It’s a family affair for IHRA's Mosley

With the love of drag racing often passed from one generation to another, it comes as little surprise that Paul Mosley inherited his passion for the sport from his father.

However, what makes Mosley's situation different is his wife, son and daughter have all felt the same need for speed.

The defending International Hot Rod Association Top Sportsman champion said it was his wife who first encouraged him to go race in the Summit Sportsman National Championship.

"I have a transmission shop and I build a lot of transmissions for IHRA racers," said Mosley, 46. "My wife thought it would be nice to go and spend some time with them and let them know we're out here to support them. I said, 'If we're going to, we're going to go all out.'"

Mosley certainly did go all-out.

After racing a Top Dragster, he switched to the Top Sportsman car, which his friend, Jeremy Uecker, had him drive in a 4.70 class.

Built in 2007 by Ken's Custom Chassis, the car is a 1963 Corvette, split window with chrome. Mosley describes the car with a 632 cubic-inch race engine as the nicest car he's ever had.

It also has a simple sticker which separates him from the rest of the pack.

"To come into a race with the No. 1 on your car, that's a bullseye on your back," Mosley said. "It motivates you to do it again so everyone knows it's not a fluke."

Early last season, his competition knew the championship effort wasn't a fluke.

Mosley finished runner-up in his first race a year ago, was runner-up in the second race and won the third race. With his son pushing him to go all-out for the championship, there was no turning back.

More than the competition, the race track has brought Mosley closer together with his customers and his family.

"The racing is great, but it's getting together with your friends and family," Mosley said. "At the end of the day, we're all buddies and everyone gets along great. With my family, my son drives a dragster. My daughter races a '68 Camaro in a Footbrake class and Hot Rod. She's 19 and runs a 5.40 (elapsed time) on a weekly basis in Footbrake. It's a big family thing for us and my wife is head over heels in it. She raced for a while until it became too much with all of us racing."

Mosley looks back at the 2016 IHRA championship as a great accomplishment, but those memories are always surpassed by the anticipation of going to the next race together.

"What I loved about the championship was it was a journey," Mosley said. "But when you have a family that loves it as much as you do, every race becomes your favorite race."

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