Stakes on a plane: Tucson Dragway takes viral Hot Wheels showdown to Pima Air and Space Museum

One year into the coronavirus pandemic and with regular racing still on hold, the Tucson Dragway is partnering with other local businesses with hopes of drumming up some publicity for all involved.

Over the past several weeks, the dragway has been working with the Pima Air and Space Museum on a pair of projects — the most recent being a Hot Wheels race filmed inside the first Boeing 777 ever built.

The seventh installment of “Scaled Down Tucson Dragway” was filmed Thursday morning inside the monstrous, white plane parked outside the museum’s many hangars.

“We started doing the Hot Wheels videos at the beginning of COVID when we were completely shut down and we needed something to stay in front of our audience,” said track manager Matt DeYoung. “We realized that 90% of our marketing and Facebook and social media stuff is advertising and events that we could no longer do.”

The first race quickly drew more than 1 million views, blowing DeYoung and others away.

“We don’t have those kinds of numbers ever,” DeYoung said.

DeYoung, a former photographer, films the races from several different angles using iPhones (one handheld and two others propped up with vise grips) and uses iMovie software to combine the seconds-long races into a professional production.

The first scaled down race been viewed 3.6 million times YouTube since its release last April. The races that followed have also netted big numbers. DeYoung wanted to share the love with other businesses for the most recent race, his first following a six-month break.

The strip invited racers and friends to support the Pima Air and Space Museum, and 50 people turned out one Saturday. When museum officials asked DeYoung what prompted the visit, his answer was simple.

“We all need to stick together. We’re Pima County properties,” DeYoung said.

The track and museum teamed up on a video exploring the connection between one of the track’s race cars and the museum’s bombers and the connections between the car and plane.

Then, “we decided we needed to cross-promote and do the Hot Wheels video there in one of their planes, just to try to work together as two local businesses,” DeYoung said.

The plane was selected by museum officials. The museum’s advertising manager, Brad Elliott, said that while this is the first Hot Wheels race filmed inside the “triple-seven,” the plane has been involved in other important projects. Most recently, the 777 was used to test ozone products designed to quickly disinfect aircrafts between flights.

Built in 1994, the 777 was the first aircraft to use entirely computer-aided design. The largest two-engine, long-range airliner, the 777 holds 300-400 passengers; the one at the museum made more than 20,000 flights before retiring in 2018. It’s one of the museum’s most recent acquisitions.

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While DeYoung and another dragway employee set up LED lights inside the monstrous cabin and “built” the Hot Wheels track, Alan Reinhart, “The Voice of NHRA” and the scaled-down dragway’s announcer, talked with Elliott about the plane and museum.

After a quick meeting to discuss the cars that would be facing off — Reinhart called the selection “Ford-heavy,” but vehicles included a mail truck, the Batmobile and a van with a go-kart on the back and a Viper engine — the “Inside the Fuselage Challenge” was ready to begin.

After a “crash” in the first head-to-head, DeYoung plopped the safety team (a Hot Wheels ambulance and tow truck) onto the track.

DeYoung filmed take after take after take of the races, with Reinhart’s commentary focusing on both the race and its setting. When one experimental car took the track, Reinhart quickly likened it to the more than 400 experimental aircraft scattered across the museum’s 250,000 square feet.

DeYoung and Reinhart, who have known each other for a long time, bantered back and forth between takes.

The race was filmed fresh on the heels of the Pima County Sheriff Department’s Wednesday night announcement that nearly 50 people were arrested on suspicion of taking part in a large-scale illegal drag race south of Tucson city limits. DeYoung and Reinhart used the news as a chance to make a public-service announcement.

Reinhart, tucked into a row of blue, plush airline seats, told viewers that street racing is dangerous and illegal, and urged them to be smart.

“Street racing is no joke. There’s a racetrack in town,” Reinhart said. “If you’ve got a need for speed, take it to the track.”

Last weekend, the dragway hosted a limited-attendance best package race, with multiple slots hosting 20 cars per session and no more than 50 people on site at a time. DeYoung is hopeful that the county will allow the track to re-open on a limited basis in the near future.

Until then, they’ll continue to try to find other ways to keep fans engaged.

The “Inside the Fuselage Challenge” will be released Monday on both the dragway and air and space museum’s social media platforms.