Whanganui driver Kayden Patel wins title at junior dragster national champs

Kayden Patel made his racing debut as a 7-year-old.

Whanganui junior dragster driver Kayden Patel has won his first national title after a successful weekend at Meremere in Waikato.

The 9-year-old took out the junior class at the junior national championships in a time of 11.3 seconds (over an eighth-mile), just outside his personal best of 11.1 seconds, which he set a week earlier at the Whanganui street drags on Taupō Quay.

Father and pitman Raj Patel said 40 drivers competed at Meremere.

“We had a bit of an issue at the start of the day when we broke an axle. We thought we were out,” Patel said.

“Other parents there saw what happened and someone said they had a spare one.

“Another guy helped us put it on, and in 20 minutes we got the thing running again - just before the quarter-finals.”

Kayden made his racing debut at the Outlaw 71 Challenge in Masterton in 2022.

Patel said 7-year-old Charli Neil, from Waverley, also competed at the junior championships.

“She’s very new to the sport but she did incredibly well. She’s campaigning in Kayden‘s previous car.”

Patel said he and Kayden attended as many meets as they could throughout the season.

Kayden Patel (right) with Waverley driver Charli Neil.

“They are spread out all over the place. We just get to the ones we can and try our best.”

He said there was a test day in Masterton before the season kicked off.

“At the moment, he’s running a little Briggs & Stratton 250cc engine.

“They have the track to themselves, and we test and tune. The kids get used to the cars, the rules and the lights and how they work.

Patel said Kayden would continue to move up the classes - intermediate and senior - and eventually go to full-sized dragsters.

“That’s when Dad is going to have to work really hard.

“Drag racing is a passion of mine, and Kayden has been in my cars and been down to the track.

“He’s got a passion for it too - like father, like son, I suppose.”

The pair will head to the Masterton Motoplex in two weeks for the National Drag Racing Championship, which features drivers in both senior and junior classes.

“That will be the final time competing in our current car,” Patel said.

“Then, we’ll pull the power plant out of it, step it up and go faster next season.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multi-media journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present, his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.