At just 25 years old, Brennen Wright is carving out his own lane in the drag racing world, but his story is as much about family as it is about horsepower. Racing alongside his father, David Wright – a Mopar® legend in his own right – Brennen is the next generation of a legacy built on sweat, steel and a love for Dodge muscle. From the roar of a ’71 Roadrunner to the sleek precision and technology of a 2015 Challenger Drag Pak, the Wrights are keeping the Mopar spirit alive, one quarter-mile at a time.
David Wright’s journey with cars began at 16 and he’s worked his way to master mechanic status. By the ’90s, he’d opened his own shop. Though the recession forced him to take a second job, his passion for racing never wavered. David was able to enjoy both muscle car eras with iconic machines like a 1971 Plymouth Roadrunner and a 1970 Dodge Challenger in the Ram Racing Series. From 2000 to 2010, he tore up the NMCA circuit, clinching the World Championship in 2006 for the Nostalgia Muscle Car class. For David, racing wasn’t just a hobby, it was a way of life. And he made sure his son was part of it from the start of his life.
Brennen’s first trip to the track came at six months old. “I grew up around it,” Brennen says. “It’s in my blood.” By 11, he was behind the wheel of a junior dragster. That lasted for four or five years before he leveled up to a door car. Around the time he got his driver’s license, he scored an old police Dodge Charger. He stripped off the lettering and ran it in JR Street at Cecil County’s Street Car Shootout. Since Brennan was under 18, David rode shotgun, keeping Brennen’s runs over 12.5 seconds in the quarter-mile.
The Wrights’ garage has seen its share of Mopar classics. They once owned a ’64 Belvedere, but after selling the shop, they traded it for a ’66 Coronet packing a Gen 3 HEMI® engine block styled like a vintage 426. Later, they picked up the 1965 Coronet in Indiana for David. David’s time behind the wheel was short lived as after only a year of racing it, he found a 2015 Dodge Challenger Drag Pak. One of just 50 built by Dodge. They found the Drag Pak from a woman on Facebook Marketplace hiding in the mountains of Tennessee. Her daughter raced it briefly before it landed in a storage unit non-running. The supercharged 2.9L Whipple-powered factory racecar now sees David competing in the 8.50 class. Brennen took over the 1965 Coronet his dad was racing. All steel and all original, with a 6.1-based 426, Drag Pak intake, 727 transmission with all the goodies, and a Dana 60 rear with 4.56 gears. “It’s consistent,” Brennen says. “I know this car inside out.” It’s surprising that the son races the classic and the father races the modern car. Not only do they make it work but they consistently see each other in the winner’s circle.
None of this would be possible without a solid support system. “It takes time, money and dedication,” Brennen says. His mom backed David’s racing dreams, and now his fiancée does the same for him. Another key player is Chris Hitchens of Performance Injection Equipment in Georgetown, Delaware. A longtime friend of David’s, Chris has been instrumental in keeping the Wrights’ cars dialed in. From tuning the Drag Pak and rebuilding Brennen’s Coronet after it blew up early on. “Chris does right by us,” Brennen says. “He’s a big part of why we’re here.”
Brennen’s ambitions stretch beyond brackets. Inspired by watching his dad race heads-up as a kid, he wants to test himself in that world too. Events like Street Car Nationals, Import vs. Domestic in South Carolina, MoParty and Mopar Nationals are on his radar. He’s even eyeing the new Little Gangsters class at Bradenton’s Winternationals. With a 5.20 1/8th mile index, and no-time, it will make a nice introduction to heads up racing. Meanwhile, he’s building a ’63 Savoy for street and strip duty.
Now living near Daytona in Florida, where he works as a pricing analyst for Florida District Import, Brennen’s racing instincts are something special. He can feel a pickup in the 60-foot and adjust as necessary slowing down or going all out as each pass demands. His expert reflexes paid off this season with wins in the 10.0 class and King of the Hill back-to-back in Orlando and North Carolina. Brennan is a past points championship in the MSHS bracket class. The 10.0 and King of Kings titles are next on his list. “Cutting a good light is half the battle,” he says, crediting his starting-line prowess in an era where drive-by-wire throttles trip up newer cars. Still, he admits there’s room to grow: “I get antsy sometimes. Gotta work on not going red.”
After having the pleasure of sharing the staging lanes with David and Brennen, I congratulated them on their success and told them that they are living the father-son racing dream. David said, “It means more to me than him, and one day I hope Brennan is grateful for the experience and it means the same to him as it did for me.” After talking with Brennen, it’s obvious that the love is mutual and he knows exactly what his parents have done for him. It’s only up from here for Brennan as he continues to grow as a racer and perfect his skills. We will continue to follow him this 2025 season in the MSHS and hope to one day line up next to him and his wheelie-popping Coronet!
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