LACR, Palmdale, CA
December 1-2, 2001

Event Briefs:
Race Cars: 376
Spectators: 8216
(below projections due to weather forecasts)

Complete Race Results


The 2001 Nitto Tires IDRC International Finals Presented By Toyota delivered on its promise of the most exciting race of the year. Hoyos, Papadakis, Rau, Kelley and Shepherd claimed the 2001 IDRC Championships in the Toyo Tire Pro, Apex Integration Outlaw, Nitto Tires Quick, Importdrag.com All-Motor and APC Street Class, respectively.  

Weekend rain forecasts kept much of the crowd away, but the forecasts proved to be wrong. The weather was great and records were set in nearly all of the classes and the racing action was second to none.

The Blast Racing SC400 with Tatatoshi Wakita (Japan) at the controls set a new IDRC import world record with a 7.38-second blast at 184mph. Fellow countryman Hiro Shiobara took the Escort Racing 300ZX to the winnerıs circle in the Pro Class. Adam Saruwatari made it to the finals and also ran a personal best 7.957 at 177mph in his Nitto Tires/A&L Racing NSX.

In the Outlaw class, Stephan Papadakis defeated Ray Lochhead after Ray got Past Carlos Montano in the semifinals. Carlos red-lit by rolling completely past the starting line while attempting to stage. Seven qualifiers in the Quick 16 ran in the 9s. Jojo Callos set the IDRC record for quickest elapsed time in the Quick class at LACR with a blistering 9.18-second flash. Jojo defeated Brent Rau in the finals, but it was still enough points to allow Brent to win his first IDRC championship.

In the All-Motor class, Scott Kelley needed a miracle to get the points to pass up Scott Mohler. In order for Kelley to win, Mohler would have to go out two rounds before Kelley. Mohler left the door open when he lost in the Quarterfinals when his racecar broke. This put Kelley in a must win position. Kelley defeated Valdivia, Aguilar and Escamilla to face arch-rival Bisi Ezerioha in the finals. When the lights turned green, reaction times were identical and it was a race to the finish. Kelley got their first and became the first-ever IDRC All-Motor Champion.

In the Street class, John Shepherd came out to put an exclamation point on his already claimed IDRC Street Class championship. He did so with eighth victory in just eight IDRC appearance, earning John the title of the IDRCıs most-dominant driver of 2001.