Drag Illustrated Issue 118, February 2017 | Page 100

TheHOTTEST2017 DOUBLE DUTY W ith a father like noted driver, crew chief and tuner Ed Rice, it was pretty much a giv- en that Jennifer Brooke Rice would follow in his footsteps and wind up with a career in racing as well. Rice, who studies marketing at the University of Tennessee, has loved going fast ever since she was a child. “My dad tells me I’d be in the garage trying to help him but I’d be tearing stuff apart in- stead,” laughed Rice, now 20, as she remembered her happy childhood turning wrenches. When she turned 10, she got her first Junior Dragster and although she couldn’t race much herself as Dr ag Illustr ated 100 D r a g Il l u s t r a t e d . c o m her father’s program took priority, Rice fell in love with driving. When she was only 12 years old, Rice competed at the prestigious NHRA Eastern Conference Finals race. There, she won her Junior Dragster class and went home with a highly-coveted Wally – a feat some spend their whole career chasing and never achieve. “I didn’t realize the signifi- Jennifer Brooke Rice