See It, Trust It: How Dragster World Champion Evan Muchler is Racing Beyond Juniors

For Kettering University sophomore Evan Muchler ’28, racing isn’t just a passion. It’s a family tradition. His grandfather ran a ’69 Opel GT, a car now being rebuilt with Evan’s help. His father had also raced in the Super Gas class when he was sixteen, later moving into the No Box/Modified class for most of his career. Even Mulcher’s older sister has taken turns behind the wheel.

That foundation shaped him into the 2024 WDRA Summit Junior Dragster World Champion. 

The win didn’t come easy. The year before, Muchler finished second at the same event, an outcome that stuck with him. “As soon as I lost in the final in 2023, I was already thinking about how close I was and how I had the most potential out of everyone to make it back next year,” he said.

This year, Muchler shifted gears. Aging out of junior dragsters, he stepped into a different world: No Box racing in his dad’s 1994 Chevrolet S10.

The move wasn’t simple: a different vehicle, a different class and a steep learning curve. Muchler contrasted juniors and No Box racing this way: "In juniors, it's simple enough for kids. Cars run nearly identical speeds, and most of the time, kids are still learning basic things about the sport. In No Box, almost everyone you race knows the same things you do, and is just as consistent as you. It's harder to get them to make mistakes or perform better than them consistently."

Muchler is often the youngest in the lanes, lining up against seasoned No Box and Sportsman world champions. “The competition isn’t just tougher,” he said. “Some of these are drivers I grew up watching, and now I get to race them.”

This new challenge was as much a mental exercise as a physical one. The goal: achieve the lowest possible reaction time without “going red,” or leaving the line before the green light and earning an instant disqualification. He also had to run as close as possible to his dialed-in number, read his opponent’s closing speed, and decide in fractions of a second whether to push for the finish line or ease off to stay within his time.

As Muchler puts it, “See it. Trust it.”

“I don’t have to think about a lot of those things anymore. It’s second nature after 11 years of racing,” he added. “From reaction time to knowing if I’ll hit the number I said I would, the repetition pays off. That’s why the time trial in the morning is so important, to see what the track is like and what the weather might do.”

That blend of preparation, precision, and split-second decision-making is what brought Muchler to Kettering University. “The reason why I’m studying mechanical engineering is because of drag racing,” he said. “If I plan on drag racing for a lot longer, then I need to know how things work with my race cars and how to fix them.”

The connection runs both ways. As a sophomore, Muchler is just beginning his coursework in engines and systems, but he already sees how those lessons will deepen his understanding of the machines he races. “I’ve learned more about my car in the last year than in all the years before,” he said. “And as I start more engineering courses at Kettering, I’m excited to take that even further.”

Muchler has already made history, but he’s hungry for more. The goal is to win in No Box, then chase bigger stages, all while carrying on the Muchler family tradition: going fast.