John Willoughby:
Greene Publishing, Inc.
On any given day, you can find 31-year-old Clint Riley at O'Reilly Auto Parts store, in Madison, but on select weekends out of the year, he's donning his fire suit and strapping into a dragster to hit over 180 mph in less than seven seconds.
Raised on the Atlantic shore with racing roots in Daytona Beach, Fla., "Smiley" Riley, as he is affectionately called, is still smiling, fresh off a memorable moment in May when he loaded up his blue top dragster racer to race in his third national event, the Arby's National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Southern Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway. Lucky enough, he brought home more than his rail dragster, he brought home his first-ever national Wally Trophy, after passing veteran racer Steve Cohen.
The Wally Trophy is designed in memory of Wall Parks, founder of the NHRA. "Racers can go a lifetime and never win this coveted trophy," Riley stated.
The trophy-run was held in the fifth-round of the top dragster division of the Arby's NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday, May 5. With a 7.41 run at 184 mph, Riley took home the win over Steve Cohen, a top dragster veteran who's been in the game since 1979. Cohen, a 1987 NHRA Super Comp world champion, ran nearly two seconds behind Riley, after handicap start.
According to NHRA, the final round in the division was decided after Cohen left too soon by approximately four-thousandths of a second. Riley stated that although he had one of the slowest cars, he was one of the most consistent through the five rounds, with wins against some of the fastest drivers in Atlanta, Ga.
Riley was born in 1987 into a racing family. His father, Mike Riley, had roots in NASCAR with teams in the ARCA and Busch National Series. The Riley family came to Madison County in 1996, allowing him to be a part of the Madison County High School Class of 2006. In 2007, Riley began working for Madison's O'Reilly Auto Parts and has since made his way up to store manager.
Riley's need-for-speed developed in high school when he received a Ford Mustang streetcar. With plans to take it to the drag strip, a race engine was built. "It was too gnarly for the street," Riley laughed. "It started as a basic, everyday streetcar, and it slowly evolved. [We] kept it with the sleeper look, as they called it." Riley described it as "rundown" on the outside, but he made sure the important parts counted.
In late 2008, Riley dipped his toes into the world of motorcycle racing. He eventually became involved with BlackCat Motorsports, out of Clearwater, Fla., which accelerated his career as a racer. In the first few races, Riley reflected on the fact that he was one of only three to ever put a street-driven Harley Davidson V-Rod into the "eight-second zone." In September of 2011, Riley traveled to Louisiana with BlackCat Motorsports to race in the Cajun Nitro Nationals, where he won the event with an 8.7 second run at 147 mph. One month later, the race-ready motorcycle, with a revised tune-up, set a national record in Rockingham, N.C., at 8.38 seconds at approximately 162 mph.
In 2014, Riley purchased a motorcycle from BlackCat Motorsports to campaign and won the national championship of the V-Twin class of the manufacturer's cup motorcycle drag racing series. This came with two top-five finished in the Street ET and Super Comp classes.
With wins spanning across 2015 and 2016, the run record set in 2011 was broken in the fall of 2016 with an 8.26 time at South Georgia Motorsports Park, in Adel, Ga. Riley recorded top-five national standings in two classes and still holds the national record today.
Upon transitioning from motorcycle racing in 2017, Riley had bought a purpose-built rail dragster from Maddox Race Cars, equipped with and built with his father, MRE Power Products. The proven winner, as Riley calls it, had begun burning rubber on the drag strips in the fall of 2017, with his first local race at the South Georgia Motorsports Park, in Adel, Ga. Riley finished 2018 running nearly four divisional races and one national event.
This year is considered his first full-time season, with hopes to run an even fuller schedule in 2020. Riley is currently seeking marketing partnership opportunities to seek a world-championship run in 2020.
Clint is the son of Mike and Diane Riley, brother of Christie Riley and is married to Brooke Kinsley Riley. They reside in Cherry Lake.