Two years ago, Aubrey reached the pinnacle of her class, winning the IHRA Summit SuperSeries Junior Dragster World Championship. Her father was the runner-up in the Mod (No Box) class in 2019.
Their success and being able to come to the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals mulitple times are things that Travis doesn’t take for granted. He also explained they’re at the World Finals representing two different tracks.
“It’s just exciting. I was telling her earlier, ‘We better cherish these moments, because we might not ever get to come back,’” he said. “She won points at two different tracks, Crossville and Knoxville. I actually won points for Crossville. So I’m racing for Crossville, but she’s racing for Knoxville today.”
Aubrey raced under the Knoxville banner when she won the 2022 World Championship. She was the third World Champion in the last four years from Knoxville at that point. Crossville has its own great tradition in big races with one of its drivers, 2021 IHRA Sportsman World Champion David Bigham, pitting just a few spots away from the Loy family.
Travis understands that to be a champion racer, you need a good ride. He talked about the race car that he has competed for over a decade.
“It’s a Chevelle with a 383 small-block Chevy engine, just a good bracket car,” he said. “This is the 13th year on the car. My dad raced it back in the 90s, when I was about his age, and I always liked it.”
His father, Randy, owns a machine shop and builds motors. He is part of the family team at Holly Springs with Travis’ wife, Nicki, and their young son, Jace.
Meanwhile, Aubrey continues to build a reputation as one of the very best Junior Dragster racers in North America.
“To be the World Champion two years ago, I’m mean that was a lot of excitement,” she said. “I’ve won the track championship at Knoxville four years in a row. Going into it each year, the target on my back gets bigger and bigger. There are always people coming after me.”
She continues to heed her dad’s advice. While it takes a lot of work and focus each year to get back to the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals, she's also taking time to enjoy the family's accomplishments.
“You can’t ever expect to come back,” she said. “As he said, cherish it, and I’m surely grateful to be here and to get a race with my dad. My little brother’s getting ready to race the car too, so I will be moving up to a big car after that.”
Those are the future plans, but they’re making sure to live in the present. Loy can’t think of any place he’d rather be this weekend than North Mississippi, competing in the sport he loves with those closest to him.
“I’ve always liked fast cars, and I’ve always liked bracket racing,” he said. “I love spending time with my family and how they go with me everywhere. That makes it fun, and that’s what it’s all about.”