Southwestern International Raceway

Tucson, AZ

On Saturday, April 28th another first happened at SIR. During the Jr. National Open, the Wicked West Coast 330’s made their first appearance. The cars are Jr. Dragsters on steroids. They are so fast and quick that they are only allowed to run to the 330 foot cone. Even at that they have a restricted ET at the 330 and only 13-17 year old drivers are able to compete. In the 1st WWC 330 final two California drivers took on each other in the heads-up race. Curtis Moffett from Modesto was the winner with a 4.474 and a .105 reaction time. The runner-up spot went to Jimmy Morroson with his .059 light and a 4.526 ET.

The 13-17 final for the Jr. National Open was again two California drivers. The number one spot went to Matt Hodges from San Diego when he had a .038 reaction time as he ran a 7.959 on his 7.95 dial at 80.53 MPH. Chelsea Straiton from Alpine, California came in number two with a .056 light and a break-out ET of 7.912 on her 7.94 dial.

In the largest class of the day, the 10-12 year olds, it took six rounds to get to the final. Tegan Rhodes was the eventual winner over Ryan Greenwell when she dialed an 8.93 and ran an 8.942 at 71.50 MPH after her .092 light. Ryan was a close second after his better .067 light, but a little off the dial of 8.91 and a run of 9.021 at 65.92 MPH.

When the youngest age group came to the line for their final, Evan Kowalski had a super .012 reaction time to get the win on his 12.90 dial and run of 13.045 at 48.08 MPH. Cody Webber was a little behind with his .153 light. He ran a 13.091 on his 12.90 dial at 49.19 MPH for the runner-up spot.

Still another first for SIR and our Jr. Dragsters during the O’Reilly Division 7 Jr. Dragster race on Sunday came when SIR threw in a Quick 32 with $1,000 total guaranteed payout. The big check and 1st place went to local racer Eric Dockins when both racers in the final broke out. Eric dialed a 5.05 and ran a 5.033 and had a great .014 light. Kayla Mozens went a litter further under with her 4.923 on the 4.94 dial and .061 light. The Quick 32 was a 330 bracket race on a 5 full tree, unlike Saturday’s 330 race that was a heads –up race on a 4 pro tree.

The top prize in the 8-9 Division 7 category was won by Dylan Cowling on his 13.096 run at 45.91 MPH. He dialed a 12.98 and had a .071 light. Austin Greenwell was runner-up after he dialed a 13.46 and ran a 13.672 at 41.86 MPH with a .093 reaction time.

Once again, the largest category on Sunday was the 10-12 year olds. The winner had to go through six rounds of competition and placed another Greenwell into a final. Ryan Greenwell brought home the championship as he dialed an 8.91 and ran a 9.679 at 69.53 MPH. The number two spot went to Samantha Ball when she broke out by 7 hundredths. Samantha dialed a 9.32 and ran a 9.254 at 69.96 MPH.

The 13-14 final was decided at the tree by 6 thousandths of a second when Raquel Roper went red. Kaitlyn McGee ran under her dial by 2 hundredths, but already had the win. Kaitlyn dialed an 8.05 and ran an 8.031 at 79.16 MPH. Raquel still ran a 7.983 on her 7.94 dial at 72.40 MPH.

The final race of the day pitted the Tucson driver, Kelsie Jacob against the La Mirada, California driver, David Thompson. David dialed a 7.98 and ran a 7.946 at 81.75 MPH, but ended up in the number 2 spot when he turned on the red light by .013. Kelsie also ran under her dial of 7.90 by 4 hundredths with a 7.86 at 82.69 MPH, but the win light was on in her lane.

The Curtis Moffett crew won the “Best Appearing Crew” award. The Best Package award went to Matt Hodges when he had a perfect reaction time and ran a 7.977 on his 7.97 dial in round one of eliminations.

The next race at SIR is a Test and Tune on Friday, May 4th and the Team Race #5 and HS Race #5 on May 5th. Gates will open both days at 4 PM.

Bruce Mabry, track announcer

Close this popup.