In an initiative we don’t have enough thumbs to give as many thumbs-up as it deserves, the National Hot Rod Association has carried over its unique series of track-affiliated, regional exhibitions at its Mello Yello Series national events this year, and this weekend, carried out perhaps the coolest such race-within-a-race to date.
Partnering with the West Coast Hot Rod Association, the NHRA invited eight left-coast Big Tire and eight Small Tire regulars to compete in front of the big crowd assembled at the inaugural DENSO Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip as Las Vegas Motor Speedway … and you’d better believe they raced four-wide!
The Big Tire lineup included Kevin Crain, Curt Milledge, Nick Mueller, Troy Baugh, Giuseppe Gentile, Mary Baltzell, Kris Dollinger, and Scott Bisel, while the Small tire clan featured Jeff Young, Frank Yee, Steve Kuhls, Ryan “Toaster” Jones, Rachel Yee, Mike Orban, Brian Macy, and Victor Brum.
Videographer Mike Stigs captured some of the action, all of which took place during Friday’s opening rounds of professional qualifying. When the dust settled, it was Gentile, driving Robert Remillard’s turbocharged Ford Mustang who won Big Tire, while Jones, one of the premiere hitters on the West Coast, marched his red Chevy II to the Small Tire crown.
Video credit Mike Stigs