22 It’s why the wall is so important, when they can actually take time to enjoy the moment. Plus, time stands still for no one. The boys have since graduated from the Junior Dragster ranks and Tyler is taking some time off from racing. When he’s not at the track, Troy stays busy with his job as a big-rig mechanic, two years ago starting his own mobile repair business. So when there is finally time to reflect on the times like 2007-09 when Troy won nearly every time he got behind the wheel, they can truly appreciate what they’ve accomplished. But, it’s more than just looking back. They look forward to adding to. For Troy and Justin, there are three Chevrolet Nova models from 1975-77 which they will be racing this season. Troy is racing in both Top (Box) and Mod (No Box), which has led to Justin being a mentor of sorts, bringing him up to speed about racing with a delay box. That’s just the Poindexters, that’s what we do, man. It’s how family patriarch Troy Poindexter describes his family’s love of drag racing. They’ve devoted an entire wall in the living room where the family’s trophies and photos of their accomplishments on display. For Poindexter, it’s not about showing off, but preserving memories of the good times they’ve had together. While the Memphis driver has been a big winner in the Mod (No Box) ranks, his sons, Tyler and Justin, often dominated the Junior Dragster ranks. Justin was the 2013 International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Summit SuperSeries World Champion. “The room, and we’re still adding to it, shows the whole theme of where we started and where we are now,” Poindexter said. “I hope one day when I can do this anymore that my kids realize the time we spent together and how much fun we had doing this. “They always wanted to go to the track instead of hanging out with their friends. They used to tell me where all these big races were.” When the father looks at the wall and thinks back about their time together, one special memory stands out. Ironically, it didn’t happen at their home track, Memphis International Raceway, but at another IHRA- sanctioned track, the Holly Springs Motorsports Park, in Mississippi. A photo shows Troy and his sons next to the truck when he had made the finals of the footbrake class and the boys were getting ready to face off in the Junior Dragster final. “For me, that weekend was just busy,” Poindexter recalls. “I would get the juniors ready to run them. Then, I would get my car ready and run it. They were young enough at that point where I was putting fuel in the car, cleaning the belt, doing the tires on their cars, plus putting the battery charger on my car and fueling it up, and trying to stay with the dial. “My friends were like, ‘You don’t even talk to us.’ I was like, ‘It’s just so hard keeping up with three cars.’ I was so busy then. It was exciting and overwhelming at the same time.” DRIVER SPOTLIGHT Troy POINDEXTER POINDEXTER WALL IS A PLACE OF MEMORIES