The fastest teen in the West
Cave Creek teenager wins NHRA championship
by Jason Stone

CAVE CREEK – As an up‑and ‑coming drag racer, Cave Creek teenager Joey Hughes always wanted to be like his decorated father on the racetrack.

That comes as no surprise because Jim Hughes, the 2002 NHRA Super Comp national champion, has a handful of wins on the national and divisional level in his 30 years of racing.

But even the elder Hughes had to take a backseat to his 13‑year‑old son. Joey last month won the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals championship last month in Denver.

“I have friends all over the country that I race with, and after (Joey) won they all called me up and said, ‘Let me talk to the real racer,’” Jim Hughes said with a laugh. “But he doesn’t get cocky about it at all. He calls it ‘beginner’s luck.’”

That “luck” may end up being the beginning of a long and illustrious racing career. Joey, an eighth‑grader at Desert Arroyo Middle School, became the first Arizona drag racer to win a national championship when he claimed the 13‑year‑old division.

And the victory came with an even sweeter prize this week–an appearance on ESPN2. The cable sports network plans to air a tape of Joey’s victory at 11:30 a.m., Sept. 21, which has his family and friends psyched.

“They think it’s pretty cool,” Joey Hughes said. “But only a few know about it. I didn’t tell many people.”

Joey Hughes’ racing seems to be doing plenty of talking for him. He has raced locally on the junior drag circuit since age 8 and became a champion in only five years.

Joey’s early development has Jim Hughes excited for his son’s future. Jim, 47, began racing after he graduated from Phoenix’s Shadow Mountain High School in 1977. His three children–Joey has an older brother and sister–  followed the family across the country for races, putting competitive blood in young Joey.

When the family moved to the Cave Creek area seven years ago, Joey Hughes began following in his dad’s tire marks.

“I came from a very competitive family, and I like to play hard,” Jim Hughes said. “Once you get a taste of winning, you don’t want to lose. When you go somewhere to race, you go with the attitude that you’re there to do a job. You’re there to win.”

The Hughes are not the only father‑son racers in the country, but they are among a handful of father‑son combos that has won NHRA national championships.

“He won (nationals) and after a while it started to sink in,” Hughes said about his son’s victory. “He was like, ‘That’s really cool.’”

The Junior Drag Racing League began in the late 1990s and the organization has been promoting the sport to families over the last decade.

“There are so many kids out there who don’t realize that the junior drag racing program is available,” Hughes said. “It’s a neat family sport to get into. The kids can race, then everybody goes and has a barbecue. And there is great comradery between the racers.”

Junior Dragsters can get into a car for as little as $2,500 up to $10,000. Hughes said after the initial investment, the only other costs are maintenance and safety equipment purchases.

After Joey’s national championship win, it’s an investment the family is happy it made.

Reach the reporter at jason@thedesertadvocate.com.