Caraline McCarty DragChamp July Car of the Month

Caraline McCarty and her ’68 AMC Rambler Wagon win the DragChamp Car of the Month contest for July.

The first installment of the DragChamp Car of the Month contest was an overwhelming success.  Hundreds of race cars were submitted for consideration in the contest. 

After a couple of rounds of voting and thousands of votes submitted, the ’68 AMC Rambler wagon of Caraline McCarty was voted the July Car of the Month winner.

For her efforts, Caraline received DragChamp shirts, decals, and a $50 JEGS gift card.  In addition, the wheel-standing Rambler has been featured on DragChamp’s Facebook page for the last couple of weeks. 

For Caraline, the most rewarding prize she received is that her Dad, Bug McCarty, had to pull his numbers off the car and officially hand it over to her.

This week’s feature is about Caraline McCarty and her unique racecar.

The Wheel-standing Wagon

The Rambler has been in the McCarty family’s stable for nine years.  The car was found on an AMC website one night and Bug knew immediately he was going to buy that car. 

Originally the car had an AMC 390 engine and ran 7.20’s in Top and Bottom Bulb classes.  After racing it a handful of times the car sat idle for several years. 

In 2014, Bug decided to put a tube chassis under the car.  With the help of Matt Tinnin and Bragg Automotive, a tube chassis was installed which included a strut front-end, 9″ Ford rear end, and 4-link suspension. 

A Wilkerson built 421″ small block Chevy was hooked to a FTI Performance transmission and convertor.  After the rebuild, the wagon drags the bumper to the tune of 6.0’s in the 1/8 mile.

The Driver

16 year old Caraline McCarty has been driving race cars since she was 8 years old.  Starting in the Jr. Dragster ranks, Caraline found success at an early age.  Her first big win came at the Division finals at the age of 10. 

Over the years she competed numerous times at the Eastern Conference Finals and won several local races.

In December of 2018, Caraline got the keys to her first big car, an Olds Calais.  She jumped into the footbrake scene and began traveling with her Dad to tracks such as Darlington, Gulfport, Montgomery, and many others. 

Although she loved footbrake racing, a broken engine in the Calais opened the door to Top Bulb competition.  Bug “loaned” the Rambler to Caraline and began teaching her the finer points of Top Bulb racing. 

Caraline fell in love with the wagon and leaving off the top which means Bug may never get his car back.

Recently Caraline and her family made the 950 mile trip to Michigan to compete in the SFG 500 at US131 Motorsports Park.  The young racer had an amazing experience at the largest paying drag race in history. 

In order to attend more races, Caraline is now home schooled which allows her to travel to more races with her family.

Shout Outs

Caraline wanted to thank all of her friends and family for voting on her racecar and forcing her Dad to officially give the car to her.  Special thanks go out to her Grandparents, her Dad & Mom, her brother Tripp, and pal Cory for supporting her racing endeavors.  

She also thanked God for his blessings allowing her and her family to travel and enjoy the amazing sport of drag racing.

Sponsors include:

• McCarty Auto Parts
• American Race Cars
• K&R Performance
• Todd’s Paint & Body
• Blossom Racing Engines
• FTI Performance Transmissions
• Wilkerson Racing Engines

Photos are courtesy of Lou Crouch. Visit picturesbylou.com to see thousands of bracket racing photos.

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