[Tabitha Draughon]

Carolina Class Racers Association Racer Spotlight:

We don't have to go far up the road this week as Laurinburg, NC is only a jump, hop, & a skip from Fayetteville. Blake Hickman, 22 years of age is our racer to talk about today. Blake is one of our younger racers in CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association so we look forward to having to him participate in our association for many years to come. He has been racing 15 years & as you can see from one of the pictures (stolen from his sister's Facebook page), he came up through the junior dragster ranks & was a pretty successful racer in that class. His current racecar is a 1983 Chevrolet Camaro powered by a SBC 305 CI engine built by his dad's business, Hickman's Performance which is also who Blake list as his sponsor. His most memorable win is his most recent one that was in 2021. He won Stock Eliminator at the NHRA Southeast Division 2 race at Orlando Speed World Dragway. A few of Blake's accomplishments include: 2011 & 2012 IHRA Division 9 Junior Dragster Points Champion, 4x NHRA Class Winner, & lost the 2021 NHRA Southeast Division 2 Stock Eliminator points due to a tie breaker. He gives "Special Thanks" to his mom, dad, & "I guess my sister"! He says his most epic fail is taking off in high gear 1st round of a NHRA national event at zMAX DRAGWAY. When Blake was asked about anything funny, he replies "just my driving skills"! At least he can have fun with it & that's what it's all about!!! Blake is generally found running NHRA national events & NHRA Southeast Division 2 races but he occasionally will come to support the CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association races & we are thankful for his & his dad, Buddy's support when they have time to come race with us. Blake overcame some serious medical conditions a few years ago so just to see him racing today is such an awesome sight! Praise God for healing Blake!

Blake is somewhat quite in the beginning but deep down inside, he's a great young man & has lots of laughter to offer everyone that can break inside his bubble. His daddy, Buddy, used to race as well so to see Blake following in his dad's footsteps is great. The Hickman Family is an awesome family at the track & is willing to help fellow racers in a time of need. Hickman's Performance builds several NHRA Stock Eliminator engines. All of the NHRA & NHRA Southeast Division 2 races will be over by the time the CCRA-Carolina Class Racers Association is out next so we hope Blake can attend our final race of 2022.

In the meantime with us being off for several months, we look forward to seeing our racers attend the upcoming NHRA Southeast Division 2 race at GALOT Motorsports Park, NHRA national events at Maple Grove Raceway, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, & zMAX DRAGWAY, as well as the NHRA Northeast Division race at Virginia Motorsports Park. See y'all at a track very soon!