Accenting double negatives
October 28, 2015Accenting double negatives
October 28, 2015
Galliano native D.J. Adams has a need for speed.
He’s a drag racing standout who’s had success at every level of competition he’s ever faced.
Adams has won a Wally – the most prestigious trophy there is in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). For his efforts, Adams has been featured in National Dragster, which is a big deal in the racing world – one of the most prestigious drag racing magazines in the world.
So with a trophy case that’s continuing to grow and a list of successes that’d be the envy of a lot of names in the sport, one would assume that Adams is a veteran dragster – someone who’s been on the circuit for years and is well into adulthood, right?
Wrong.
Adams is 7.
He doesn’t own a driver’s license, won’t for another eight or nine years and has a list of hobbies that include playing basketball, PlayStation 4 and hanging out with friends and family
But on the track, young D. J.’s been a natural – the winner of the annual NHRA Jr. Dragster Challenge in Belle Rose this past June, outlasting 30 other competitors to take home his prestigious Wally In the finals, D.J. trumped Jordan Morales to win the championship – a victory that he said he’ll remember for the rest of his life.
“I was sleepy,” D.J. remembered about his big win. “It was 1 in the morning. The race started at 5 (p.m.). I didn’t know if I was going to win. I had to go against 30 people. But when I did, I thought to myself, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to win for winning this race.'” “We didn’t realize how big of a deal this was until after he won the race,” D. J.’s father Dustan Adams added. “People here were coming to the house to see his Wally Everyone talked it up, because to win one is such a big thing in racing. D.J. was fired up when he won, but he really was excited once it sunk in how special it was to have won that big race.”
The path to a Wally was paved for D.J. through some interesting circumstances.
Dustan Adams confesses the speed bug has long bitten him – a pastime that led to his decision to buy a race car to ride as a hobby
Like father, like son.
D.J. saw his dad’s car, and decided that he wanted one, too. Dustan said he never really put much thought into the idea at first because of D. J.’s age.
But once the youngster found videos of other kids around his age drag racing, things got more serious.
“I saw it on YouTube,” D.J. said. “That’s how I decided that I wanted to try”
After a short time watching the videos on his own and learning the sport, finally Dustan caved, and the rest is history
This all was about one year ago when D.J. was still 6.
“I bought him a car,” Dustan said with a laugh. “He has a junior dragster. It’s the same as a big dragster – just smaller in size proportionally”
D. J.’s a competitive kid. He’s an active Biddy Basketball player and a young child who loves to compete against other kids and participate in sporting events.
So it’s only natural that upon receiving his car that D.J. wanted to compete in tournaments against other kids.
Dustan said that before stepping into competition, D.J. went through several test drives and time trials to get fully prepared and used to being behind the wheel of a fast-moving car.
The junior dragsters can go up to 60 miles per hour when they’re at their peak. When the dad was asked if seeing his 7-year-old driving that fast made either he or Dustan’s wife and D. J.’s mother, Leah Adams, nervous, Dustan calmly said, ‘No,’ citing D. J.’s fire-proof suit and helmet and all other safety restrictions that are in place in case things go poorly on the track.
“He’s safer in his car than he is in the car with us on the road,” Dustan said.
“It’s hot in there,” D.J. added, talking about his safety gear. “In the car, it really makes you sweat.”
Safer and apparently a heck of a whiz with the accelerator, as well.
D. J.’s first race was last summer at a Bracket Masters competition in Baton Rouge.
He won, outlasting 15 other competitors in his age group – children from Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.
“We were pumped up,” Dustan said. “We couldn’t believe it. It was his first race and he did so well.
These are single elimination races. It’s one big bracket, and it’s single elimination. If you lose, you’re out. If you
win, you keep going. D.J. got all the way through and won it.”
“I wasn’t nervous,” D.J. added with a grin. “All I kept thinking about was how it was loud, loud, loud in the car. The engine makes a lot of noise and it makes it loud, loud. That’s all I kept thinking about before my races.”
D. J.’s successes were pretty loud throughout the summer, too.
The youngster has competed in several tournaments throughout his career, routinely placing in the winner’s circle or near the top of the pack.
“He’s in the thick of things more often than he’s not,” Dustan said.
But no title was bigger for D.J. than the one that earned his Wally.
While racing at No Problem Raceway Park in Belle Rose, D.J. stormed through the competition, cruising through the single-elimination bracket and winning several races to get to the finals.
In that last race, Adams was on the opposite lane from Morales, who had also cruised past competitors in the long day of races.
The event started at around 5 p.m. The finals didn’t begin until around 1 a.m.
D.J. said he was tired and unsure of the outcome.
“I really thought I might lose,” D.J. said. “I was kind of tired, and (Morales) was good.”
But just before the finals, Dustan said he gave D.J. some advice that helped him power through. D.J. remembers it like it was yesterday.
“My dad told me to leave on the third yellow light,” D.J. said. “I normally leave on the second yellow, but this time, he wanted me to leave when I saw the third yellow.”
The move was to have a better, crisper start out of the gates.
It worked.
D.J. cruised past Morales and nipped the finish line first to win the Wally – the prestigious trophy named after NHRA founder Wally Parks. The trophy is about a foot tall and has a classy brass finish. It features Parks’ likeness standing on a wooden platform.
“It’s a cool trophy,” Adams said.
And now it’s D.J.’s first of what he hopes will be many more to come. The youngster said he’d love to be a race car driver when he grows up, citing racing as one of his favorite things to do during his spare time.
But D.J. also said he wouldn’t mind being a basketball player either, citing a love for Kevin Durant and the game in general.
When asked his favorite racer, D.J. said Antron Brown – an obvious answer because of the driver’s rich ties to the area. Brown’s co-crew chief is Houma native Mark Oswald.
But to D. J., the Cajun flare doesn’t much matter. When asked why he liked Brown most, he had a more direct answer.
“He wins all the Wallys,” D.J. said with a laugh.
All but one, maybe – the one sitting in the Adams trophy case to mark this local dragster’s permanent place in racing history.
‘I wasn’t nervous. All I kept thinking about was how it was loud, loud, loud in the car. The engine makes a lot of noise and it makes it loud, loud.’
D.J. Adams
Galliano prize-winning racer
Galliano native D.J. Adams holds out his index finger to celebrate a victory. The local dragster has had huge success in his first year on the circuit. D.J. won a Wally this past summer.
D.J. Adams’ racing team is called the Rollin’ Thunder Racing Team, a play on his favorite basketball team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. His car number is 3035, which is for Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, the two players that the youngster said he looks up to most in the NBA.
