NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

When you grow in the cold and snowy climes of British Columbia and run a towing service with more than 30 trucks, you learn a bit about being resilient. When you survive a broken neck, back and head injuries, and a mangled leg from a horrifying motorcycle crash caused by a drunk driver and spend two years recovering just to get back into your race car, resilience becomes part of your DNA. 

That type of fortitude has served Shawn Cowie well over a decorated career in Top Alcohol Dragster, where three times he had to settle for a bitter second-place championship finish. He has finished in the top 10 every year since 2014, his first full year back after the April 2011 highway accident that almost cost him his throttle leg, and remains part of a small but loyal group of racers competing with a supercharged engine instead of the much-in-favor injected nitro setup that has won the last five world championships. 

All of that patience and hard work finally paid off in 2024 as Cowie, one of the most overdue champions in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, finally claimed his first crown, but, true to form, it wasn’t easy and required as much perseverance as it did horsepower. 

The team began its first season in years without its longtime tuner Norm Grimes, who had tuned Rick Santos to five straight Top Alcohol Dragster world championships and also had helped tune Jim Whiteley and Joey Severance to world championships, as Grimes needed to spend the year tending to business. They parted amicably, and most importantly, they got his notes. 

“I have to admit that I was kind of intimidated by it at the very beginning of the year, especially when we went into Pomona and DNQ’d,” said Cowie, who failed to make the field at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, his first career national event DNQ. “I was thinking, ‘Oh, is this going to be a bad, bad decision,’ but we stuck with it and had a pretty cool year even with the learning curve. We all have a pretty good head on our shoulders, and every race, we learned something different and gained experience,” said Cowie. “Norm taught us so much over the years that it felt like he was still there on our shoulders, talking to us while we’re racing. A lot of the credit has to go to him, even though he wasn’t there. 

“It’s a pretty cool accomplishment, for me and my guys who stuck with me through all the years, and they deserve this just as much as I do.” 

Those guys include Nick Yates, Thom Cole, Pat Brown, Kelly Yates, and Cowie’s nephew, James, who did the work and had his back through all of the ups and downs. 

The Pomona DNQ was sandwiched between a season-opening runner-up at the Division 7 event in Phoenix and a huge win at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas. He quickly added position-plumping runner-ups at races in Divisions 4 and 5 and a big win at the Division 6 event in Woodburn, Ore. 

But for all of the great moments, there were moments that tested their tenacity. He lost on holeshots in the semifinals of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk and at the biggest race of all, the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals, and in round one of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. They DNQ’d at the second event of the Woodburn doubleheader, broke on the burnout before a first-round bye at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, and went up in smoke in round one at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals after qualifying No. 1 when the engine overheated while they waited for their opponent to get staged.  

“I struggled with my lights,” he admitted, “but one of the great things about my team is nobody beats you up. I probably beat myself up the most, but it’s one of those things that’s part of drag racing. We had an electrical gremlin in the middle of the season that bit us on those summer races. It was definitely frustrating, but we went home and rewired the entire car. It was just a lot of good, hard work by my guys. We win as a team and lose as a team, and it’s a pretty good feeling to have those people behind you. 

“At the beginning of the year, I told the guys that if we went to the semifinals or better, and just go rounds, we’ll have a shot at the end of the year,” he said. “So, when we got down to the last few races of the season, that’s what we were able to do.” 

It started with an important semifinal finish at the Texas NHRA FallNationals, where he lost another heartbreaker, falling by just .0009-second to championship rival Matt Cummings, and that momentum carried into the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas, where a win would give him a strong lead headed into the season-ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals. 

Again, it wasn’t easy, as it took until the final qualifying session for him to make the field on a run that also won him the weather-delayed regional event from Phoenix, but Cowie’s Mundie’s Towing dragster was flawless through the first three rounds of eliminations with a flurry of 5.2-second passes, but the final was pushed to different conditions on Monday against No. 1 qualifier and reigning world champ Julie Nataas. Cowie’s mount rattled the tires, but Nataas was up in smoke, and the win was his. 

“We shook the tires on the run, but Julie smoked the tires, and then at about 700 feet, I broke an exhaust rocker and blew up the motor in a big fireball,” he said. “I was waiting for her to drive by me, so I definitely had a horseshoe on that run, that’s for sure.” 

Cowie went to the NHRA Finals needing only to win the first round to clinch, which he did with a decisive 5.18 victory over Mike Coughlin. He went to the finals, where, after a satisfying .012 reaction time, this time it was his turn to lose traction against Nataas in her final ride in the class. 

“Of course, we would have liked the win to go with the championship, but, honestly, it was very cool to watch Julie win her last season,” he said. “Kudos to her and her team; she’s been a great champion. 

“This is a pretty good accomplishment for my team. When you surround yourself with good people, good things happen. And I can’t say enough about the people that have supported us.” 

In addition to his earlier-mentioned crew, Cowie thanked his wife, Taylor, kids Kaiden, Jackson, and Tate, his parents, Ron and Marianne, and sister Rhonda. 

Sponsors like Mundie’s Towing, NGK Spark Plugs, West Can Auto Parts, and Core Garage Solutions were great partners, and Cowie also acknowledged the support of people like Bill and Shirleen Moore, Harry Campbell, Nik Duperon, Bucky Austin, Al Stacey, Kyle Schlotfeldt, Jon Phillips, Mike Striha, Jim Ramsay, and, of course, Norm Grimes, who have all played a role in his career. 

Read more 2024 NHRA world champion profiles