DI DRIVER BLOG: Camrie Caruso - 01/24/19

Most of the time the first thing people wonder is, “How did you start racing?” For a lot of racers, the same answer is true: their family has been racing since before they were alive. Well, that is true for me as well. I don’t know what my life would be like if I hadn’t grown up around drag racing, but I am very thankful that I had the chance to grow up around such an amazing sport. When you grow up in racing you meet so many people that will share the same love for the sport as you do. People make the sport even better than it already is.

Camrie and her father, Marc

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I am a 20-year-old, third-generation race car driver from Fairport, New York. Racing is my life and I wouldn’t want to do anything else with my time. The passion, determination and persistence that I have for racing will help me achieve my dreams of being a professional race car driver. I have been around racing my entire life. I began racing at the age of 8 and have been in a race car ever since. When I turned 16 years old, I jumped into a Super Comp dragster after I went to Frank Hawley for my license. When I turned 19, I decided I wanted to run competitively in PDRA Top Dragster, and we bought a new dragster from Danny Nelson and switched my motor to a blown alcohol motor. Last season we gained “Lola,” a new Top Dragster with a 481x to put under a supercharger. She went 3.68 at 201.9 mph at the PDRA World Finals.

My dad wanted to run NHRA Pro Mod for the 2019 season and that’s when I decided to take the leap into Top Alcohol Dragster. I will be going to the Phoenix test session to gain my license for TAD and then the “Baby Gators” NHRA Division 1 race at Gainesville will be my first race out in Top Alcohol Dragster. I am planning to run 5 races this season. If the opportunity to run more comes up then I will jump at it.

Aside from racing, I work at the family business, Kornerstone Kitchens and Baths, putting kitchens together in 3D renderings, as well as ordering them. I also go to school full time at Empire State College for my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Finance. I take all my classes as an independent study, which means I talk to my professors over email or the phone to get my assignments, then I email them back once I complete them. With the flexibility in my independent study it fits perfect with working full time and the racing schedule.

Make sure to look out for the new shirt Caruso Family Racing and Racers Evolved have come together to release just in time for my debut race at Gainesville, March 8-10.