One Wally Down, Another Wally to Go in One of the Fastest Cars in the NHRA

There is a first for every aspect of a young racers career. For 18-year-old Andrew Madrid, it came at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson, Arizona. He won his first Wally.

NHRA Sportsman Class Racer Andrew Madrid won his first Wally at Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson, Arizona
NHRA Sportsman Class Racer Andrew Madrid won his first Wally at Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson, Arizona
“I’ve wanted it for a long time,” he said. “It’s a cool feeling. I put it in my trophy case, but my mom wants to put it in the living room. Maybe we will.”

NHRA Sportsman Class Racer Andrew Madrid in front of one of the fastest dragsters on the Sportsman Class circuit
NHRA Sportsman Class Racer Andrew Madrid in front of one of the fastest dragsters on the Sportsman Class circuit
The Chatsworth, California resident has been racing for six years and moved up from the junior dragster circuit with a divisional win at the Lucas Oil Division 7 Points meet.

“I’m fortunate,” said Madrid. “In the first round my opponent red lighted against me. This allowed me to run the car out to see where I was on the tune up. We put the wrong numbers in the timer that controls the throttle stop. If my opponent did not red light, I would have lost. I would have been set up wrong and hit the finish line with a car that was way too fast. After that, each run was a crap shoot but we got closer to the dial each run.” In the final the K&N and Lucas Oil sponsored racer beat Gabriel Torres in Super Comp.

Madrid also has a new dragster with a 605 cubic inch Chevy motor. It’s 245 inches long and hits speeds of 177 mph on average. “It’s one of the faster cars out there,” he said. “I’ve used K&N my entire career. My dad raced and used K&N. We also use K&N on our tow vehicles and our daily drivers. You can’t loose with K&N filters on your vehicles, on or off the track. We get more air and filtration with K&N.”

Another first may be coming up for Madrid. He is looking forward to the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. “I'm going to try for my first Wally in a National event win,” he said.

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