The West Coast Hot Rod Association returned to Tucson Dragway May 29-30, 2020 for the 5th annual Mickey Thompson Tires West Coast Hot Rod Association’s “The Battle” presented by Hughes Performance. “The Battle” was originally scheduled in Las Vegas, NV at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway but had to be rescheduled due to the COVID-19 situation.
With the temperatures in the high 80’s during the afternoon, it was awesome racing into the wee hours of the morning. West Coast Hot Rod Association brought in Jimmy Bradshaw from Sticky Mafia Track Services, which worked with Matt and the Tucson Dragway crew and they prepped the track to be on kill. We had multiple racers and crew members come up and say how bad ass night racing is and how great the track was! With over 220 cars, it turned out to be the best Tucson race we have had to date!
We had the famous Al Tucci announcing and entertaining on the mic again as the official WCHRA announcer! We were so excited to have him out in Tucson with us again! He will be with us all through the 2020 race season so make sure you come on out and say hello!
Friday was a WCHRA Test N Tune which went off with a hitch like it always does and was capped off with the first Bracket Race of the event for Super Pro and Pro! We had racers come near and far. An Arizona native and previous WCHRA winner Joe Kidd Jr, took the win in Super Pro and Leroy Duran took the win in Pro.
Saturday was intense with racers traveling over 1000+ miles. Everyone wanted a chance to prove their worth, collect the big purses and receive double the points as “The Battle” was a double points race!
Big Tire presented by MagnaFuel Products Inc and Hughes Performance had Dennis Davison in his Chevrolet Corvette from Glendale, AZ take the win over Las Vegas, NV native Tim McKoy that couldn’t make the call in his beautiful Area 51 nitrous fed Camaro.
Small Tire presented by Menscer Motorsports and RC Components had Mike Orban from Grass Valley, CA in his Procharger powered Camaro take out in the final, Josh Edwards from Chandler, AZ in his Prochargerd Camaroowned by Rick Webb.
Our newest class Nitrous Only presented by Induction Solutions and Mike’s Transmissions had some fierce competitors with Palmdale, CA native Rich Hoyle in his Chevy Nova called “The Greyhound” taking out Jon Bundrant out of Hemet, CA.
Outlaw 8.5 vs Limited 275 presented by Vortech Supercharges and Bag of Donuts Racing had a great final round when newly returned to drag racing Travis Wallace in his nitrous fed Ford Mustang based out of Glendale, AZ took out Brian Parks out of Lancaster, CA.
Ultra Street presented by Procharger and Area 51 Fireworks was still on fire in Tucson. The 2018 WCHRA Champion Dan Dagata from Pomona, CA in his Induction Solutions nitrous powered Mustang took home the win over the 2019 WCHRA Champion Richard Shelly out of Glendale, AZ with his nitrous powered Mustang owned by Bill Wallace.
Our newly re-structured Top Comp class presented by Speedwire Systems and SI Valves had Joe Glenwinkel out of Poway, CA as the last man standing in an exciting final round against Cody Webber out of Kingman, AZ who has come up in the ranks from first starting in Jr Dragsters.
After splitting up our Index classes this year, in B/Gas presented by RES – Race Engine Systems had Dak Spears out of Las Vegas, NV take the win over Mark Shaoff based out of Redlands, CA. Alta Loma, CA based Kevin Stokesberry became the C/Gas winner presented by JE Pistons in his beautiful ‘71 Chevelle over Kris Johnson from Lancaster, CA. In D/Gas presented by Hughes Performance, Bill Wallace took home the “W”. Last but not least in our newly brought back class of E/Gas presented by Dustin Lee Racing Engines, sponsor Dustin Lee did what he does best and took that win home to Antelope Acres, CA over Arizona native Kyle Holbrook.
Super Pro presented by VP Racing Fuels was dominated by the Arizona native Joe Kidd Jr again on Saturday night! Joe took his ’97 Dragster to the winners circle after taking down Las Vegas, NV local Peyton Januik.
Pro presented by PMR Racecars and VP Racing Lubricants was taken over Saturday by B/Gas winner Dak Spears out of Las Vegas, NV over Arizona local Joe Kidd Sr.
All of us at WCHRA would like to say, THANK YOU to all of our great racers, marketing partners, fans, Al Tucci, Jimmy Bradshaw and certainly the Tucson Dragway staff! We couldn’t do it without each and every one of you! Watch our Facebook, Instagram and website for upcoming race information! “For racers, by racers.”
Story by Rachelle Topol
This story was originally published on June 19, 2020. 
