Auto Trader Magazines IDRC Championship Drag Racing Series

The Greatest Race of All Time

BFGoodrich Tires IDRC Summer Slam Nationals, Simply the Best

Scranton, Febus, Mortensen, Aguilar, Efantis and Shepherd Lay Down the Law

The biggest crowd ever, nearly 35,000 fans, gathered for THE import and sport compact event of the year. Yes, we are talking about the BFGoodrich Tires IDRC Summer Slam event at Englishtown.

This year’s IDRC Slam was more exciting than ever with four new national records being set in the IDRC Pro, Outlaw, Quick and Street classes. The only record that didn’t fall was the All-Motor class elapsed time record, but Erick Aguilar did come close (within one hundredth of a second of setting a new record in that class too).

DRAG Sport Magazine Pro Class

The quickest field in the history of import and sport compact drag provided the most exciting racing ever witnessed. The first-ever entire 7-second field had an average qualifying time of 7.293. While Matt Scranton and the Turbonetics Celica set a new class elapsed time and mph record with a 7.02 at 197.77, the rest of the field wasn’t too far behind. Both the Venom Tacoma and the Bullish Solaras also dipped into the 7.0s. The Siguel Racing RX-7 ran a best ever 7.248, for the number five qualifying position, while Many Cruz, Jorge Lazcano and David Buschur ran personal bests of 7.340, 7.437, and 7.926, respectively for the six through eight positions. Every single racer in the field set a personal best thanks to the incredible track preparation by Raceway Park to the IDRC national event standards. In qualifying, the crowd was also treated to the quickest side-by-side race in the history of the Pro class. The Bullish Racing Solaras of Ara Arslanian and George Ioannou faced off and both ran 7.10s. The only misfortune in the class occurred when Craig Paisley and his Toyota Tacoma got out of the groove in qualifying and ended up in a roll over. Fortunately, Craig walked away and the damage was minimal.

In eliminations, the races were side by side into the finals where Scranton faced Ioannou. Ioannou gained the holeshot advantage with his .472 light (Scranton cut a .485), but the Solara fell off its 7.07 pace and only ran a 7.190 giving the win to the Turbonetics Celica with its 7.057-second blast.

APEX Integration Outlaw Class Presented By Import Racer! Magazine

It has been done! The first-ever Outlaw to record a seven-second pass is the ’86 300ZX of Cesar Febus of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The Nissan recorded a 7.825 at 173.29mph. Unfortunately, Cesar was not able to back this run for an official IDRC record. However, Cesar’s 8.018-second pass did qualify as an official new elapsed time record for the class. In the final, the world’s Quickest Outlaw faced the World’s Fastest Outlaw, the AEM Drag Civic driven by Stephan Papadakis. When the light turned green, Steph had the holeshot as he ran a season-best elapsed time of 8.302. However, this performance wasn’t enough for the 8.018 blast laid down by Cesar.

Importdrag.com Quick Class Presented by Turbo Magazine

The rivalries in the Quick class have been the talk of the racing community. Perhaps, the most heated rivalry is between Jojo Callos in the Castrol Integra and Bruce Mortensen in the Venom Civic. Why is this rivalry so heated? The answer is simple; this pair has faced one another in more final rounds than any other pair. Jojo Callos and his team were off the mark running 9.60s in qualifying and early rounds. By the quarterfinals, Jojo and the team found the low 9s again with a 9.15 effort. In the semis, Jojo got past current IDRC national points leader Saverio Leone to come up against Bruce Mortensen and the Venom Civic. Based on previous round performances, Jojo needed to cut a killer light while Bruce had a small performance advantage. When the light went green, Jojo got the holeshot advantage with a .495 to a .617 from Bruce. Would it be enough for Jojo? Not this time. The Venom Civic laid down the law with a blistering 8.933 to just a 10.488 from Jojo. In the course of the action, Bruce Mortensen and the Venom Civic also made history by setting a new elapsed time and top mph record for the Quick class with an 8.834 at 165.62 mph.

Falken Tires All-Motor Class Presented By Import Tuner Magazine

The “Erick Aguilar Show” continued as the Erick’s Racing Engines Civic continued its domination. This time his victims included the best from the East Coast. While Erick ran consistent low 10.60s, his eye was on the national elapsed time record held by Shawn Geers (10.58). Despite all efforts, Erick came as close as you can with a 10.59 performance. “We tried our best, but we needed a little less temperate and a little less humidity to hit the number,” said Erick.

BFGoodrich Tires Street Class Presented By Sport Compact Car Magazine

Clash of the Titans was the billing for best showdown ever in the Street class. The favorite coming into the competition was the Titan Motorsports Supra that had run deep into the low 9s. However, Titan Motorsports would not have any luck on their side as problems plagued the car in every round of qualifying. However, the spotlight was still shining and Paul Efantis wasted no time in putting his Supra into the record books with a record-setting elapsed time of 9.280 at 147.01mph. Number two qualifier John Shepherd and his Talon was consistent as he ran 9.70s and 9.80s coming into the final. John Shepherd new that he was outgunned and that a killer reaction time advantage was his only hope of victory against Paul Efantis. So what was John’s strategy? Guess on the lights. Before John ever saw amber he guessed on the light and was rewarded with an awesome .401 reaction time. Startled and looking for a red light, Paul sat at the line with a 1.050 second reaction time. In the chase, Paul’s Supra and the 9.280 wasn’t enough to catch the Talon with its 9.711 effort and .6-second holeshot advantage.

IDRC Bigger, Better, Badder

With the success of the 2002 BFGoodrich Tires IDRC Summer Slam, any doubt that was present in the minds of skeptics was removed as the IDRC proved once again that it’s the premiere lifestyle/Motorsports event producer in the world. Setting a new standard for East Coast events, the IDRC, Auto Trader Magazines and its marketing sponsors are looking forward to carry the momentum into all remaining 2002 Auto Trader Magazines IDRC Championship Drag Racing events. New racers are confirming every day for Moroso on August 10th and 11th while Atco’s Tri-State Nationals on August 24th and 25th will delight the crowd with the first ever Outlaw-16 field. Be sure to check out the 2002 IDRC Calendar to find out when the IDRC experience is coming close to you.

Be sure to get the full story of the entire event with 16-pages of coverage in the premier issue of DRAG Sport. DRAG Sport serves all IDRC members and is also available at top tuner shops around the continental United States, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The first issue of DRAG Sport ships in the first week of August, so sign up for IDRC membership today.