JEGS RACER OF THE MONTH - Donny "Hollywood" Urban
By Tim Glover

hen Donny Urban first became interested in fast cars, it was on the streets near the Washington, DC area. Fortunately, he met Steve Witherow, who was into bracket racing and winning regularly at Old Dominion Dragway in Manassas, Virginia. Initially, Urban went to help Witherow, but soon caught the bug, and in 1987 began racing his ’70 Camaro in the points program at Old Dominion. He would drive the car to the track, switch tires, go rounds, and then put the street tires back on to go home.

His mother, Maureen Bourgendien, is an avid supporter. At first, she wasn’t so sure about this drag racing thing, but quickly warmed up to it because it had taken him off the streets. She has many pictures of him throughout his career, and has STRICT instructions for him to call her immediately whenever he wins a race. It does not matter what time of day or night it is, his instructions are to call her right away.

Urban has owned numerous race cars, including the ’70 Camaro he started with, a ’67 and a ’68 Camaro and ten dragsters. He likes to build a new car each year and sell the old one. Although he has used a couple of Undercover dragsters, and has a good relationship with them, his car of choice is a Race Tech dragster. In addition to living near the factory, he is also friends with Race Tech owner Russ Farmer.

Urban is now a partner with Bob Harris at Performance Automotive and Tire. In fact, he decided to pull up stakes and move to North Carolina to go into business with Harris. He said it was not too easy in the beginning to blend in with the people, but he is doing fine now. He does not miss the congestion around Washington, DC. He said the traffic was so bad he had to leave the area around lunchtime to go to a race, just to avoid the bumper to bumper rush hour. He also likes living in North Carolina because it is a more central location for racing.

Urban was one of the early adopters of a dragster, and for a short time raced the only one at his track when they were not as popular. He also said his group of friends were one of the first groups of people to get into delay boxes. He remembered one race early in his career when he won with .550 and .570 lights coupled to .02 and .03 over passes. His current Race Tech machine runs 4.70s at 142mph, (although with the high gear only setup it turns 5.15s at 142mph).

He won a track championship during his first year of racing, at Colonial Beach Dragway in Colonial Beach, Virginia in 1987. He still enjoys points racing, having run in the points until 1999 at Old Dominion. Since he travels a lot, he has not won any championships at Old Dominion. In addition to the “Big Money” races he goes to, he is also enjoying running the points at the Carolina Coalition Series races. “It’s really a family deal, with Jr. Dragsters, Footbrake and Top class. All the races are over at nearly the same time, and then people start cooking out,” added Urban.

Urban enjoys putting colorful paint schemes on his race cars. In 1992, one of his dragsters had a paint scheme similar to Top Fuel racer K.C. “Hollywood” Spurlock’s race car. Soon, people began calling Urban “Hollywood”, and the name stuck. At first glance, people who don’t know him might think he is cocky. He is very competitive, but is also one of the first to jump in and help when others have problems at the track.


Urban likes to go “Big Money” racing, and his territory covers the United States as far north as New Jersey, as far west as Michigan, and as far south as Florida.

His recent win during day five of the Bradenton race was his first win in Florida. His week began similar to the rest of 2003, where he had a great car but not much luck. He became sick with a cold / flu, but decided to race since he was already there. He got to the quarters and eigth finals, but lost on good runs. His luck got better when he won a Run for the Money one day, and tied for it the next with good friend Steve Witherow’s son, Alan. Finally, day five will be forever etched into his memory. He defeated a couple of local heavy hitters, and then had to get past Gary Williams, Mike Ruff, David Rampy, Edmond Richardson, Mark McKay and finally Scott Richardson! He said that win was the best, even topping his $25K win at a 1999 Memorial Day 25K race in Rockingham, North Carolina. His highs quickly turned to lows the following week at West Palm Beach.

At the 2003 edition of the five day race in West Palm Beach, his good friend and engine builder Andy Beal was seriously injured in a 170mph top end crash. Urban’s group of friends (which include, but is not limited to, Brett, Meredith, Jeff and Scotty Nesbitt, Travis Harvey, Danny and Leigh Dilldine, Russ Farmer, Bob and Jason Harris and the entire Beal family) spent most of their time visiting Beal at the hospital during the week. At first, Beal was given a 50/50 chance to live, but he is recovering well now, and his doctors expect a full recovery in six months.

The group then put their heads together for ideas about raising money to help Beal’s family. They were able to raise thousands of dollars from many sources, including many DragRaceResults.com members. At the Farmington race on Thanksgiving weekend, the group decided to donate any of their winnings to Beal, and Urban won Thanksgiving day. He said he will always treasure the souvenir check that says “Get Well Andy”. They also had 50/50 drawings, Calcutta pots by Mike Westmoreland (who Urban said was a huge help), and a scooter raffle by Mike Gross.

The following week, Andy was able to come home from the hospital and he came almost immediately to Piedmont Dragway to watch his friends compete in the Winter Games race. Urban found himself racing against none other than close friend Danny Dilldine driving Andy Beal’s car for the second day final. They wanted to call it a race and let Andy take the wheel for the win, but Beal would have none of that and insisted they make it a race. This time the souvenir check for Urban was labeled “Welcome Home Andy,” and all the proceeds were given to the Beal family.

Urban’s best year was 1993, when he appeared in 28 finals and won 21 of them. For 2003, his luck was not as good until the end of the season. In 30 degree weather at the IHRA Division One ET Finals, he earned a runner up spot in a ten round gambler’s race. During round three, the weather became so cold he blew the tires off at the starting line, but luckily got the win. For round four, he switched over to starting in high gear (his transbrake is set up for low or high gear), dialed up four tenths, and added .500 delay to his box. He guessed well enough to win that round, and although his final round package was great (teen light - .01 over) his opponent used an “oh” light and .01 over to win. Another one of his favorite accomplishments is finishing in the finals three years in a row at Rockingham during “Big Money” races.

Urban met his fiancee, Lisa Thomas, at his current business, Performance Automotive and Tire. Three years ago she came in one day for an oil change, which was performed. One week later, she returned (in the same car) for another oil change. Donny quickly caught on, and asked her out. They plan to marry soon, on May 15, 2004. Her son, Brandon, who is now eight years old, told them one week ago that he was ready for Jr. Dragsters. Lisa, who is close to her family, has still not witnessed a win by Urban, but it is only a matter of time.

Urban was quick to acknowledge the contributions and help from many sponsors, including:

Performance Automotive
Jeg’s High Performance
BTE Racing
Biondo Electronics
Beal Racing Engines
J&J Custom Motorsports (the wild paint jobs)
Jeff Miller
RaceTech


Urban ended his interview with the statement, “The money’s great when you win, but the bottom line is the competition. I’ve also enjoyed meeting and making friends with so many people. I have friends in every state. That’s the best part of racing.”

Could it be Donny is fast becoming the next “Urban Legend”?