RACER SPOTLIGHT—Georgina Buckley
This tough and talented radial racer challenges the competition in Edelbrock Xtreme Street
Interview by Mary Lendzion
Photography by FSC staff
With brothers who were into muscle cars, Georgina Buckley had some amusing adolescent adventures around their home in Lake Villa, Illinois. In addition to watching them work on their cars, she watched them wheel them up and down the street and wind up for burnouts. Forever in her memory is how she slid across the vinyl backseat of her brother’s Chevelle during one of those burnouts in the empty parking lot of a movie theater.
All these years later, she laughs as she recalls how on one hand, her brothers were protective of her, and on the other hand, they involved her in their antics.
Georgina went on to marry Dave Buckley, who, like her brothers, was into muscle cars. She fell in love with racing while watching him race, and before long, he offered to set up his 1985 Mustang for her to race.
She was having the time of her life until she had a terrible on-track crash during an NMCA race at Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio in 2016. She was very seriously injured, and many people wondered whether she would return to the cockpit of a race car, but she did just that after purchasing and preparing a 2005 Mustang.
For the past few years, Georgina has been building a remarkable relationship with the car powered by a big-block Chevrolet by Jimmy Lopez and a nitrous system by Fast Lane, and in 2022, that resulted in a personal best of 4.67 and 155 mph in the eighth-mile, the ability to comfortably cruise down the same track she previously crashed on, and ultimately a ninth-place finish in NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street points. Georgina capped off the year by standing on stage alongside her fellow top 10 NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street racers at the Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals Awards Ceremony, held during the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show on December 9 at the Indiana Convention Center. She later said that “meant the world” to her.
Read on for more about Georgina, who rolls on 275 drag radials and competes in Ultra Street and other categories when she’s not competing in NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street.
AFTER BEING INFLUENCED BY YOUR BROTHERS, WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST MUSCLE CAR?
In the summer of 1991, I bought a black 1982 Camaro Berlinetta with a V8 engine and a T-top, which is funny considering I’m so pale and get sunburned so easily and couldn’t have the T-top out. Then I met my husband, Dave, on November 13, 1991. My friend had a crush on him and wanted to go on a double date with him and another guy, but Dave and I had a connection, and he asked me to the movies. He was managing a pizza place at the time, and he was telling me all of the things wrong with my 1982 Camaro Berlinetta. Before I knew it, I didn’t love it as much, and he began using it to deliver pizzas for the pizza place. Then, in the summer of 1992, Dave bought the 1985 Mustang from a guy he knew. It was his dream car. It was black when he bought it but was later painted yellow. He delivered pizzas in that car, too, and slowly started modifying it. Then he started taking it to Great Lakes Dragaway in Wisconsin to test and tune, and I followed him in my car. He replaced the street tires with slicks at the track.
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO MAKE A PASS DOWN THE RACETRACK IN THE 1985 MUSTANG?
When it got to the point that the 1985 Mustang couldn’t be driven to the track and had to be on a trailer and taken to the track, I started learning more and more about the car, the combination, and using nitrous. The years went by, and in 1996, I told Dave that I thought I would like to make some passes in it someday. Then, we went to Great Lakes Dragaway on June 30, 1998, and I made my very first pass in the 1985 Mustang at 6:20 p.m. I remember the exact date and time.
IT'S IMPRESSIVE THAT YOU REMEMBER THE EXACT TIME AND DATE. WHAT DETAILS WILL YOU SHARE ABOUT YOUR VERY FIRST PASS IN THE 1985 MUSTANG?
I was nervous because it was Dave’s car and not my car, and he had a friend of ours ride with me because Dave didn’t want to make me more nervous by riding with me himself. I ran 13.69 and 98 mph in the quarter-mile on the first pass, and then I ran 13.68 on the second pass, but on that second pass, a hose sprung a leak and water came up over the passenger’s side of the hood. Fortunately, none of it got on the tires. I loved the passes, and I felt like I was going so fast.
HOW DID IT COME TO BE THAT YOU WOULD OFFICIALLY BEGIN YOUR RACING CAREER IN THE 1985 MUSTANG?
Dave was racing in a series at Great Lakes Dragaway and in NMCA Xtreme Street in the car, but at the same time, he was building a 1992 Mustang notchback, and after my first few passes in the 1985 Mustang, he suggested that I could take over racing that car while he raced the 1992 Mustang notchback that he was building. That sounded great to me, so in 2009, I started running the True Street Series at Great Lakes Dragaway.
WERE YOU COMPETITIVE RIGHT AWAY?
Yes. I actually was competitive right away because I had inherited a race car that was already proven. The car was dialed in, and the chassis was tuned and on point. I was running 8.20s in the quarter-mile, and I actually won an event and finished in second place in True Street Series points at Great Lakes Dragaway in 2009. In October of that year, the track had free spectator entry, and family, friends, and neighbors came to watch me race. There was a little more excitement than I anticipated when I was racing Rich Jelinek. We left the starting line at the same time. I was in the left lane, and the car went left up against the wall and then shot me to the right, and Rich drove by me. I remember praying that Rich would get by me so I wouldn’t hit him, and he did. It was not a hard impact, luckily, and then I was thinking that Dave was going to kill me because I just ripped the mirror off of the car.
DID THAT THREATEN TO DERAIL YOUR PLANS TO CONTINUE RACING?
No, it didn’t deter me from racing. I was just upset about the damage to the car. We took our time repairing it, and we didn’t come back out racing until August 2011. That was when I ran NMCA for the first time, and it was in the Street Outlaw category at Milan Dragway in Michigan. Jason Lee and I were the only two to race the category that weekend, but it certainly was memorable. When I was in the lanes waiting to race him, I was thinking to myself that I was about to race Jason Lee — the Jason Lee — and that there was no way I was going to be able to pull off a win against him because he is amazing. I strapped in, let go of the button and I saw him for a split second, but then he fell back and never came around me. If I pushed the gas pedal any harder, it would have been through the floor, and I actually won. After the pass, Jason came up to me, gave me a hug, congratulated me, told me I deserved the win, and told me he spun. It was really something. I stayed in Street Outlaw until 2016 when I wrecked at the NMCA race at Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio.
WE WERE SO SORRY TO SEE THAT DEVASTATING WRECK. DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT?
It was definitely terrible. I had a solo run, and I knew I would be racing Phil Hines in the next round, and I was excited about that because anytime I have a chance to learn something from a racer of his caliber, it’s a blessing. Anyway, I remember leaving the starting line, and the throttle hung open. The car took a sharp right turn and I went head-first into the wall at 180 mph. I ended up with six broken ribs on my left side, and bruised ribs on my right side. I had a broken sternum and I almost severed my tongue from biting it on impact. I had a concussion, and I lost consciousness. They took me to a hospital near the track and then transferred me to a trauma center in Toledo, and I was there for four days.
YOU HAD AN OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT DURING YOUR RECOVERY. AT THAT TIME, DID YOU WANT TO GET BACK TO RACING RIGHT AWAY OR TAKE SOME TIME OFF?
I wanted to get back to racing as soon as possible. I didn’t want to let that wreck deter or define me. By October of that year, Dave had come across a 2005 Mustang roller for sale, and we bought it. We started upgrading its safety equipment, using what we had learned from the 1985 Mustang. We installed a Race Tech seat, which wraps around my head and is padded. We sent my NecksGen head and neck restraint in to be inspected in case it was compromised in the wreck, and they replaced it for me. I have a button on the car to kill power to the engine and launch the chutes. We upgraded the chassis, and we stuck with the same 588 big-block Chevrolet engine by Jimmy Lopez.
DID WORKING ON THE NEW CAR HELP FAMILIARIZE YOU WITH IT AND FORM A RELATIONSHIP WITH IT?
It definitely did. I would sit in the car in the garage every night, look everything over, and go through the motions. The switch panel, shifter, and other items were in different locations.
WHEN DID YOU DEBUT THE 2005 MUSTANG?
It was during a test session in May of 2018 at Cordova Dragway in Illinois. I was anxious to test the whole new setup and do some burnouts and launches and see how everything felt. I will admit that I was a little concerned about how I would actually feel when it came time to be back in a car after the wreck, but I felt better after the first burnout. Then I actually cried after the pass at the end of the track because it went so well. I had decided to try Nitrous Pro Street at the NMCA race in Illinois that year, but after that, I moved to NMCA Xtreme Street, and have enjoyed competing in that class the past couple of years.
YOU EARNED A NICE NINTH-PLACE FINISH IN NMCA EDELBROCK XTREME STREET POINTS IN 2022. WHAT WILL YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR YEAR?
I raced at events in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, and I think I did pretty well. I qualified in the middle of the field at each race and made it past the first round at each race. We had switched over to a FuelTech system last winter, so we were getting the combination dialed in with that, while also sorting out some chassis concerns. We ran a personal best of 4.67 and 155 mph this year, and we were very happy with that. We had a great year with great people. My car is now at Straightline Performance to go from a three-link to a four-link, and we are looking forward to 2023.
IS IT FAIR TO SAY THAT YOUR HUSBAND, DAVE, IS AMONG YOUR STRONGEST SUPPORTERS?
He is definitely my strongest supporter and my main motivation, and I couldn’t do this without him. He is a button-pusher, too, but he knows that I’ll accept the challenge. Racing is our life. We live it, we breathe it and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
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This tough and talented radial racer challenges the competition in Edelbrock Xtreme Street
Interview by Mary Lendzion
Photography by FSC staff
With brothers who were into muscle cars, Georgina Buckley had some amusing adolescent adventures around their home in Lake Villa, Illinois. In addition to watching them work on their cars, she watched them wheel them up and down the street and wind up for burnouts. Forever in her memory is how she slid across the vinyl backseat of her brother’s Chevelle during one of those burnouts in the empty parking lot of a movie theater.
All these years later, she laughs as she recalls how on one hand, her brothers were protective of her, and on the other hand, they involved her in their antics.
Georgina went on to marry Dave Buckley, who, like her brothers, was into muscle cars. She fell in love with racing while watching him race, and before long, he offered to set up his 1985 Mustang for her to race.
She was having the time of her life until she had a terrible on-track crash during an NMCA race at Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio in 2016. She was very seriously injured, and many people wondered whether she would return to the cockpit of a race car, but she did just that after purchasing and preparing a 2005 Mustang.
For the past few years, Georgina has been building a remarkable relationship with the car powered by a big-block Chevrolet by Jimmy Lopez and a nitrous system by Fast Lane, and in 2022, that resulted in a personal best of 4.67 and 155 mph in the eighth-mile, the ability to comfortably cruise down the same track she previously crashed on, and ultimately a ninth-place finish in NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street points. Georgina capped off the year by standing on stage alongside her fellow top 10 NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street racers at the Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals Awards Ceremony, held during the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show on December 9 at the Indiana Convention Center. She later said that “meant the world” to her.
Read on for more about Georgina, who rolls on 275 drag radials and competes in Ultra Street and other categories when she’s not competing in NMCA Edelbrock Xtreme Street.
AFTER BEING INFLUENCED BY YOUR BROTHERS, WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST MUSCLE CAR?
In the summer of 1991, I bought a black 1982 Camaro Berlinetta with a V8 engine and a T-top, which is funny considering I’m so pale and get sunburned so easily and couldn’t have the T-top out. Then I met my husband, Dave, on November 13, 1991. My friend had a crush on him and wanted to go on a double date with him and another guy, but Dave and I had a connection, and he asked me to the movies. He was managing a pizza place at the time, and he was telling me all of the things wrong with my 1982 Camaro Berlinetta. Before I knew it, I didn’t love it as much, and he began using it to deliver pizzas for the pizza place. Then, in the summer of 1992, Dave bought the 1985 Mustang from a guy he knew. It was his dream car. It was black when he bought it but was later painted yellow. He delivered pizzas in that car, too, and slowly started modifying it. Then he started taking it to Great Lakes Dragaway in Wisconsin to test and tune, and I followed him in my car. He replaced the street tires with slicks at the track.
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO MAKE A PASS DOWN THE RACETRACK IN THE 1985 MUSTANG?
When it got to the point that the 1985 Mustang couldn’t be driven to the track and had to be on a trailer and taken to the track, I started learning more and more about the car, the combination, and using nitrous. The years went by, and in 1996, I told Dave that I thought I would like to make some passes in it someday. Then, we went to Great Lakes Dragaway on June 30, 1998, and I made my very first pass in the 1985 Mustang at 6:20 p.m. I remember the exact date and time.
IT'S IMPRESSIVE THAT YOU REMEMBER THE EXACT TIME AND DATE. WHAT DETAILS WILL YOU SHARE ABOUT YOUR VERY FIRST PASS IN THE 1985 MUSTANG?
I was nervous because it was Dave’s car and not my car, and he had a friend of ours ride with me because Dave didn’t want to make me more nervous by riding with me himself. I ran 13.69 and 98 mph in the quarter-mile on the first pass, and then I ran 13.68 on the second pass, but on that second pass, a hose sprung a leak and water came up over the passenger’s side of the hood. Fortunately, none of it got on the tires. I loved the passes, and I felt like I was going so fast.
HOW DID IT COME TO BE THAT YOU WOULD OFFICIALLY BEGIN YOUR RACING CAREER IN THE 1985 MUSTANG?
Dave was racing in a series at Great Lakes Dragaway and in NMCA Xtreme Street in the car, but at the same time, he was building a 1992 Mustang notchback, and after my first few passes in the 1985 Mustang, he suggested that I could take over racing that car while he raced the 1992 Mustang notchback that he was building. That sounded great to me, so in 2009, I started running the True Street Series at Great Lakes Dragaway.
WERE YOU COMPETITIVE RIGHT AWAY?
Yes. I actually was competitive right away because I had inherited a race car that was already proven. The car was dialed in, and the chassis was tuned and on point. I was running 8.20s in the quarter-mile, and I actually won an event and finished in second place in True Street Series points at Great Lakes Dragaway in 2009. In October of that year, the track had free spectator entry, and family, friends, and neighbors came to watch me race. There was a little more excitement than I anticipated when I was racing Rich Jelinek. We left the starting line at the same time. I was in the left lane, and the car went left up against the wall and then shot me to the right, and Rich drove by me. I remember praying that Rich would get by me so I wouldn’t hit him, and he did. It was not a hard impact, luckily, and then I was thinking that Dave was going to kill me because I just ripped the mirror off of the car.
DID THAT THREATEN TO DERAIL YOUR PLANS TO CONTINUE RACING?
No, it didn’t deter me from racing. I was just upset about the damage to the car. We took our time repairing it, and we didn’t come back out racing until August 2011. That was when I ran NMCA for the first time, and it was in the Street Outlaw category at Milan Dragway in Michigan. Jason Lee and I were the only two to race the category that weekend, but it certainly was memorable. When I was in the lanes waiting to race him, I was thinking to myself that I was about to race Jason Lee — the Jason Lee — and that there was no way I was going to be able to pull off a win against him because he is amazing. I strapped in, let go of the button and I saw him for a split second, but then he fell back and never came around me. If I pushed the gas pedal any harder, it would have been through the floor, and I actually won. After the pass, Jason came up to me, gave me a hug, congratulated me, told me I deserved the win, and told me he spun. It was really something. I stayed in Street Outlaw until 2016 when I wrecked at the NMCA race at Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio.
WE WERE SO SORRY TO SEE THAT DEVASTATING WRECK. DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT?
It was definitely terrible. I had a solo run, and I knew I would be racing Phil Hines in the next round, and I was excited about that because anytime I have a chance to learn something from a racer of his caliber, it’s a blessing. Anyway, I remember leaving the starting line, and the throttle hung open. The car took a sharp right turn and I went head-first into the wall at 180 mph. I ended up with six broken ribs on my left side, and bruised ribs on my right side. I had a broken sternum and I almost severed my tongue from biting it on impact. I had a concussion, and I lost consciousness. They took me to a hospital near the track and then transferred me to a trauma center in Toledo, and I was there for four days.
YOU HAD AN OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT DURING YOUR RECOVERY. AT THAT TIME, DID YOU WANT TO GET BACK TO RACING RIGHT AWAY OR TAKE SOME TIME OFF?
I wanted to get back to racing as soon as possible. I didn’t want to let that wreck deter or define me. By October of that year, Dave had come across a 2005 Mustang roller for sale, and we bought it. We started upgrading its safety equipment, using what we had learned from the 1985 Mustang. We installed a Race Tech seat, which wraps around my head and is padded. We sent my NecksGen head and neck restraint in to be inspected in case it was compromised in the wreck, and they replaced it for me. I have a button on the car to kill power to the engine and launch the chutes. We upgraded the chassis, and we stuck with the same 588 big-block Chevrolet engine by Jimmy Lopez.
DID WORKING ON THE NEW CAR HELP FAMILIARIZE YOU WITH IT AND FORM A RELATIONSHIP WITH IT?
It definitely did. I would sit in the car in the garage every night, look everything over, and go through the motions. The switch panel, shifter, and other items were in different locations.
WHEN DID YOU DEBUT THE 2005 MUSTANG?
It was during a test session in May of 2018 at Cordova Dragway in Illinois. I was anxious to test the whole new setup and do some burnouts and launches and see how everything felt. I will admit that I was a little concerned about how I would actually feel when it came time to be back in a car after the wreck, but I felt better after the first burnout. Then I actually cried after the pass at the end of the track because it went so well. I had decided to try Nitrous Pro Street at the NMCA race in Illinois that year, but after that, I moved to NMCA Xtreme Street, and have enjoyed competing in that class the past couple of years.
YOU EARNED A NICE NINTH-PLACE FINISH IN NMCA EDELBROCK XTREME STREET POINTS IN 2022. WHAT WILL YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR YEAR?
I raced at events in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, and I think I did pretty well. I qualified in the middle of the field at each race and made it past the first round at each race. We had switched over to a FuelTech system last winter, so we were getting the combination dialed in with that, while also sorting out some chassis concerns. We ran a personal best of 4.67 and 155 mph this year, and we were very happy with that. We had a great year with great people. My car is now at Straightline Performance to go from a three-link to a four-link, and we are looking forward to 2023.
IS IT FAIR TO SAY THAT YOUR HUSBAND, DAVE, IS AMONG YOUR STRONGEST SUPPORTERS?
He is definitely my strongest supporter and my main motivation, and I couldn’t do this without him. He is a button-pusher, too, but he knows that I’ll accept the challenge. Racing is our life. We live it, we breathe it and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
