Youthful drag racer rolls to victory

By BOB McCLURE

SEMINOLE – Siena Scigliuto of Seminole is a few years away from being able to drive on the streets but that hasn’t stopped her from excelling in drag racing.

The 12-year-old Seminole Middle School student proved the point Oct. 18 when she won the Race of Champions at the National Hot Rod Association’s Junior Dragster Championships in Cecil, Ga.

Scigliuto cruised through three rounds of competition in the intermediate division before recording her first major crown with a 75-mph run down the 1/8 mile strip in 8.94 seconds.

She finished 2/100ths of a second off her predicted, or dialed-up, time of 8.92 seconds. The key is to defeat your opponent and also finish slightly above the dialed-up time, she said.

“A lot of people think drag racing is getting to the finish line first,” said Scigliuto, “but it’s more of a mental game than anything.”

Scigliuto’s 14-foot rail dragster is powered by a 21-cubic inch Briggs and Stratton engine that has been modified to produce 31-horsepower. Her crew chief is her dad, David Scigliuto, who won the NHRA Super Pro national championship in 2007.

“This is the pinnacle of junior drag racing,” said Siena’s mother, Kecia Scigliuto, who also is a drag racer. “This event is the best of the best.”

The Race of Champions draws the sport’s track champions from seven states. They compete in four rounds of bracket racing before the final two battle for the crown.

“The track champions race is very difficult because you’re guaranteed of having a very tough opponent in each round,” said Siena, who won the track championship at Bradenton Motor Sports Park and also races locally at Sunshine Speedway.

Her mother is one of Siena’s biggest cheerleaders and gets more emotionally involved watching her daughter than when she herself is racing.

“I was so nervous for her,” said Kecia. “I was a wreck.”

Due to the amount of concentration that is involved, Siena was heavily focused on her finals race and didn’t have a chance to show emotion until it was over.

“That was the strange thing about it,” said Siena. “I wasn’t emotionally excited like everyone else because I was still focused on my race. That’s the difference between drag racing and maybe baseball. We need mental preparation. But I started screaming inside my helmet the second I saw the ‘win’ light go on.”

“It was a brilliant moment,” said her dad. “Everybody went crazy.”

Prior to her victory in Georgia, which earned her a $500 U.S. Savings Bond, Siena’s biggest wins came in the 2006 Snowbird Outlaw Nationals in Bradenton and the 2007 Junior Dragster Challenge.

Her racing career began at age 8, allowing her to follow in the footsteps of older sisters Nina and Samantha who are now in college.

“My friends kind of get it and they’re really happy for me,” said Siena, “but they don’t understand how big it is for me.”

Siena, who has not yet rolled her dragster but has crashed through a large tractor tire, plans to move to the more competitive advanced class (ages 13-17) in November. If she keeps winning, sponsorship for other classes could follow.

Her immediate goals include restoring a 1968 Pontiac GTO that she hopes to race in the sportsman class when she is 16. She also wants to continue competition in the junior races, as well as the Super Pro class.

“I’m going to be racing as long as I live,” Siena said. “I enjoy it more than going to the mall.”

SOURCE: Seminole-Beacon