Most successful people share one common trait—they are driven to accomplish great things.
Drag racer Kelly Kundratic fits that bill.
The Pennsylvania native was exposed to racing at a young age by her father Jeff, a long-time competitor in NHRA and in bracket competition. Along with her mom, Cathy, the Kundratics operate Powder Coat Finishes in Baltimore, MD and JKR (Jeff Kundratic Racing Products) and trackside sales.
Jeff is well known in NHRA racing circles, and now Kelly is forging her own path in the sport.
“My earliest memories as a little kid are watching my dad race and he’s been a big competitor in the NHRA sportsman series. I got my start racing Jr. Dragsters, but I didn’t get to race too often because of my dad always traveling to races. I had Jr. Dragster until 18, but I also drove my own streetcar in the NHRA High School Eliminator program, and I won the Cecil County Dragway championship in 2011 as a senior. It’s my only championship so far,” said Kelly.
“My parents raised me and my sister Kate to be independent, so I started in High School racing by myself and that theme continued when I got into bracket racing,” she added. “My first car was a 1984 old Cutlass Supreme car that was owned by Lee Zane and it ran 11.50s. Lee had the car and we had a motor so my dad partnered with him to get me going. I raced the Olds for three years, until 2014, and then family friends Ken and Debbie Moses bought a 1987 Monte Carlo SS race car, which we ultimately purchased for NHRA Super Street.
“We worked very hard to make it competitive in the class,” Kelly stated. “I wasn’t always involved in the mechanical side until we got that car. It had a 434-inch small block Chevy, a Powerglide transmission, and a Ford nine inch with 4.30 gears. It was 3,210 lbs. and could run 10.90s at 142 mph. We spent a lot of time figuring out the suspension, which was a ladder bar setup with small tires. That’s not norm for Super Street, but it hooked consistently,” she said.
Kelly scored two runner-up finishes and a ton of rounds wins in the Chevy, but she wanted more speed.
“To my benefit and detriment, my parents had me do almost all the tuning to hit the 10.90 number, so I had a big learning curve. It wasn’t just show up and race, I had to make mistakes and learn how to race. They really didn’t ‘team-up’ with me in terms of strategy until I was fluent [in racing], then my dad would help.”
With ample seat time and confidence she “launched” into Super Comp at Atco in 2015, where she earned her license behind the wheel of her father’s Ed Quay dragster. “On the same day, my dad got his Super Gas license, and I got mine in Super Comp, so we got to sign each other’s licenses, which was neat.
“In 2016 we bought another dragster from a family friend so I could jump up to Super Comp. We brought it up to the current technology and towed it to Lebanon Valley Dragway, where I’d run my first race. I was really nervous, so my good friend Doug Doll made three partial passes to make sure everything worked and that went great,” Kelly explained.
“He never made a full pass, but we were comfortable that it would be good to go. The first full pass with me driving, it cut a brake line. I lost my brakes, the parachute didn’t deploy, and I crashed hard, destroying the car. I went 8.79 at 169 mph and also went right off the end of the track!
“It happened fast, and I was devastated. I was able to walk away without any physical injuries, but it was tough on me mentally. But despite how bad it was, I wanted to drive again soon. I think as racers it’s just what we do,” she stated.
But before Kelly could get back in action, she had a major life issue to handle—donating a kidney to her uncle Brian.
“The timing of the accident was not great because later that month I was set to donate my kidney to my uncle Brian. We sought the next opportunity to race, I climbed right back on the proverbial horse, and two weeks later, on July 17, I ran my dad’s car with no issues. My surgery was the very next day, thankfully everything was close to perfect, and to this day everyone is upright and healthy.”
With her dragster in pieces, Kelly returned to the seat of the Monte and she became more deeply involved in her parents business’ Powder Coat Finishes and JKR (Jeff Kundratic Racing Products). She was also a student, attending West Virginia University and later Tufts University, where she attended graduate school.
Kelly is now a director of agriculture policy for the Team Pennsylvania Foundation.
In that role she directs economic growth initiatives for agriculture in Pennsylvania. She works with state government and business leaders to identify growth the AG industry. She’s had a love of agriculture since a young age since her family owned a dairy farm in PA.
Kelly even attended High School for Animal & Agriculture science and Harford Tech in Bel Air, MD. She then went on to WVU for Agriculture Education and she achieved a master’s degree in agriculture policy from Tufts University in Boston.
“After the Super Comp accident I went back to Super Street for like six years,” said Kelly. “I genuinely liked racing that car, and 2018, I met Marina Anderson (now Garlick) at the PRI show. I was so impressed by Marina, she built her own Top Alcohol dragster, I mean welded the chassis and everything. I just wanted to learn more and in 2020 she posted that they were looking for a crew member with the potential to drive. Marina wanted to start a family, so I reached out to learn about the opportunity.
“We talked and both had a good feeling, so Thanksgiving 2020 we created a plan that in 2021 I’d crew for them and learn all about the car. That was my step towards driving in A/Fuel,” explained Kelly. “Essentially, I spent the season learning how to service the nitro engine, clutch and everything that goes into making a run. And at the end of the year, we got started on my license process. I did my first run, which was a burnout and 80-foot pass, then it rained out. I had to wait until Indy six months later to drive again,” she said. “It took three more hits to get my license—a moderate run and two full passes, where I went as quick as 5.55 at 251 mph.
“That was twice as fast as the Monte Carlo!” said Kelly.
“At first my brain couldn’t comprehend the speed and the acceleration. You pick a point and drive to it because there’s no chance to look down or around—you have to instinctively know where all the controls are by feel, and I worked very hard to commit that to muscle memory,” she stated.
“The feeling is that your guts are going out the back of the car on launch. Then, at the finish line you come off the throttle, hit the chutes, shut the fuel, and everything goes out the front. The 60-foot time is just under one second (.980-second) and it pulls 3s of acceleration and deceleration.”
In only a short time driving, she’s achieved a personal best is 5.42 at 273 mph!
“I’ve now run 12 races over three seasons and I’d love to drive it more,” Kelly told us. “It’s very expensive to race the car and I’m incredibly thankful to have the chance to be involved with the team. I’ve learned so much about the mechanical and driving side, too. I’ve also taken over driving my dad’s old Super Comp car, since he’s got a new one so I get plenty of seat time.”
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is deciding who gets to wheel the A/Fueler, since Kelly’s boyfriend, John Ausherman, shares the driver’s seat and the tools. “We’re constantly figuring out what makes the most sense as far as who should drive,” said Kelly. “Ultimately, we love racing with the teams we get to race with, and we’re surrounded by great people, so we just support each other and it all works out.
Achieving success in racing takes hard work and a solid support system and Kelly is fortunate to have a great family along with partners including Lucas Oil, Hoosier Racing Tires, Right Trailers Nationwide, JC Autoglass, and of course Powder Coat Finishes LLC and JKR Racing Products.
“My best result is a semi-final finish at the NHRA Maple Grove Nationals and it came against Angelle Sampey, which was really cool. Moving forward, I’d love to win an NHRA Wally. I don’t know when or how, but I’d love the opportunity to run for an Alcohol Dragster championship and race at that competitive level. If it were to go beyond that, great, but I’d be excited and satisfied by my racing career to make that happen.”
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