragway, Bowen took the win over Mike McIntire Jr.

What is it about the AMSOIL Nitro Funny Cars he likes? "The looks, for one thing," Bowen says. "It's a reminder of the way things were in the 1970s. A Top Fuel nostalgia dragster might be the next logical step, but I expect we'll stick with the Funny Cars."

That could be bad news for his competition.