BC’s Beast — Unleashed! « DragRaceCanada.com

BC’s Beast — Unleashed!

by editor on Nov.21, 2024, under Hotzone

FINALLY — is both an appropriate trending social # and also buzzword for within Canada’s drag racing community….

It is now a reality! After a lengthy career effort and numerous close calls before, Langley BC’s Shawn Cowie, has (as of last weekend) been crowned with an NHRA Lucas Oil World Championship title.

Shawn mathematically secured that much sought after and highly prestigious goal when during the first round of Top Alcohol Dragster eliminations during the NHRA’s In-N-Out Burger Finals at Pomona, he secured the win-light over Mike Coughlin — to seal the 2024 deal.

The next day Shawn did go to the final round for the NHRA Finals event title – but placed runner-up to defending NHRA 2023 World Champion Julie Nataas.

The 2024 NHRA Lucas Oil World Champion – Shawn Cowie!

Shawn’s first NHRA Lucas Oil World Championship season (racing his Mundie’s Towing & Recovery-sponsored dragster) did include two NHRA national event level wins and two Lucas Oil Regional events in 2024 – within his points earning and claimed allotment of race entries.

The path to this reward was however much longer and tedious than that to be certain. After re-entering the NHRA TAD class (after recovering from a 2011 non-racing motorcycle accident) in 2013, Shawn and Cowie Racing’s journey to the top has been a relentless effort as well as an amazing display of determination.

Since 2015 they have placed within the “top ten” in NHRA Lucas Oil World Championship points — ten years in a row! That included three 2nd place and three 3rd place finishes (including 2023) for final national standings.

In one decade, Shawn Cowie has emerged as Canada’s single most successful drag racer in history. His trophy case now includes a brigade of “Wallys” from 25 NHRA nationals and 42 NHRA Divisional/Regional events. He dragster is to both the quickest and fastest supercharged Top Alcohol car — on our planet.

Canada’s most winning drag racer of all time – now exemplified!

After coming so close to the NHRA class podium so many times before — needless to say Shawn Cowie had to hold a boatload of emotions in check up until last weekend.

“It was so nice to finally seal the deal instead of being a bridesmaid — again,” he said. “I don’t think it has fully sunk in yet. We really took a different approach this year. Basically our attitude being, that if it’s our year, everything will fall into place and thankfully, that is what happened.”

The 2024 title win in fact was a little different in complexion than what fate had dealt his racing team in previous years.

“This was more of a come-from-behind season – but that was certainly not intentional,” Shawn continued. “We had a string of 4 races in the middle of the year where we were chasing an electrical gremlin that cost us some serious races. A big turning point for us was losing first round on a bye at the Seattle Nationals. We were so frustrated with the electrical issues at a point – but we also knew we had time to save our year. So we kept at it and just took it one race at a time. Then once we corrected the problem, we knew that we had to do pretty well at every race moving forward after that. I think we had a “finish strong” attitude no matter what the outcome was going to be.”

Shawn Cowie’s dragster is the all time quickest and fastest (supercharged) TAD class car in the world – running a record quick 5.121 secs.

A big difference for the team in 2024 was their campaign did not include reputed crew chief Norm Grimes (from California), who had been with Cowie Racing since 2016.

“That was a big change — Norm not with us this year. He was wanting to focus on things back home which I totally respect. So we had to adjust. Trying to both drive and make tuning calls was a big challenge this year for me. We as a team bounce ideas off of each other because we all collectively know what the car wants. Obviously, all of our notes from years with Norm were available — but there was certainly an added pressure being the one to make the final call.”

Shawn and his team are extremely proud too about taking this coveted title to Canada for the *first time within NHRA’s Top Alcohol class history.

(*Editor’s Note: Calgary’s Brent Bramley did win a NHRA World Championship for Canada with a supercharged dragster back in 1976. That was however pre-modern day Top Alcohol class racing – within what was then called the Pro Comp category).

“Although most of my racing now takes place in the USA — I am always proud that I can represent Canada and run with the best in the world,” he smiled. The reality is that it all most certainly costs a-lot more — including in fuel and travel to do it from where I am from! We are so grateful for our sponsors – Mundie’s Towing, NGK Spark Plugs, West Can AutoParts, and Core Garage Solutions all of what they bring to the table. Their willingness to help is greatly appreciated.”

Taylor Cowie

“This championship is absolutely a team effort — everyone’s role is critical to our success,” Shawn emphasised. “My guys: Nick Yates, Thom Cole, Pat Browne, Kelly Yates, and my nephew James Cowie. These 5 bust their tails to make sure I have a safe and fast racecar every weekend. Anytime I screw up, there is no animosity — they keep a positive attitude and we carry onto the next one. They take time away from their lives throughout the season and I am very grateful to have a loyal, super talented group of people all of these years.”

“My wife Taylor and 3 boys (Kaiden, Jackson and Tate). Taylor does a lot of the behind the scenes stuff for our program like flights, entries, and social media among other things. She has been there from the beginning of all of this and always supported my dreams of doing this even if it means her carrying a-lot of the parental weight with our kids while I am away. I could never thank her enough for that! And my sister Rhonda, she is the other half of Mundie’s Towing and has supported me like our Mom and Dad did – no questions asked.”

Shawn was quick to dedicate this career milestone accomplishment to the memory of his parents (Ron & Marianne). His father Ron was the one that brought him into this sport, rode with him throughout his career and was a defining presence to the team. “The only thing missing within all of this would be sharing that big day with Mom and Dad,” he affirmed.

Cowie Racing will begin March 2025 NHRA in a different mode. While the eyes of their class competitors have always respected & even feared them — there will be some extra credence and self-confidence that they now must contend with too.

“We are planning trying some experimental stuff in the off-season,” Shawn concluded. “But really with the “monkey off our back” so to speak feels really good. We all just want to go into the 2025 season having fun and going rounds and see where the year takes us? Our experience has told us that sometimes when you try too hard — that is where it can all seem to fall apart.”