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| Acosta, Lopez, Gardella and Shepherd Victorious in Atco |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *** 06-05-01
2001 Advanced Clutch Technology IDRC Spring Nationals
Atco Raceway, New Jersey
Sunday, June 3rd, 2001
Racer 201 cars, Show 127 cars, Specs 3098
In 2001, the IDRC's biggest challenge has not come from competitive event
producers, it has come from Mother Nature. A season opener that was on
target to set new West Coast attendance figures was thinned by three hours
of showers on Sunday. The second event faired even worse when thunderstorms
attacked the fans of San Antonio, forcing a first-ever Monday rain date. Two
weeks ago, beautiful weather at the Maple Grove event had attendance
projections nearing 5-figures for the Atco event. Unfortunately, Mother
Nature decided to pour rain on just about everything that was North of the
track, including North Jersey, New York City and Long Island. A good number
from South Jersey and Philadelphia made the trek and were entertained by
incredible performances from the racers, a solid showing of quality Movement
One show cars and the first-ever East Coast Ultimate Body Contest.
Toyo Tires Pro Class
After qualifying in the number one position with a 7.64 at 178mph, there
were doubts that the Hoyos Racing Focus would find a real challenger. Just
two weeks earlier, driver Matt Hartford and the Focus got past the
ultra-consistent David Buschur and his new Pro Class Talon to take the win.
In this final, local Marcos Acosta and the Keystone three-rotor has another
idea of who would take the victory. After both filled the stands and put the
crowd on its feet after an impromptu burnout contest. An ignition problem
surfaced and shut off the Focus to setup a single run final. Already a
winner, Marcos didn't hold too much back. On the "show motor" (a spare
typically used only for show events), the Keystone MX-3 blasted to an 8.00
letting the Ford team know that there are some imports ready to wage war
with the twin-turbo Domestic V6. With import V8s showing up later this year
along with the import six cylinders of Venom Racing and Area 51, there's no
telling how long the Focus will be able to bully the imports.
Apex Integration Outlaw Class
With 2000 Outlaw class champion Paisley without a car from a crash and
Steph, Pepe Loco and Rado stuck in heat-stroke weather at a Texas event due
to contract obligations, the door seemed wide open for the Outlaw Class
current elapsed-time record-holder Vinny Ten to make a run for the points
championship. Unfortunately, his transmission's torque converter had other
ideas, when it failed before the car made it to the staging lanes. The
misfortunes of these racers became the fortunes for local Juan Lopez and the
Lopez Productions old-school Datsun. Lopez qualified in the number one
position and never looked back as he slaughtered the competition round by
round. This win combined with a runner-up placing two weeks ago moved the
Lopez team just 12 points behind current leader Stephan Papadakis. After the
conclusion of the Outlaw class final, one East Coast fan had this to say
about the current points leader, "Where's Steph anyway? Is he afraid of
competition or what? Where was he when the Apex Integration Integra came all
the way from Japan?" After learning about Steph's whereabouts and the AEM
Drag Civic team's desire to complete the new car as soon as possible, the
fan went on to say, "I can't believe he chose to go to another event that
made him his own class just so he could win. A full-tube front-wheel-drive
should be able to compete against the ½-chassis (back-half) rear-wheel-drive
cars." It seems only time will tell if Stephan and the AEM Drag Civic
accepts the fans challenge and returns to extend his points lead after
missing the last two IDRC events.
Nitto Tire/Turbo Magazine Quick Class
There's a new name in the Quick class. It's time to take notice. Two weeks
ago, Gary Gardella and the Ecko Unlimited Civic went from an alternate
qualifying position into the winner's circle at the East Coast Nationals at
Maple Grove. Some said that it was a fluke. If you said or thought it, it's
time to insert your foot in your mouth. Not only did Gary prove that he, the
car and the team are not a Fluke, they also proved that they are the new
force in the Nitto Tire Turbo Magazine Quick Class. These back-to-back wins
catapulted Gary into the lead in the IDRC Championship race, just ahead of
Kosuke Kida. In a less desirable repeat, Sean Glazar and Brent Rau once
again qualified in the number one and two position, but both had to
surrender from breakages. Angela Proudfoot was also faced with good and bad
fortune. At this event, her new car broke into the 10s. That put her in the
number-six qualifying position in the 16 car field. Unfortunately, the car
would also blow off an intercooler pipe in first round, giving the
competition the win.
Importdrag.com Street Class
In what looked like a rerun from Maple Grove two weeks earlier. John
Shepherd and Jeff Hill once again met in the final. And once again, Shepherd
took home the victory. The performances were enough to edge out Ari Yallon
in the points lead move him down to Third. Shepherd is currently the leader,
followed by Jeff Hill. Ari is planning to return to the points chase at the
next IDRC event.
Movement One
After a record-setting turnout for the East Coast opener at Maple Grove on
May 20th, the IDRC upgraded the Movement One car show program by tripling
the number of trophies and increasing the size of all trophies.
Additionally, every Movement One competitor received full-size car care
product samples from Stoner. The big winner was Denis Shelley with his
wide-body '99 Integra GS-R. Denis took home the gigantic 6-foot trophy along
with $700 in cool cash. In the Honda/Acura class, the competition was fierce
and ultra close. Danny Moulden's 98 Honda took $100 and first place over the
2000 Civic of Henry Montero (2nd place) and the 95 Accord of Doug Bowen. In
the Best Sport Compact class, Juquin Rams' 99 Eclipse GSX took $100 and
first place while a 97 Eclipse of James Fitzsimmons took Second and the '93
Sentra of Angel Morales took Third. In the European class, Arnaldo
Carvalho's 99 BMW was the fan's choice and $100 recipient over Chris
Jacovini's 97 GTI (2nd place) and Erik Ward's 2000 Beetle. All totaled, 127
of the tri-state's best were in attendance.
Ultimate Body Contest
The IDRC's first East Coast Ultimate Body Contest was an instant hit. Before
elimination rounds began the stands were packed as the contestants competed
for the $1000 in cash payouts. The beautiful Lexy LaSantos from Pennsylvania
used her cowboy outfit to edge out her competition for first place and $500.
Of Howard Stern Show fame, Cindy Lynn Winkler of New Jersey took home second
place and $300. Rounding out the winners, Alexis Washington of Virginia
finished third and took home a pair of Franklins ($200).
Next Stop---Nitto Tires IDRC Summer Slam Nationals
The world's biggest import/sport compact motorsport event is just 25 days
away. This year, the Nitto Tires IDRC Summer Slam Nationals will have
Englishtown and Old Bridge Township Raceway filled with the world's quickest
and fastest imports, a gigantic car show, killer bikini contest and a
lifestyle arena. A number of containers from Puerto Rico are already in
route for this enormous event. Over 30,000 spectators are expected along
with over 1000 racer and car show entries. Mark your calendars because on
June 30th and July 1st, IDRC will once again be rewriting the record books.
For more information, contact IDRC at:
IDRC, Inc.
21405 Brookhurst Street
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
(714) 593-0280 / (714) 593-0281 fax
info@importdrag.com
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