NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Three years after it debuted to rave reviews in Houston, the Baby Walker Nationals, a showcase for pre-adolescent champions-to-be, returns to the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour next week on the undercard of the 71st annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.  

Just before Saturday’s first Top Fuel qualifying session (approximately 12:20 p.m., local time), five infants born with a need for speed will strap into customized walkers for a star turn at the track on which their dads will pursue a piece of racing history on Monday.

The field includes the offspring of some of the sport’s most prominent Pro drivers, including Harper Torrence, daughter of three-time U.S. Nationals winner and four-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence and his wife, Natalie, and younger sister to one of the original Baby Walkers, sister Haven Charli.  

Other contenders include Tripp Coughlin, son of Pro Stock standout T.J. Coughlin and his wife, Brenna, and younger brother of former Baby Walker and Toddler Tricycle racer Aubrey; Noah Alexander, son of Funny Car contender Blake Alexander and his wife, Leah and brother of 2022 BW and TT racer James; Maverick Hull, son of Funny Car driver and TV personality Buddy and his wife, Madi; and Dominic “Little Smoke” Stewart, son of Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and his wife, Leah Pruett.

What all five entrants share is an early introduction to the sport. Tripp Coughlin made his first trackside appearance when he was a virtual “old man” at 4 months old. Everyone else was at the track for the first time within six weeks.

Harper, who was a month-and-a-half old when she attended the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in 2024, loves to watch “Bluey” on TV, and her mother says “her eyes light up when her sister walks into the room.” Although she loves food of any kind, everything else being equal, she’d eat Oreos from dawn till dusk.

Like Harper, Maverick was 6 weeks old when he saw his dad race for the first time last fall in Charlotte. A big fan of mac and cheese, he loves all the movies in the “Cars” franchise as well as his dad’s TV show, “Talkin’ Funny Cars with Buddy Hull,” which airs on the NHRA’s FAST channel.

The first time Tripp attended a race, his dad won it (the PRO Superstar Shootout in Bradenton, Fla.). Now, he’s hoping to carry on a legacy of on-track success that dates to his great-grandfather, Jeg Coughlin Sr., and includes his grandfather, Troy Coughlin, and his great-uncles, John, Mike, and Jeg. Jr.

Noah Alexander was just a month old when he accompanied his dad and mom to ZMax Dragway in Charlotte. Now he’s ready to follow his older brother’s footsteps into the Baby Walker Hall of Fame. While most kids’ first word is “mama” or “dada,” Noah’s first was “hey!”  

Finally, there’s Dominic Stewart, who, despite the fact that he won’t have his first birthday party until NHRA World Finals weekend, already has attended 15 races and celebrated his dad’s first two Top Fuel wins. He loves avocados, adores the orange orangutan stuffy that his parents won at the fair, and is hoping to follow his mother into the Indy winner's circle in which she celebrated a 2018 win in the NHRA Factory Stock Showdown.