AUTO TRADER MAGAZINES IDRC CHAMPIONSHIP DRAG RACING

2002 IDRC LONG HORN NATIONALS

The Count That Counts: 3100 Spectators, 201 Racers, and 60 Show

Complete Race Results

Buschur, Lummus, Leone, Geers, Aguilar and Yallon Claim Central Division Championships, Montano Locks up the National Championship

The fans on hand for the final race of the IDRC Central Division championship were definitely treated to some top-notch racing action. With just about every Pro car in the country stuck at the SEMA show, David Buschur breathed a sigh of relief while claiming the Central Division championship in absentia.

APEX Integration Outlaw Class

In Outlaw class competition, Ron Lummus would need a win to have any hope of catching Carlos Montano and his Pepe Loco rotary-powered Datsun. In qualifying the two went back and forth setting the marks. Lummus franticly tried to get the chassis adjusted to deal with his new found horsepower between each session. Meanwhile, Montano had the advantage of his tried-and-true setup that has garnered him over $100,000 in winnings in the past few seasons. When the dust settled, Montano would qualify number one (8.394) while Lummus managed the number two spot (8.568). In the Semis, Lummus would gain the momentum running an 8.432 to advance to the finals. Montano would muster an 8.440 and have to surrender lane choice.  The finals were set. Both drivers cranked up the boost and crossed their fingers in hopes of victory. Neither driver would be holding anything back. If Montano could win he would capture the IDRC National Championship. This would be a major plus for the privateer racer that has campaigned on a “sponsor less” shoe-string budget, as he would not have to spend the dollars to go to the West Coast for the finals. Lummus, on the other hand, would give it his all for the chance to bring home the bacon to his new child due in just a few days. As the Quick Class racers made their semifinal runs, one racer left fluids in the spectator lane. While the River City Raceway crew went to work, Lummus choose to pick the opposite lane to the incident. The pressure mounted on Montano. When the starter gave the thumbs up to restart the engines, the burnouts began. Both Lummus and Montano held nothing back as the burnouts were the longest and smokiest of the day. Neither driver wasted time with staging games getting to the line. Staged, the green flashed and Lummus reacted first, gaining a slight .493 to .525 reaction-time advantage. With front wheels off the ground, the Recycler Beetle of Ron Lummus quickly got out of shape. As Lummus pedaled the VW, trying to keep it straight and on the ground, Montano left and never looked back as he ran his best time of the event, an 8.387-second blast at over 160mph. Lummus surrendered at mid track and coasted to a 10.811. The result secured Montano’s IDRC National championship ($20,000) to add to his IDRC East Coast Divisional championship ($5000). For Lummus, the result was the IDRC Central Divisional championship ($5000), along with the IDRC National Championship runner-up position ($7500). Lummus will now turn his attention to the finals where he and Ray Lochhead will wage war for the IDRC Western Divisional Championship.

Importdrag.com Quick Class Presented by Turbo & High-Tech Magazine

Three drivers would enter the competition with the hopes of becoming the IDRC’s 2002 Central Division Quick Class champion. Ironically, each one of these drivers would be representing one of the tree national divisions. Saverio Leone, representing the East Coast camp, would roll in with the points lead coming into the race. Joel Tanzman, the West Coast competitor, would be hoping for an early exit of Sav with a victory for himself. Brent Leivestad, the toughest of the Central Division competitors, would be hoping for a victory along with some misfortune for the other two in the chase. After four rounds of qualifying, these three took the two, three and five qualifying positions, while Leivestad’s teammate J.J. Olson captured the number one spot with his 9.39 mark. In the quarterfinals, these four would advance to face each other in the semis. Facing J.J. Olson, Brent Leivestad would get the holeshot (.585 to a .787) and the victory as problems would plague Olson during the run. In the other Semi, Tanzman would face Leone. A mistake on the part of the starter would result in a potential rerun of the race. However with enough points already secured for the Central Division championship, Leone surrendered the victory to Tanzman. Tanzman would now face Leivestad in the final. Once again, luck would be on Leivestad’s side as problems would surface for Tanzman. In the end, Brent Leivestad and his pfispeed.com Civic would take home the big money.

Importdrag.com All-Motor Class Presented by Import Tuner Magazine

Honda versus VW. These two camps have fought one of the most exciting battles of the year. Delivering the closest fender-to-fender action of all of the classes, two racers have risen to the top. Representing the best of the Honda camp, Erick Aguilar and his Erick’s Racing Civic have gone 10.5s in IDRC competition. Leading the VW charge, Shawn Geers and his Jay Cee Performance Bug have edged into the 10.4s, with his 10.496-blast at the IDRC East Coast Finals. With only a tenth of a second separating the best that both cars can deliver, all eyes would focus on this incredible challenge. Geers would roll into the event needing to qualify one position ahead of Aguilar and finish one round ahead of Aguilar in order to tie. If he did better, Geers could claim the championship for himself. If he did worse, the Central Division championship would be Aguilar’s alone.  

After qualifying, Geers had accomplished his first goal, as he qualified with a 10.58 to earn the number one spot. Aguilar got the two spot with a 10.68. Bisi Ezerioha managed the number three spot with a personal best 10.84, while Aguilar’s teammate Norman Abury was just outside of the tens with his 11.0 qualifying pass. This quarter-mile quartet made easy work of the first round victims to advance to the semis. Norman would do his best to take out Geers. Late on the lights, Norman would watch as Geers was the first to the finish line running a 10.57. Bisi would face Aguilar in the other Semi. Earlier, Bisi had already experienced the victory of setting the world-record for a SOHC All-Motor Honda. However, Bisi wanted nothing more than to beat the best in his camp. When the lights flashed, Aguilar cut a .472 to Bisi’s .504. Aguilar never looked back and got to the finish line first with a 10.69. Knowing it would take everything that he had; Aguilar returned to the pits and set the Honda up for kill. The rev limiter was raised to take advantage of the awesome track surface. Geers went to the pits and readied his ride. When the call was made, both cars hit the burnout box and let loose. Creeping to the line, the tension mounted as the crowd went to its feet. Staged, the pair put the engines on the limiter. In an instant, the light went green. Then…Bam! Geers took off and Aguilar stood still as his Civic’s transmission let loose. Geers took the win and tied the points for the Central Division Championship.

BFGoodrich Tires Street Class Presented By Sport Compact Car Magazine

Ari, Titan (Mazurowski) and Shepherd. It may have been an eight-car field, but all eyes were on these three champions (Ari and Shepherd have won IDRC Championships and Mazurowski has won the NHRA title). Running on a set of BFGoodrich Comp T/A Drag Radials, Mark Mazurowski and the Titan Motorsports Supra used all 1150 rear-wheel horsepower to capture the number-one qualifying position with a 9.295-second pass that eclipsed at 161.98 mph. During that pass, John Shepherd chased the Supra and delivered a personal best of 9.353. This was enough for the number two spot. Last minute havoc resulted in Ari Yallon arriving late for qualifying on Saturday. Having just two opportunities to qualify, Ari laid down a 9.687-second effort, with hopes of better times to come during eliminations. With respect to manufacturers, the 8-car field was well balanced with three Supras, two Diamond Stars, a pair of RX-7s and a Miata.

In the Semis, the Titan Supra made quick work of Kean Wang’s Supra with a 9.229-second blast. In the other Semi, John Shepherd would meet Ari Yallon in what would be the most pivotal race of the season. John trailed Ari by 38 points coming into the competition. Qualifying one position ahead of Ari cut the lead to 37 points. Going against Shepherd, if Ari would win he could extend his cushion to at least 58 points and perhaps even 78 points if he could get past Titan in the final. A 78-point lead would only require a quarterfinal finish at the finals for Ari to claim his second IDRC champion. If Shepherd could pull of the win, he could cut the lead to 17 points or maybe even get a 3-point lead in he won the entire event. Creeping up to the beams, the crowd held its breath. When the lights flashed, Ari got the holeshot (.613 vs. 673) and took the early lead. Both cars fought fender to fender through each gear change, neither driver wanting to surrender. At the finish, John Shepherd would edge out Ari by three-hundredths of a second. The final times, Ari ran a 9.574 while John clicked off a 9.484.

Going into the final, Mark and the Titan Supra would face Shepherd. Considering the great performance from both cars during qualifying, everyone was looking forward to this final. As the cars went into the beams, Mark experienced a problem with the line lock for the brakes. As a result, the car rolled back out of the beams and threw up a red-light, giving the victory to John.