For DeFrank, Life’s a Drag

A traditional rite of passage for generations of San Fernando Valley teenagers has been to borrow the family car--and go drag racing.

Jimmy DeFrank of Tarzana is no exception, although in his case, the family car is a 1989 Camaro valued at $50,000, fitted with giant racing slicks and powerful enough to do lengthy wheelstands.

DeFrank, a 19-year old honor student at Cal Lutheran, drove it to the 1997 National Hot Rod Assn. championship in the Super Stock class. He clinched the title by winning six rounds in the recent Winston World Finals held at Pomona Raceway after entering the event in third place in the points standings.

The Camaro is not always the fastest car on the track, but DeFrank races in a class in which a driver can lose by being too fast. The object of the game is consistency.

The graduate of L.A. Baptist High, who is majoring in business in preparation to join his family’s two Valley-based automotive accessory companies, competes in what is called bracket racing. Before taking to the dragstrip, the driver predicts how many seconds it will take the car to travel one-quarter mile. Completing the pass faster than the so-called dial-in time results in the victory going to the opponent.

DeFrank’s parents, Jim and Loraine DeFrank, have owned dragsters longer than Jimmy has been alive. Jim DeFrank never competed as a driver due to his wife’s objections, but when Jimmy expressed a desire to race at age 14, Loraine had seen enough drag races to change her thinking about the sport’s safety and gave her blessings.

Racing is strictly a hobby for Jimmy, although he intends to compete for as long as finances permit.

Due to a strict attendance policy at L.A. Baptist, Jimmy kept mum about his hobby, only telling his closest friends. His 16-year old brother, Tony DeFrank--who will start racing another SuperStock car in January, spilled the beans at school about Jimmy’s hobby during Jimmy’s senior year at L.A. Baptist, and Jimmy found his teachers to be supportive.

Although he confines his racing activities to the dragstrip, Jimmy didn’t pass up an opportunity to race his father’s 1994 Cadillac one day at Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale when the family was attending a testing session of the second of the three dragsters they own.

“That was a fun day,” Jim said. “My wife had dinner ready at about 4:30, with company coming over, and he just kept winning and winning. I believe we finally made it home around 10:30 that night.”

Jimmy had a first-place medal to show for his efforts, which eliminated his mother’s anger over father and son missing dinner.