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A local racer’s story of life on the quarter mile and the challenges she came to overcome to be there has been put to film in a documentary that is having a premiere this Saturday at Morningside Baptist Church in Morristown at 6 p.m.

Madi Turley is an 18 year old drag racer out of Rutledge who has pushed through health challenges her entire life and is now a competitive member of the DH Davies Racing Team.

Michael Hensley, the owner/operator of Lamplighter Media Co., captured her story in a 60-minute documentary, “Racing for My Life: The Story of Madi Turley,” after the Turley family reached out and asked him to consider helping tell her story.

“At first, I was hesitant because I didn’t know really anything about drag racing,” Hensley said. “So I went to their home and sat down with them, and I just wanted to hear them out and to hear whether Lamplighter was going to be the best creative partner to bring the documentary to life.

“And just as we went through that process, it just finally occurred to me (that my) natural curiosity, because I didn’t know a lot about the subject, would serve the story well.”

And what a story it is.

Born premature at 24 weeks, Madi has pushed through health problems her entire life and has overcome doubts and obstacles, both on and off the track. And after some time behind the wheel of her Dodge Challenger, Miracle Madi is now more commonly known as Mopar Madi.

Hensley captured her story over the course of a year and follows Madi as she navigates health challenges while pursuing her passion for drag racing.

“So many people are looking for belonging in this world,” Hensley said. “Madi has found that sense of belonging on the drag strip. This film invites viewers into her journey and encourages them to reflect on where they feel most alive and free.

“It’s really a miracle that Madi is still here with us, because she has had so, so, so, so, so many health challenges. So getting to know Madi and her story and seeing her strength, it has been very powerful to witness that. And my hope is that, you know, the viewer and the audience will be inspired by that, that they’ll see Madi’s strength and be reminded of their own strength.”

Madi said the experience of being in a documentary was unusual.

“It’s been a really cool experience,” she said. “God just put me and Lamplighter together, and it just worked out.

“People are going to get to see it behind the scenes and what happens. There will be some in-car footage and you’re gonna see the ups and downs.

“Like, we had a major break at one of my races with the car, and you can see us kind of rushing around, trying to get it fixed before the next round, and we didn’t know if we were going to get it fixed in time

“It’s kind of a mix of everything, really.”

While Hensley is a native of Grainger County, he has opened a studio in Downtown Morristown as he gets his media company off the ground and is looking forward to sharing more stories throughout the Lakeway Area.

From Lamplighter’s website:

“A new documentary, “Racing for My Life: The Story of Madi Turley”, will premiere on Saturday, March 28 at 6:00 p.m. at Morningside Baptist Church in Morristown, Tennessee.

The public is invited to attend this free community premiere, hosted by the Turley family.

Produced and directed by Michael Hensley of Lamplighter Media Company, the 60-minute documentary follows Madi Turley, a team driver for DH Davies Racing, as she navigates health challenges while pursuing her passion for drag racing.

Set against the backdrop of East Tennessee’s racing culture, the film offers an intimate portrait of resilience, calling, and the places where people discover who they are meant to be.

At its core, “Racing for My Life” is about more than motorsports. Beneath the surface, the film asks a universal question: Are we following the call on our lives? For Madi, the answer is found on the drag strip — a place where she experiences freedom, belonging, and purpose, even in the midst of uncertainty.”