​Gopher State Timing Association

A little about the MDRA:

 

The Midwest Drag Racers Association was started 36 years ago when the United Stockers Association and the Modified Super Stock Association merged to become what was at the time known as MDA. This group was formed to promote the sport of safe legal Drag Racing at sanctioned venues. It was also a chance to get together to share parts if needed at the track and to have a voice with track operators. By 1987 the group chose the acronym MDRA. And in the 1980’s MDRA, along with Hopkins Dodge, hosted an annual car show to showcase member’s cars, promote the sport, and raise funds for prizes for the members. Over the years the group changed car show locations from Hopkins Dodge to Friendly Chevrolet, then out to the Anoka County Fairgrounds. The car shows were always on the last weekend in April, so that was one of the earliest car shows in the area. And it was usually quite cold so hot chocolate was the beverage of choice at the shows. While that early car show caused a lot of disappointing events weather wise, eventually the annual car shows were discontinued.

 

Our association is comprised of several groups of racers. There are the Sportsman Racers that consist of Stock, Super Stock, Super Street, Super Gas, Super Comp, Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, and Super Bike. Then there are the Bracket Racers which have two classes Bracket One and Bracket Two. Bracket One is an electronics class, where vehicle operations are assisted by electronics, and in Bracket Two no electronics are allowed. These three classes are so called Money Classes because there is an opportunity to win back some of your entry fee. There is also the Trophy Class where participants race for trophies at local tracks. And there is our Junior Dragster class. Junior Dragsters are a smaller version of their big brothers, utilizing a single piston engine based on the 5 horsepower lawnmower engine. They are also allowed to modify this engine using aluminum blocks and running on alcohol. There is an upper age limit of 17 in the advanced class and Junior Dragster members can race at as young of an age as 5 years old. This Class is currently sponsored by the Gopher State Timing Association.  And lastly there is the General Membership class which is comprised of members that do not wish to race but like to keep informed of and participate in some of the clubs events.

           

MDRA has kept true to its original mandate through the years. We promote the Sport of Drag Racing to all who are interested, but we also attempt to help racers recoup some of their investment in the sport through certain programs we have established. Most of our awards and prizes are given out at our year end banquet held the 3rd week of November. These programs are our Year End Payout from our point’s series, which requires a membership. This membership also makes you eligible for entry in The Bonus Bucks program, which is an award that honors the Winners of events at our published racing schedule. There is also the MDRA All Stars which provides funds based on any event win in or outside of the published schedule.  There is also a Perfect Run Challenge which pays out $1000 to any member recording a perfect run at a MDRA scheduled race. A Perfect Run is running right on your dial in with a zero (10.000) coupled with a perfect reaction time (.000). No has claimed this top prize in the 15 plus years the program has been in existence, but we do payout the $1000 every year to the Top Ten Best Packages recorded during the season. There is also the GSTA Contingency Program which rewards members that win or runner up at any MDRA Scheduled event. MDRA Sponsors also contribute to our annual operating expenses, which help the club communicate with our members, and provide needed funds for our racer programs.

           

If you are interested in becoming a member please visit us at www.mdra.com!

The purpose of the Association is to promote, maintain; and improve the sport of drag racing in general.