In drag racing, there are moments that define us—not by the trophies in the trailer or the increments on a timeslip, but by the thin line between disaster and survival. For Jeff Hefler, that moment came at nearly 190 mph during a Top Sportsman bye run at the 2014 NHRA Mile-High Nationals. Just past the 1,000-foot mark, the engine let go. In an instant, his car snapped toward the right retaining wall, then ricocheted across the track and into the opposite barrier. What should have been just another round became a brutal, violent crash that Jeff still calls the closest he’s ever come to not making it home.
NHRA officials later brought him his safety harness. What they showed him changed his life.
The belts had frayed, dangerously close to failure.
“Had the belts let loose,” Jeff says, “and I would not be here today.”
For most people, that realization would be a haunting memory.
For Jeff, it was a mission.
A Racer’s Perspective Becomes a Lifeline for Others:
Jeff wasn’t new to the dangers of racing. He has amassed over 100 Wallys and multiple national championships. He understood the stakes. He understood what it meant to strap into a race car with complete trust.
But after the wreck, he also understood something new: how close that trust had come to being betrayed. Jeff, like most racers, like to believe that a severe accident is something that can not happen to them. I personally believe it is a mental barrier we put between ourselves and the dangerous sport we compete in.
That moment became the catalyst for what would eventually become Pro 1 Racing & Safety Products—a company now known across drag racing for belts, fire suits, and safety gear built with obsessive attention to detail.
Jeff often gets credit for founding Pro 1, but anyone who knows the story knows the truth:
The heart of Pro 1 is Charlotte.
From a 10×10 Spare Room to a National Brand:
Pro 1 didn’t begin with venture capital, investor meetings, or fancy workshops.
It began in a 10×10 room in the Hefler home, with Charlotte going to her day job, then coming home and sewing late into the night—one stitch at a time, building the earliest Pro 1 belts. The belts are still all made by hand today, with no automated machinery. From the spare room in the house to a 15,000 square foot facility, the same attention to detail goes into every set of belts.
While Jeff researched, engineered, and tested, Charlotte created.
She is still known, affectionately and accurately, as “The General.”
If it isn’t perfect, it doesn’t leave the shop.
Not then. Not now.
When SFI eventually inspected their first run of belts, Jeff remembers the reaction clearly:
“They were blown away by the detail and how well everything was made.”
This wasn’t a mom-and-pop quality product.
It was elite craftsmanship—what racers today often describe as the safety equivalent of a top-tier TIG-welded chromoly chassis.
From that tiny spare room, Pro 1 grew into a company now producing 30–40 sets of belts a day, along with custom fire suits, neck braces, and more. Today, it’s Jeff, Charlotte, and two dedicated team members. Small by design. Powerful by philosophy.
They could scale, sure—but they don’t want to lose direct oversight.
They don’t want to lose the soul that built this company.
Racers Supporting Racers:
Jeff will tell anyone: Pro 1 is different for one simple reason.
When you call Pro 1, you talk to a racer.
Not someone reading from a script. Not someone making minimum wage to answer phones.
You talk to someone who has strapped in thousands of times. Someone who has won over a hundred Wallys. Someone who has lived through a crash so violent he remembers wondering, mid-flight, if he’d make it out the other side.
In motorsports, there is an intangible bond between racers—a shared understanding, a shared risk, a shared love for something that doesn’t always make sense to the outside world. Racers supporting racers isn’t a slogan; it’s a survival mechanism. It’s a culture.
And Pro 1 embodies that ethos perfectly.
The American Dream, Stitched in Strength:
When we talk about the American Dream, we often think of grand images: skyscrapers, fortunes, fame.
But the real American Dream looks like this:
A racer and his wife, working out of a spare room, building something with their own hands.
Late nights. Early mornings. Risk. Hope. Grit.
A business built not for profit, but from purpose.
And they didn’t build it alone.
Jeff speaks often about gratitude—toward racers, toward customers, toward the entire drag racing community. But above all, toward Charlotte.
“Without her,” he says, “none of this would have happened.”
Every racer knows the truth in that. Behind every car in the lanes, there is a support system—spouses, family, friends, kids—who sacrifice, encourage, push, endure, and believe.
Without them, none of us would be here.
A Personal Note (From Kline)
I run Pro 1 belts in my own car. The moment the build was completed just over a year ago, they were one of the first components I absolutely knew I needed. When you hold them in your hands, the quality is obvious. It’s not marketing hype. It’s not branding. It’s not trend.
It’s craftsmanship, and it’s peace of mind.
As racers, we rely on each other.
We celebrate together.
We hurt together.
We innovate together.
And when one of our own puts a good product into the world—backed by experience, integrity, and heart—the community shows up.
Jeff and Charlotte are living proof of that.
Moving Forward, With Gratitude
Today, Pro 1 continues to grow, carefully and intentionally.
They are busier than ever—almost too busy to race the way they used to—but grateful to be able to protect the very people who support them.
Jeff wanted to end with this message:
“Thank you—to the racers, to the community, to my wife, and to our entire team. We wouldn’t be here without you.”
From a terrible crash to a thriving safety company protecting racers across the country, the Heflers’ journey is more than a business story.
It is a reminder of what makes drag racing special:
courage, craftsmanship, community, and the families who hold us together.
And it is, unmistakably, a modern American Dream.
