NHRA NEWS: XPLOD SERIES FINAL RESULTS FROM LAS VEGAS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brian Hacker (626) 428-0280
SCRANTON OVERCOMES THE HEAT OF LAS VEGAS TO BECOME THE CAREER WINS
LEADER OF NHRA XPLOD SPORT COMPACT RACING SERIES
Las Vegas - Matt Scranton became the leader in career wins of the NHRA
Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series in the heat of Las Vegas at the Las
Vegas NHRA Sport Compact Nationals and D1 Grand Prix at The Strip at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway.
Scranton who has been racing on the NHRA Xplod Sport Compact
Racing Series since 2002 raced to his second win of the season by
overcoming his opponent Gary White. White had taken the lead at the
starting line and had it all the way own the strip, but his car suddenly
started wiggling and Scranton with his Ride Revolution Toyota Solara
drove past him to get his record 15th win.
Scranton drove to the finish line with a time of 6.91
seconds at 204.26 mph to White's 7.33 seconds at 159.06 mph.
"It's awesome," said Scranton. "We've had an up and down
year, and made some bad choices like when I have red-lit. But, my
brother (Crew chief Jay Scranton) has been right there all the time and
he deserves a lot of the credit. It was great to have Gary Reid from
Toyota here to see this. It was a picture perfect weekend."
Other winners were Jason Hunt (Pro FWD), Paul Efantis
(Modified), Ron Lummus (Hot Rod) and Jeremy Lookofsky (Honda Tuning All
Motor).
Hunt continued his record setting year with another national
speed record of 196.44 mph. Driving his Chevy Cobalt as a single in the
final round, Hunt, who also was the No. 1 qualifier, was able to garner
his second win of the year and his third career win. Despite being a
single he still drove his car to a time of 7.72 seconds at 196.30 mph.
Ed Bergenholtz had problems with his car after the semi-final round and
could not bring his car to the staging lanes.
"We like to run Ed and always want a heads-up race," said
Hunt. "We're glad we survived to get the win. This was my first time
in Vegas and it was record setting-temps. Overall we have been doing
what we wanted to do. Be consistent and go rounds. There is a still
lot left in the season."
Efantis, in his Solara, was able to overcome the feeling of
being an underdog to defeat the dominant Jorge Lazcano in the final.
Efantis and Lazcano came to the line with lots of tension in the air,
but when the time came to start racing Lazcano red-lit and Efantis
automatically drove his Solara to his second win of the year. This is
Efantis' 13th career win.
"The Little Dooeys Bar-B-Que was smoking hot today," Efantis said. "It
was a good victory. This was the best feeling of all of them. I was
the underdog to Lazcano. I switched lanes at the last minute because we
had been driving the left lane all weekend, but I was lined-up to run
the right. We thought why change now. I want to thank my team and all
of my sponsors."
Ron Lummus, defending Hot Rod NHRA world champion, drove his Pontiac
Sunfire to his fourth win in 2006 and twelfth career. He was able to
defeat Stephanie Eggum who was looking for second win. She was not able
to get her car off the starting line. Lummus drove is car to a finish
of 8.41 seconds at 173.43 mph.
Lummus said of his win, "It feels good for the team to win.
There's more to the win when you earn it. It feels better. These cars
are so evenly matched. It was fun at this event. Even though I love
drag racing the drifting crowd brought a whole lot to the event."
Lookofsky, driving his DVS Drag Cartel Civic, was able to
increase his points lead in the Honda Tuning All motor class with his
win. He gathered his second win of the year by defeating Leslie
Durst-Armendariz with a time of 10.03 seconds at 137.82 mph.
"This is so gnarly," said Lookofsky. "This weekend has been
so unbelievable. Yesterday I had heat exhaustion which hindered my
performance during qualifying. We did this all while missing one of our
crew members James Lin. This had to be the hottest day. With the win
we were able to increase our lead over the Clutchmasters team."
Due to late qualifying the results were not listed. The No.
1 qualifiers were Brad Personett (Pro RWD), Jason Hunt (Pro FWD), Jorge
Lazcano ( Modified), Stephane Beauregard (Hot Rod), and Norris Prayoonto
(Honda Tuning All Motor).
The telecast of the Las Vegas NHRA Sport Compact Nationals
will be on Saturday, July 29 at 1 p.m. (ET) with a repeat telecast on
Thursday, Aug. 3 at 2 p.m. (ET). The telecasts will air on ESPN2.
The next NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series event will
be the second annual Palm Beach NHRA Sport Compact Nationals held on
Aug. 19-20 at Moroso Motorsports Park in Jupiter, Fla.
-30-
***
LAS VEGAS -- Sunday's final results from the Fourth Annual Las Vegas
NHRA Sport Compact Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The race is the seventh of 11 in the $2.5 million NHRA Xplod Sport
Compact Drag Racing Series:
PRO RWD
Matt Scranton, Land O{ Lakes, Fla., '06 Solara, 6.910, 204.26 def. Gary
Lee White, New Market, Ala., '05 Celica, 7.332, 159.06.
PRO FWD
Jason Hunt, Crofton, Md., '06 Cobalt, 7.722, 196.30 def. Ed
Bergenholtz, Santa Ana, Calif., '06 Mazda, broke.
MODIFIED
Paul Efantis, Frederick, Md., '03 Solara, 7.887, 177.63 def. Jorge
Lazcano, San Juan, P.R., '85 RX7, foul.
HOT ROD
Ron Lummus, Anaheim, Calif., '04 Pontiac, 8.418, 173.34 def. Stephanie
Eggum, Algin, Ill., '00 Civic, broke.
HONDA TUNING ALL MOTOR
Jeremy Lookofsky, Simi Valley, Calif., '00 Civic, 10.030, 137.82 def.
Leslie Durst-Armendariz, Long Beach, Calif., '06 tC, 10.241, 134.00.
URBANRACCER.COM SPORT FWD
Tony Palo, Roulett, Texas, '00 Acura, 9.795, 155.99 def. Jasen Penman,
West Jordan, Utah, '93 Honda, foul.
SPORT RWD
Ryan Woon, Chandler, Ariz., '98 Supra, 9.444, 163.39 def. Julie Stepan,
Estell Manor, N.J., '06 WRX, 14.013, 75.06.
QUICK 16
Dana Westover, Las Vegas, Nev., '93 Toyota, 9.272, 117.83 def. Karl
Martin, Salt Lake City, Utah, '93 RX7, 14.582, 61.55.
BFGOODRICH TIRES STREET STOCK
John Tran, Las Vegas, Nev., '92 Civic, 13.336, 102.57 def. Mark Bremer,
Sandy, Utah, '93 Honda, 13.000, 107.82.
LAS VEGAS -- Final round-by-round results from the Fourth Annual Las
Vegas NHRA Sport Compact Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, the seventh of 11 events in the $2.5 million NHRA Xplod Sport
Compact Drag Racing Series:
PRO RWD:
ROUND ONE -- Matt Scranton, Solara, 6.675, 214.42 def. Abel Ibarra,
Mazda RX-8, 7.694, 185.77; Gary Lee White, Toyota Celica, 7.563, 197.62
def. Brad Personett, foul;
QUARTERFINALS -- Scranton, 6.910, 204.26 def. White, 7.332, 159.06.
PRO FWD:
ROUND ONE -- Brian Jimenez, Chevy Cobalt, 7.832, 181.64 def. Gary
Gardella, Cobalt, 8.113, 182.42; Ed Bergenholtz, Mazda, 7.834, 189.42
def. Jerrold Rhodes, Honda CRX, 12.840, 69.02; Jason Hunt, Cobalt,
9.847, 120.23 was unopposed;
SEMIFINALS -- Bergenholtz, 7.954, 180.14 def. Jimenez, 8.499, 179.95;
Hunt, 7.675, 196.44 def. Ladwig, 8.093, 176.90;
FINALS -- Hunt, 7.722, 196.30 def. Bergenholtz, broke.
MODIFIED:
ROUND ONE -- Dee Karagiannis, Mazda RX7, 7.922, 170.02 def. Ken
Scheepers, Mazda RX8, 28.704, 73.52; Jorge Lazcano, RX7, 7.586, 185.23
def. Ali Afshar, Subaru, foul; Paul Efantis, Toyota Solara, 7.816,
178.85 def. Steve Topletz, Celica, 7.995, 152.71; Justin Humphreys,
Lexus GS300, 8.073, 172.25 def. Mike Lowe, 8.549, 159.32;
SEMIFINALS -- Lazcano, 9.836, 95.94 def. Karagiannis, broke; Efantis,
7.760, 178.17 def. Humphreys, 7.904, 174.30;
FINALS -- Efantis, 7.887, 177.63 def. Lazcano, foul.
HOT ROD:
ROUND ONE -- Stephane Beauregard, Shelby, 8.665, 143.12 def. Steven Tan,
Honda Civic, foul; Stephanie Eggum, Civic, 8.447, 184.40 def. Chuck
Seitsinger, Civic, 8.532, 170.17; Ron Lummus, Pontiac, 8.428, 174.44
def. Bryan Bridges, Civic, 10.169, 119.43; Mike Crawford, Dodge SRT-4,
8.462, 173.45 def. Eric Del Rosario, Acura Integra, 16.453, 54.32;
SEMIFINALS -- Lummus, 8.474, 172.21 def. Crawford, 16.699, 62.76; Eggum,
8.235, 181.11 def. Beauregard, 8.335, 175.82;
FINALS -- Lummus, 8.418, 173.34 def. Eggum, broke.
HONDA TUNING ALL MOTOR:
ROUND ONE -- Leslie Durst-Armendariz, Scion tC, 10.315, 134.66 def. Eric
Darby, RX7, 11.606, 116.89; Saul Salceda, Acura Integra, 10.211, 134.79
def. Vince Tiaga, Mazda, 10.715, 127.51; Jeremy Lookofsky, Honda Civic,
10.509, 137.89 def. Mariss Liongson, Civic, broke; Scott Kelley,
Corolla, 10.774, 129.97 def. Chad Barber, Integra, broke; Norris
Prayoonoto, 11.949, 111.76 was unopposed;
QUARTERFINALS -- Durst-Armendariz, 10.140, 135.08 def. Salceda, 10.113,
132.87; Prayoonoto, 10.057, 135.25 def. Kelley, foul; Lookofsky, 10.037,
137.36 was unopposed;
SEMIFINALS -- Durst-Armendariz, 17.765, 44.42 was unopposed; Lookofsky,
9.922, 138.00 def. Prayoonoto, 9.967, 136.98;
FINAL -- Lookofsky, 10.030, 137.82 def. Durst-Armendariz, 10.241,
134.00.
SPORT RWD:
ROUND ONE -- Ryan Woon, Supra, 9.641, 135.08 def. Mark Mazurowski,
Nissan 240SX, 10.149, 124.37; Julie Stepan, Subaru WRX, 9.598, 145.96
def. Dan Schechter, Mazda RX7, broke;
FINALS -- Woon, 9.444, 163.39 def. Stepan, 14.013, 75.06.
URBANRACER.COM SPORT FWD:
ROUND ONE -- Arturbo Ortiz, Integra, 10.933, 139.21 def. John Ferguson,
Honda Civic, foul; Tony Palo, Acura, 10.177, 154.14 def. Hoa Tran,
11.570, 117.44; John Gill, Integra, 13.358, 74.93 def. Jeremy
Bretschneider, Civic, foul; Kyle Herrera, Civic, 21.259, 72.47 def. Mike
Laskey, Civic, broke; Jasen Penman, 10.294, 145.20 def. Coleman Lau,
Honda Del Sol, broke; Tyler Hara, 18.156, 46.56 def. Angela Sripoona,
Integra, broke; Cortney Green, Civic, 10.156, 149.28 def. Randal Mello,
Integra, 11.197, 129.19; Jesten Thompson, Honda SI, 11.869, 93.41 def.
Theodore Aason, 12.800, 117.72;
QUARTERFINALS -- Palo, 10.315, 148.46 def. Herrera, 10.552, 137.32;
Penman, 10.218, 151.36 def. Hara, foul; Gill, 10.552, 147.60 def. Ortiz,
12.038, 75.76; Green, 9.943, 139.10 def. Thompson, broke;
SEMIFINALS -- Palo, 9.839, 158.73 def. Gill, 12.232, 84.59; Penman,
10.108, 132.69 def. Green, 12.467, 64.49;
FINAL -- Palo, 9.795, 155.99 def. Penman, foul.
BFGOODRICH TIRES STREET STOCK:
ROUND ONE -- Mark Bremer, Honda, 13.017, 108.09 def. Chris Dye, Acura,
13.516, 101.07; Loan Nguyen, Honda Civic, 15.038, 80.31 was unopposed;
SEMIFINALS -- Tran, 13.334, 102.66 def. Nguyen, 13.550, 106.02; Bremer,
16.608, 81.34 was unopposed;
FINALS -- Tran, 13.336, 102.57 def. Bremer, 13.000, 107.82.
QUICK 16:
ROUND ONE -- Chad Zenner, Dodge SRT-4, 12.640, 92.69 def. Milton Roller,
Honda Civic, broke; Omar Gonzales, Civic, 11.944, 116.52 def. Hubie Fuh,
Mini Cooper, 12.321, 103.10; Pete Selders, VW, 11.055, 119.08 def. Erica
Nocita, Cobalt, 11.997, 118.46; Mike Angel, NSX, 11.343, 134.20 def.
Alfred Rhee, Supra, broke; Bok Mounlachack, Civic, 10.713, 119.92 def.
John Sauro, Civic, 12.117, 113.85; Brooks Davis, Toyota, 12.015, 129.16
def. Karl Martin, Mazda RX7, foul; Mario Bermudez, 12.127, 111.55 def.
Jason Siebeis, Toyota, broke; Dana Westover, Toyota, 10.648, 95.96 def.
Henry Wang, Honda CRX, 15.149, 70.24;
QUARTERFINALS -- Martin, 11.497, 93.61 def. Mounlachack, 15.463, 58.97;
Westover, 9.377, 127.92 def. Angel, foul; Bermudez, 12.065, 112.22 def.
Selders, foul; Zenner, 12.637, 87.59 def. O. Gonzales, broke;
SEMIFINALS -- Westover, 9.034, 134.38 def. Zenner, 11.799, 119.37;
Martin, 13.728, 78.64 def. Bermudez, foul;
FINAL -- Westover, 9.272, 117.83 def. Martin, 14.582, 61.55.
-30-
Brian Hacker
NHRA, Media Relations Manager
O - 626-250-2424
C - 626-428-0280
