Local racer brings home fourth drag racing championship

Christmas came early for Charlie Booze Jr. as he collected his fourth Hot Street World Championship trophy from the National Mustang Racing Association in mid-December. The awards ceremony was held during the Performance Racing Industry’s annual trade show in Orlando, Florida.

This is Booze’s ninth drag racing championship overall, with eight of them achieved while piloting the BBR Performance 1992 Ford Mustang GT. After seven seasons, every win is still sweet victory for the BBR team who also set the record to be the first Hot Street car in the 8.30s range with a final run of 8.387 seconds at 160 mph. For a racer to rack up 60 event wins out of 76 finals, devotion is almost an understatement.

Booze’s success has landed him and his team coverage in prominent racing media such as NMRA Race Pages, Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords, 5.0 Mustang and Super Fords, Fastest Street Car Magazine and Car Craft Magazine. They have also appeared on ESPN2s Inside Drag Racing several times.

Booze attributes his sucess to what he terms “the 5 Ps” and “ELD”, which stands for Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance and Every Last Detail. He and the team work very hard preparing the car so when they arrive at an event, they can focus on racing the car, monitoring the track and conditions, and watching their competitors.

“I have a great group of friends that love to help me with testing and racing the car, and collectively we try to put a great effort out on the racetrack every time,” commented Booze.

“I also owe a lot to my sponsors who provide us with top notch products that not only do I feel confident that I can win with, but I can endorse them to my customers at the shop.”

Booze and his brother Brian, a local late model dirt car racer who finished in the top 10 in points at Hagerstown Speedway this year, operate Booze Brothers Performance, a full service speed and performance shop in Marion.