The Battle: West Coast Grudge Racing At The Strip In Las Vegas

For the second year in a row, Danny Topol and his team at the West Coast Hot Rod Association put on the biggest grudge race the West Coast has ever seen. Dubbed, “The Battle” presented by Ultra Carbon, the event is now in its second year and brought more bragging rights to the table. Participants from three countries assembled on the grounds of Las Vegas Motor Speedway to claim the titles in their respective classes.

Since this was a grudge race, the format was quite different from your average race at the drag strip. Pairing were drawn each round, meaning the competitors would never know who they were running until the finals. The competition on the track resembled much like it does on the street: instant green light (think arm drop) and no clocks. The time slips were cut off (except for brackets) so you would never see what your opponent ran. The classes included: Big Tire, Small Tire, Pro Mod, Outlaw 8.5, Ultra Street, and electronics and non-electronics bracket. And of course, there were designated lanes for “grudge” matchups, both 1/8- and 1/4- mile. The rules were kept simple but  mirrored other organizations to alleviate people needing to change set ups — a huge problem in the past. From mild to wild, they were all there to win.

This event brought some pretty big names into Las Vegas, such as big time West Coast grudge racers ”Team Boddie” from Street Outlaws, Pro Mod racers Frankie “Mad Man” Taylor, and former NHRA and SCSN event winner Rick Snavely were just a few of the who’s-who that came to play.

Check out the big winners!

We asked Danny what his inspiration for creating this type of event was, and he shared, “I’m a racer first and foremost. The West Coast has a ton of cars that deserve recognition and I wanted to do my part in affording the opportunity for everyone to have a fun but safe place to race.” Danny also said, “Its about racing; nothing more and nothing less. I would do this even if I didn’t make a dime. To keep this sport alive, we need to put our differences aside and focus on the very thing we all love doing, drag racing.”