At just 10 years old, Rylee Held raced her way to a runner-up finish against a field of 71 junior dragsters at the Sportsman Southern Bracket Finals in Montgomery, Alabama, achieving the farthest advancement of her young racing career while helping Team London Dragway secure the team championship.
Held competed September 24-27 at Montgomery International Dragway, where racers from 11 teams representing six Southern and Southeastern states gathered for the 2026 Southern Team Finals. Her second-place finish in the junior division was a milestone for the young racer, who is in her second year of competition.
The accomplishment was especially meaningful because Held’s points helped move Team London Dragway from third place to first in a close championship battle. Three teams were separated by just one point, according to her mother, Paige.
With Held as the final racer on her team, the pressure was high as the competition continued into the early morning hours.
“I was confident, but also not so confident, because I was also really nervous,” Held said. “I didn’t know how it was going to go.”
She wondered whether she would win, lose or be eliminated in the first round.
Instead, she advanced farther than she ever had before, finishing as the division’s runner-up and earning crucial points for her team.
Held said she was amazed when she learned how much her performance had contributed to the championship.
“I was just amazed at how far I had made it, and that I had helped our team with points to become champions,” she said.
The finish marked a turning point in a season that had presented challenges. Paige said the family faced issues with Rylee’s car early in the year and worked to make it more consistent.
Although Rylee had reached the quarterfinals a couple of times during the season, she had never advanced as far as she did in Alabama.
Bracket racing requires drivers to manage their reaction times and run close to a predetermined time, making consistency an important part of competition. As Rylee continues learning the sport, her family has worked alongside her through the ups and downs.
Her interest in racing began after a trip to a car show, where she saw different vehicles and children participating in the sport.
“I saw, like, different cars, and they looked really cool,” she said. “And then I saw these kids, and they were in, like, these tiny cars. I was like, ‘Oh, that looks fun.’”
Her father, Jared Wright, also drag races, giving them a shared interest and time together at the track. Rylee races for Team London Dragway, where she has found encouragement from fellow racers and other members of the racing community.
One of her biggest influences is Kaylee Martin, a fellow junior racer who has become a friend and someone Rylee can turn to for advice.
Rylee said the people who came to support her helped her perform well during the finals. That encouragement mattered as she navigated the pressure of competing on a larger stage and racing late into the night.
The experience also gave her a new goal. Although she was proud of finishing second, Rylee hopes to win a race of her own as she continues developing her skills.
For now, she can look back on a weekend when she advanced farther than ever before and played a decisive role in her team’s championship run.
Asked what advice she would give another child interested in racing, Rylee emphasized the importance of believing in yourself.
“If you want to start, be confident in yourself, because that’s what helps you push through,” she said.
By Lily Coots
reporter@adairvoice.com
