SAUGET – Connor Hanlon, a student at St. John Vianney High School in St. Louis, continued his family’s tradition of drag racing by competing at the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) Midwest Ndwest Nationals. Connor’s father and grandfather have been building and racing cars for many years.
In fact, Connor’s grandfather, Jim Hanlon, a well-known Alton resident, has been racing at World Wide Technology since it opened in 1972. Connor has grown up around race cars and was always fascinated with the mechanical side of anything his Grandpa or Dad, Ryan Hanlon, were tinkering on.
Grandpa’s latest race car in a very long line of homebuilt racing machines is a 1965 Chevrolet Nova that was assembled to compete in the long-standing NHRA class called Stock Eliminator. This is the car that Connor piloted at the Midwest Nationals. When Connor became more interested in driving, his father, Ryan Hanlon, signed him up for another NHRA program called Junior Street where 13-15-year-old drivers can race the family car with mom or dad riding in the passenger seat. Connor says this is when it all started for him.
“I knew I wanted to try out the high school program when I turned 16. The only challenge was that Dad’s car was way too fast and Grandpa’s car was set up for Stock Eliminator not the high school series.” So Connor, Jim and Ryan spent the winter preparing the Nova for Connor to drive in the High School Racing series at Worldwide Technology Raceway. Changing the motor, transmission, tires and more was just some of what went into modifying the car. Connor and Grandpa Jim turned out to be a great team, and Connor finished 10th in the high school series after a fun summer of racing. As the family racing team prepared to winterize the Nova for a long winter slumber, they were invited to race at the Midwest Nationals with the top eight high school racers.
At this event, on September 28, 2024, Connor took first place after three rounds of intense racing in front of a huge NHRA crowd. He won the “King of the Arch” High School Shootout. The minute he won, he jumped out of the car and hugged his grandpa and was smiling from ear to ear. As a third-generation racer, Connor explains, “Winning is great, but the opportunity to spend time with my grandpa and my dad and learning so much about the engine, the driving, and staying focused is the greatest reward.”
“Drag racing is not easy. It is very exciting and exhilarating, however, staying calm is the most difficult part, and Connor is always calm.” according to his his grandfather. Grandpa Jim has been building and racing his own cars since 1962.
“I first raced here at Worldwide way back in 1972 and watching my grandson take over the reins has been thrilling to say the least.” Jim further states, “Racing is an affliction with no known cure.”
Connor will only have one more season of high school racing and wants to make the most of it next summer, and then it’s off to college to pursue engineering and maybe build his own race car someday.
