1st. PLACE MEN – TIM MCGEE

1st. PLACE WOMAN – BEATRIZ RODRIGUEZ

PHOTOS BY – JAHROME/MASHAFIX.COM ®

So the 2012 WOLFPACK HUSTLE drag races have come to an end but the memories of the epic night will forever be engrained into hundreds of cyclists and fans that came out to this event. I can not begin to tell you how amazing this event was. I really have to hand it to the WOLFPACK HUSTLE for throwing such a awesome event and I would like to thank all of the people that helped put this together because you guys all did a great job. I will admit that going into this night my mind was set on seeing my good friend Edgar “willo” Juarez win this event however that is not what had happened in the end. He definitely did a great job out there and is still number one in my book.

The night started at around 5 pm with the crews setting up the tunnel for the night but this event went on until almost 3 in the morning ! At about 7 pm racers began to show up and register for their individual heats. As racers got there ankle straps to record their qualifying times I found myself wandering around and checking out all the booths and the CITY GROUNDS athlete zone. They really out did themselves with the “athlete zone” by stoking it full of food and drinks ranging from coconut water to bananas and there had to be at least a good 8-10 stations for racers to warm up on and bike stands ready for anyone to work on their bikes. Now the event was also equipped with areas all along the inside of the tunnel where people could safely lock there bikes up and watch the event. Now all of this was topped off with a finishing area filled with concession stands of food and booths set up for some of the event sponsors to display their products and goods. From what I was told it cost approximately $9000 for the WOLFPACK HUSTLE to obtain permits from the city of Los Angeles to throw this event. As we all know money like this is hard to come by so its a must that we thank all the sponsors from this event for contributing and combining their efforts to make this happen.

Now for the fun part, THE RACES !!!! I can say this for sure, if you missed this event then you definitely missed out on a great time. I have never been to drag races like this before or any in general. I think one of my most favorite parts of going threw the pictures I took from last night was the expressions on the racers faces. Whether it was them preparing their thoughts before take off or the pure effort they put into the beginning strokes of their races they all showed what ever emotion they were going threw on their face with the most gritty and hilarious looks no matter which heat you watched. I spent most of my time down at the starting line taking pictures and wishing many of the riders good luck. I really wish I could have been at the finish line to see these racers whiz by at speeds in excess of 35+ mph but being at the start was just as good. One of the biggest factors all night I heard from races was what gear ratio to use. I did notice whoever used a heavier gear ratio was usually left off the line but would noticeably start to catch their opponents down the stretch. Since the race was only 1000 feet it took a gear ratio with a happy medium yet these guys were still going over 30 mph the entire night. As the night dwindled down its racers from 300 to the top 16 men and woman you could feel the intensity grow as these racers were being eliminated one race at a time.

For the woman it was Beatriz Rodriquez that took home the dog tags posting a initial qualifying time of 28.08 seconds which was about three quarters of a second slower than the top qualifying time of Shelby Walter. Beatriz ended up taking out Shelby in the semi final heat to face off against Lindsey Nelson. When Beatriz lined up for the woman’s final I could see the look of deep concentration as she took the right hand lane. As they began the countdown from 3 to start the race I took one last shot of these two racers before they took their last ride down the 2nd. street tunnel for the night. In the end Beatriz won the dog tags and showed them off with a huge smile as all the crowd, friends, and fellow racers looked on in applause.

Now for the mens division it was Tim McGee taking home the dog tags. Tim began the night of racing by holding the fastest qualifying time of 23.55 which barely surpassed the second best time set by James Zaldua of 23.58 which was only .03 seconds slower ! These two racers beat some very impressive riders throughout the night to meet each other in one of the most intense races I have seen to decide a winner for an event. What made this even more special for Tim McGee was the fact that this win comes about a week after winning his sprint, keirin, and team medals at his very first state track championship ! This guy is a beast and took out hundreds of racers and took home the prestigious dog tags. Congratulations to both Tim McGee and Beatriz Rodriguez on their wins.

So my final thought on the 2012 WOLFPACK HUSTLE MIDNIGHT DRAG RACES is this. No matter what you do in life make sure you do it to your fullest potential and with that said I give the WOLFPACK HUSTLE props for putting together such a incredible event, you definitely went all out with this one and I can not wait to come out and compete/cover this race again ! #YOUKNOWWAZGOOD

qualified as WOMEN’s QUALIFYING TIMES total time diff
1 Shelby Walter 27.32
2 Lindsay Nelson 28.01 0.69
3 Beatriz Rodriguez 28.08 0.76
4 Jo Celso 28.60 1.28
5 Nyrah Hearts 29.00 1.68
6 Mei Zhao 29.56 2.24
7 Nicole Luque 30.78 3.46
8 Vivian Tran 30.78 3.46
9 Melanie Seeger 30.84 3.52
10 Nayelle Martinez 31.02 3.70
11 Linette Sowa 31.06 3.74
12 Cathy Chang 31.08 3.76
13 diana chavez 31.88 4.56
14 Susie Lowbrow 31.91 4.59
15 Jen Cruz 32.02 4.70
16 Carlson Krista 32.31 4.99
17 Katherine Relth 32.54 5.22
18 Sara Bond 32.71 5.39
19 Kat Namey 32.95 5.63
20 erial tompkins 32.99 5.67
21 Alijah Vesquez 33.01 5.69
22 Maria Moreno 33.16 5.84
23 Vasquez Alijah 33.31 5.99
24 perez janina 34.02 6.70
25 Jesse Gillingham 38.64 11.32
qualified as MEN’s QUALIFYING TIMES total time diff
1 Tim McGee 23.55
2 JAMES ZALDUA 23.58 0.03
3 Jack Lindquist 23.73 0.18
4 TONY ZALDUA 24.39 0.84
5 Max Rich 24.42 0.87
6 Scott Piercefield 24.77 1.22
7 Edgar Willo Juarez 24.96 1.41
8 Bud Abille 24.98 1.43
9 Fabian Vazquez 25.00 1.45
10 Langdon Taguiped 25.16 1.61
11 Robert Pacheco 25.29 1.74
12 Bryan Harding 25.31 1.76
13 Rudy Lopez 25.35 1.80
14 Steven Bonilla 25.43 1.88
15 Brad Adams 25.46 1.91
16 brian guzman 25.48 1.93
17 Angel Dubon 25.50 1.95
18 Hern Montenegro 25.50 1.95
19 Samson Hatae 25.50 1.95
20 Eric PNUT Zamudio 25.65 2.10
21 Edgar Jetforce 25.70 2.15
22 Troy De Bridges 25.76 2.21
23 vinh tran 25.82 2.27
24 Anthony Rovira 25.83 2.28
25 Rob Morris 25.89 2.34
26 Henry Grijalva 25.91 2.36
27 Richard Lozada 25.94 2.39
28 christian Santamaria 25.97 2.42
29 andrew huitink 26.01 2.46
30 Cameron Bryant 26.03 2.48
31 Matt Zok 26.10 2.55
32 Jessi Sierra 26.13 2.58
33 Bryan Arita 26.18 2.63
34 Edge Face 26.18 2.63
35 Francis Simpson 26.21 2.66
36 michael chitjian 26.21 2.66
37 Johnny Le 26.22 2.67
38 Ivan Delgado 26.22 2.67
39 Philip Meyer 26.30 2.75
40 Tyler Gilmore 26.38 2.83
41 ANdy Hernandez 26.38 2.83
42 omar de los sant 26.44 2.89
43 Christian Vazquez 26.47 2.92
44 Sandy Gip 26.49 2.94
45 Lloyd Bandonillo 26.51 2.96
46 Felipe Castillo 26.55 3.00
47 Seth Graham 26.58 3.03
48 jaime rojas 26.59 3.04
49 Jesus Lizama 26.60 3.05
50 Oscar Ochoa 26.62 3.07
51 Cristian Martinez 26.64 3.09
52 Jose Gonzalez 26.67 3.12
53 Lucas Evans 26.68 3.13
54 Augusto Peraza 26.69 3.14
55 Brandon Gillette 26.78 3.23
56 Joe Camacho 26.80 3.25
57 Munjal Thakkar 26.81 3.26
58 Andres Villanueva 26.84 3.29
59 Willis Grijalvaa 26.85 3.30
60 Jose Henriquez 26.88 3.33
61 Mihai Peteu 26.94 3.39
62 Brandon Reyes 26.94 3.39
63 Christophe Serrano 26.98 3.43
64 Brett Elford 26.98 3.43
65 Elliott Pallett 27.00 3.45
66 jamile bard 27.03 3.48
67 brendan sund 27.05 3.50
68 Chris Lopez 27.05 3.50
69 Danne Pineda 27.09 3.54
70 Erik Meeina 27.11 3.56
71 Eric Gunderson 27.11 3.56
72 Donnie Walker 27.13 3.58
73 Francis De Jesus 27.26 3.71
74 carter holland 27.32 3.77
75 Alex D Foo 27.35 3.80
76 Daniel Alvarado 27.35 3.80
77 joseph rios 27.37 3.82
78 Mike Bowers 27.38 3.83
79 Rodney Agura 27.49 3.94
80 alvin Escajeda 27.50 3.95
81 Aaron Kuehn 27.51 3.96
82 Jonathan McDonald 27.65 4.10
83 Juan Chavez 27.77 4.22
84 Abe Mubarak 27.84 4.29
85 Jerome Podgajski 27.86 4.31
86 Torres Juan 27.92 4.37
87 richard ornelas 27.94 4.39
88 Andrej Jusufbego 27.95 4.40
89 Gabriel Aid 27.96 4.41
90 Jose Claud Ramirez 27.96 4.41
91 Jason Soaris 27.99 4.44
92 Rosales Roehl 27.99 4.44
93 Austin Osuna 28.05 4.50
94 Scott Hodnefield 28.07 4.52
95 Kevin Salazar 28.10 4.55
96 Keegan Uhl 28.10 4.55
97 Steve Aguirre 28.21 4.66
98 craig scagnetti 28.22 4.67
99 Edmundo Rea 28.34 4.79
100 jose parreno 28.35 4.80
101 Larry Lem 28.49 4.94
102 Jose Lopez 28.58 5.03
103 Bryan Novelo 28.58 5.03
104 Austin Calderon 28.60 5.05
105 Chris Fortuna 28.64 5.09
106 Kevin Kang 28.72 5.17
107 Mas Jonas 28.75 5.20
108 Justin Congo Mitchell 28.76 5.21
109 Jon Nakano 28.82 5.27
110 John Aunedi 28.92 5.37
111 austin calderon 29.04 5.49
112 Nikko Garcia 29.06 5.51
113 Parker Jones 29.13 5.58
114 Riccardo Mejia 29.15 5.60
115 brian holmes 29.23 5.68
116 Christophe Doody 29.31 5.76
117 Jesse Fuller 29.56 6.01
118 Bryan Benitez 29.68 6.13
119 Pedro Chavelas 29.68 6.13
120 Garry Souverain 29.69 6.14
121 Kevin Molina 29.71 6.16
122 ian melgar 29.85 6.30
123 Jhonnel Magat 29.86 6.31
124 sean Martin 29.91 6.36
125 Arley Carmen 29.97 6.42
126 Henry Coronado 30.11 6.56
127 Eliss Glasch 30.14 6.59
128 jose cobian 30.20 6.65
129 Julio Saenz 30.34 6.79
130 Daniel Guerrero 30.42 6.87
131 Miguel Cervantes 30.55 7.00
132 Martin Vasquez 30.73 7.18
133 Douglas Anderson 30.75 7.20
134 Steve Manzanels 30.76 7.21
135 Espinoza Zabdiel 30.96 7.41
136 Fred Mackey 31.07 7.52
137 Thomas Coan 31.37 7.82
138 Bruce Bellamy 32.13 8.58
139 michael puente 33.08 9.53
140 Henry Gonzalez 33.14 9.59
141 Henry Gonzalez 33.19 9.64
142 vareal-rico luis 37.87 14.32
143 Daniel Covarrubias 42.09 18.54
144 Parth Thakkar 45.38 21.83
DNF Ferdinand Macalos DNF