In drag racing, partnerships are often found in teams, tuners, drivers, and car owners. For Ryan Tolley and Shelby Kendrick, the bond goes deeper than teammates — they’re a couple whose lives revolve around racing, each with a unique path and perspective of the sport. Their story is one of dedication to the sport and to one another, and the shared drive to build and race fast cars.

Ryan grew up at the racetrack, following his father and veteran racer, Don Tolley, around the racing scene and learning to tune his cars. “I’ve been going to the track since I was a kid. I started racing junior dragsters at 10 or 11, and by the time I was 17, I had a Nova that I bracket raced. Then I wanted to go faster, so I sold everything I had and started fresh on a heads-up car. It took me three years to get it together,” Ryan says.

That car is a 1971 Chevrolet Nova that’s back-halved with the factory firewall and floor pans still in place. It’s powered by a single-turbo, stock block aluminum 5.3-liter LS, with forged internals and cast heads, backed with a powerglide and a 9-inch rearend with a four-link. “It’s built around the original Dig or Die rules,” Ryan explains. “At the time, all I knew was the backside stuff, so that’s what I built for. But the car’s been solid and fast.”

Shelby Kendrick’s entry into racing couldn’t have been more different. “I had no background in racecars at all,” she opens. “I played sports all through school. My mom worked at Memphis International Raceway, and I worked concessions and picked up trash. I begged her for a junior dragster, but she always told me no…she didn’t want a conflict with work.”

That changed the day Shelby turned 18. “My mom took me to the track with my daily driver, a GT500,” she says. “I made passes in that, and then a few weeks later, JJ Da Boss put me in his nitrous car, ‘Heifer.’ That was my first real pass in a racecar. After that, I kept driving for about a year, drove “Hummingbird” for a little while, and now I’ve been driving my ’73 Challenger for two years.”

That Challenger has a storied past. Originally a big-tire, 6.0-cert tube chassis car with ties to Dog the Bounty Hunter’s family, it came into her possession with a blown Hemi setup. “We tore it down, put in a Hemi, switched to FuelTech, added a ProCharger, and now it has a tall-deck Hemi with a Rossler transmission,” Shelby explains. “It’s a purpose-built steel roof and quarters, full tube chassis car.”

Shelby has been behind the wheel for only three years but has made a strong impression. She recently entered the PDRA Pro Street class at the Mid-Atlantic Showdown, where her car ran a 4.21 after only eight passes with the new setup. “It was our first time on that tire,” she says. “We burned a piston and had a few bugs, but it was a good learning experience.”

While Shelby’s Challenger is capable of competing in PDRA and other front-side events, Ryan still leans into the no-prep scene with his Nova. “My car’s on slicks — I do some light-prep races here and there, but I built it to be simple and cost-effective. Shelby’s car is for the big no-prep events where it makes sense to take it. We seem to like having multiple cars to manage,” Ryan explains.

Their relationship started the way many racing friendships do: on the blacktop. Ryan was working for Kowalsky Racing, which built engines for JJ Da Boss and the Memphis Street Outlaws crew. Shelby was racing with JJ’s team at the time. The two met in Las Vegas during a street racing event. “Ryan was there with Jason Kowalsky’s car, and I was with JJ’s crew,” Shelby says. “We met there and have been together ever since.”

Shelby Kendrick moved to Virginia with Ryan Tolley and is in school full time, while crisscrossing the country racing.

Now, Shelby and Ryan are focused on their own racing operation. They both work at Kowalsky Racing — Ryan’s been there for over six years, and Shelby joined the team recently. “It’s a small shop, family-owned, and we’re really hands-on with everything. We build the engines, wire the cars, tune them. Everything’s done in-house,” he says.

The couple has a busy summer ahead. They recently ran the King of the South race at Shadyside Dragway, a $75,000-to-win shootout, and went a round at the $100,000 Speed Promotions small-tire race in Kentucky. “We’ll also hit PDRA in Maryland if my dad wants to go,” Ryan says. “He runs the Pro Boost car, and we usually bring both his and ours. It makes things more complicated, but that’s what we do.”

Shelby’s Challenger will continue to see big-tire no-prep action, while Ryan’s Nova serves as a reliable, front-side and slick-tire option. “We’ve been testing, tuning, learning,” Shelby explains. “Now it’s just about seat time and continuing to move forward.”

Their shared focus and work ethic are the backbone of their partnership, both in racing and in life. “We do everything on our cars ourselves,” Ryan says. “There’s no big crew behind us. It’s just us, working late nights, chasing the next race.”

In a sport built on competition and individuality, Ryan Tolley and Shelby Kendrick have carved out a path together, with two cars and one clear goal: to keep pushing forward.