NHRA: Rain the big winner at Pamona as cars tumble, Volkswagons rule
28 February 2000
IDRC/NHRA GR8RIDE.com West Coast Nationals
Pomona Raceway, Pomona, Calif.
February 26-27, 2000
POMONA, Calif. - The 2000 Import drag racing-season kicked off at Pomona
Raceway Saturday with the Import Drag Racing Circuit/NHRA GR8RIDE.com West
Coast Nationals.
Qualifying Saturday was notable for two high-speed accidents that claimed
two of Import drag racing's quickest cars. In separate accidents San Diego,
Calif.'s Ben Ma's Ford Focus went out of control at mid-track and rolled;
the Mazda RX-7 of Brentwood, Calif.'s Ray Lockhead went out of control at
the finish line and impacted the guardwall at speed. Both were able to
walk away from their race cars uninjured although each vehicle suffered
extensive damage.
Weather forecasts for showers Sunday unfortunately proved correct.
After approximately one hour of eliminations a steady shower settled over
the Southern California race facility and eventually forced NHRA and IDRC
officials to cancel the day's activities. No rain date has been set.
Under clear-blue skies Saturday the Volkswagens of Larry and Scott
Kelley set the pace in the Pro and All Motor categories. Larry Kelley ran
a 10.26-second lap to lead the Pro category; Scott Kelley paced the All
Motor field with an 11.214-second pass.
Quickest run of the day came from Adam Saruwatari's Mazda RX-7 that
ran a 9.34-second lap to lead the Outlaw 8 field. Fastest run honor went
to Stephan Papadakis who hit 155.14-mph in his Honda Civic, combined with a
9.55-second run, good for second place in Outlaw 8.
The following are Saturday's qualifying results for Sunday's
eliminations from the IDRC/NHRA GR8RIDE.com West Coast Nationals at Pomona
Raceway:
PRO
1. Larry Kelley, Yorba Linda, Calif., '57 Volkswagen, 10.265 seconds, 129.55 mph
2. Dave Lemon, Signal Hill, Calif., '85 Mazda RX-7, 11.097, 119.52
3. Abel Ibarra, Riverside, Calif., '98 Mazda RX-7, 13.803, 88.14
4. Ben Ma, San Diego, Calif., '99 Ford Focus, ntr, nsr
OUTLAW 8
1. Adam Saruwatari, Arroyo Grande, Calif., '93 Mazda RX-7, 9.342 seconds, 140.86 mph
2. Stephan Papadakis, Huntington Beach, Calif., '99 Honda Civic, 9.552, 155.14
3. Ray Lockhead, Brentwood, Calif., '95 Mazda RX-7, 10.057, 135.27
4. Jose Vidal, Los Angeles, Calif., '83 Toyota, 13.106, 74.22
5. Rene Franco, Los Angeles, Calif., '73 Mazda RX-3, ntr, nsr
QUICK 16
1. Russ Matusevic, Northridge, Calif., '85 Toyota Supra, 9.841 seconds, 140.15 mph
2. Lisa Kubo, Rosemead, Calif., '92 Honda Civic, 9.888, 148.73
3. Steve Dunn, Sherman Oaks, Calif., '82 Toyota Supra, 10.059, 127.56
4. Frank Romeo, Temecula, Calif., '92 Honda Civic, 10.069, 139.47
5. Ryushei Kida, Osaka, Japan, '98 Honda Civic, 10.088, 142.67
6. Jojo Callos, Long Beach, Calif., '94 Honda si, 10.352, 139.38
7. Adrian Sabori, Los Angeles, Calif., '94 Honda Civic, 10.540, 134.50
8. Manuel Jaramillo, Whittier, Calif., '89 Honda, 10.610, 136.11
9. James West, Long Beach, Calif., '90 Honda CRX, 10.655, 129.87
10. Joey Dalton, Hesperia, Calif., '88 Honda CRX, 10.667, 130.11
11. Dave Hickman, Lancaster, Calif., '95 Honda Civic, 10.711, 130.37
12. James O'Connor, Los Alamitos, Calif., '00 Honda Civic, 10.725, 134.30
13. Leevon Eiself, Quartz Hill, Calif., '98 Honda CX, 10.759, 132.04
14. Joe Morgan, Corona, Calif., '76 Ford Pinto, 10.775, 124.72
15. Myles Bautista, North Hollywood, Calif., '99 Acura Integra,10.804, 135.68
16. Francisco Blanco, Torrance, Calif., '92 Mitsubishi Eclipse, 10.821, 133.76
STREET 8
1. Chris Rado, Reading, Pa., '94 Toyota Supra, 10.440 seconds, 135.89 seconds
2. Rhys Millen, Huntington Beach, Calif., '95 Toyota Supra, 10.807, 137.95
3. Ryan Woon, Tucson, Ariz., '94 Toyota Supra, 10.929, 131.40
4. Todd Chiamparino, San Carlos, Calif., '90 Mitsubishi Eclipse, 11.098, 131.88
5. Jason Siebels, Council Bluff, Idaho, '93 Mazda RX-7, 11.449, 120.78
6. Robert Liugs Jr., Chatsworth, Calif., '83 Mazda RX-7, 11.452, 128.90
7. Ryan Carwin, Poway, Calif., '71 Toyota Celica, 11.792, 121.96
8. Fullermo Polo, Chandler, Ariz., '94 Toyota Supra, 11.836, 119.95
ALL MOTOR
1. Scott Kelley, Anaheim, Calif., '69 Volkswagen, 11.214 seconds, 107.60 mph
2. Max Ha, Agoura Hills, Calif., '88 Honda CRX, 11.487, 118.87
3. Erick Aguilar, Los Angeles, Calif., '88 Honda Civic, 11.888, 114.18
4. Chris Sharma, Torrance, Calif., '86 Honda CRX, 11.966, 114.64
5. Bisi Ezerioha, Gardena, Calif., '98 Honda CRX, 12.280, 104.46
6. Adam Delam, Huntington Park, Calif., '93 Honda Civic, 12.521, 107.39
7. Doug Jenkins, Fountain Valley, Calif., '87 Honda Civic, 12.563, 107.52
8. Brian Cremorosa, Sun Valley, Calif., '94 Acura Integra, 12.735, 104.62