As they say, any press is good press. We wouldn’t anticipate a whole lot of you are diehard dating and relationship reality series viewers, but if you do get roped into watching ABC’s upcoming season of The Bachelorette by your wife or girlfriend, you’ll at the very least have someone to root for.

NHRA Top Fuel driver and crewman Jordan Vandergriff, 27, was chosen through an audition process to appear on season 19 of the popular show, where he will vie for the hearts of one of two women, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, against 31 other men. The season premieres this evening at 8 p.m. ET, and as a brief clip from Entertainment Weekly revealed a couple of weeks back, Vandergriff’s drag racing background is central to his story on the show — he even takes his dragster to the introduction and shows Recchia around the 11,000 horsepower machine.

Season 18 of the Bachelorette consistently drew north of 3 million viewers, meaning Vandergriff’s appearance — which we hope is a lengthy stay — is excellent exposure for the NHRA and drag racing to a wider TV audience.

Vandergriff, the nephew of Top Fuel veteran Bob Vandergriff, Jr., made his NHRA debut in Top Fuel at the Arizona Nationals in 2019. He competed in 11 events during his rookie year, advancing to the semifinals in Phoenix and his first final round in Dallas, and was a strong contender for the Rookie of the Year honors that season.