Toth’s sibling rivalry

By Ryan McCracken on July 31, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

It may not have been his first, but Saturday’s Wally Trophy victory was certainly one of the sweetest Zach Toth has ever won.

The 20-year-old pro bike drag racer defeated his father in Saturday’s National Hot Rod Association Northwest National Open Series semifinals before beating out his older brother in the final to grow his Wally collection into double digits in front of a home crowd at the Medicine Hat drag strip.

“There’s only a couple races a year that you race for a Wally, so it’s a pretty big race to win,” said Toth. “It’s even better when you can beat the family.”

Toth followed in the footsteps of his father, 52-year-old Dave, and brother, 22-year-old Riley, by taking up the sport of drag racing at the age of 12. While he started out in junior dragsters, Toth made the jump to bikes three years ago to get in on the family rivalry — and on Saturday he established some supremacy.

“We always want to race each other in the finals. I think when it comes to racing each other it’s tight races and we just want to beat each other,” said Toth, adding he’s starting to get the upper hand on his older brother. “This year I think it’s even, but so far overall I think he’s beaten me more than I’ve beat him.”

While their time on the strip is always competitive, Toth says the three drag racers work together on their bikes all the time — chipping in with assistance and suggestions when necessary to ensure they’re all at the top of their class.

“We work on it all together,” said Toth. “Share ideas that we come up with and help each other out.”

No other results from the weekend were reported to the News by press time Monday.

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