On September 28 and 29, NHRA staged the final leg of its inaugural Summit Racing Import Drag Racing Series at the famous Pomona Raceway in Pomona, Calif. The excitement surrounding the finals was phenomenal going into the weekend with all but one of the class championships going down to the wire. Furthermore, the finals meant double points earnings and top racers from around the country were out on a no-holds-barred mission for the big championship prize money.
Plenty of anticipation surrounded the Hot Rod Class with Lisa Kubo, Jojo Callos and Kenny Tran in a tight battle for the top three positions in points going in to the event. Along with the three main contenders, Mike Crawford made the trek out from North Carolina with the Phatridz/Forward Motion Neon. Although it wasn't in contention for the championship, the Neon's presence threatened to play a major role in the outcome of the season after setting a new uni-body record of 9.07 seconds at the previous event. Other key players out for the win were Bruce Mortensen, who stepped in for the injured Jimmy O'Connor to pilot the Venom Civic, Myles Bautista, and the eagerly awaited debut of the A'PEXi drag Civic driven by Jensen Oda.
After Saturday's qualifying session the ladder presented a mirror image of the points chase. Lisa Kubo stood on top of the tree after pulling out a huge 9.16-sec. pass to lock down the number one spot and maximum points. The second slot went to Jojo Callos, who laid down a 9.25, and Kenny Tran took third with a 9.30. These three top dogs qualified some four-tenths ahead of nearest pursuer, Bruce Mortensen and the Venom Civic.
When the doors opened for business, the first round saw most of the major players advance onward, with the exception of Mike Crawford. After laying down a low-9-sec. warm-up pass, the Neon fell victim to engine failure and couldn't make the opening round. The second bout produced Kubo as a winner over Mike Laskey with another low-9-sec. run. Kubo was definitely out on a mission. Mortensen and Bautista went head to head in an almighty duel with Mortensen coming out on top on a 9.59 to Bautista's 9.67. The two of them were door-to-door going down the track until the Venom Civic managed to forge ahead by a paint layer at the line. Jensen Oda went up against the mighty Callos, and although almost identical reaction times saw the pair launch side by side, the JG Edelbrock Honda piloted by Callos out-powered the A'PEXi Civic, and Callos advanced with a 9.61 to Oda's 10.22. Tran also moved on after proving too much for Tri Do with a 9.46-sec. blast.
The stage was set, an awesome semi-final round clash of the titans. In the first race, number-one qualifier Kubo would square off against Mortensen, and the second contest pitched Callos against Tran; the championship was still far from decided. When the tree flashed green, Mortensen sprung the surprise holeshot on Kubo and when she suffered an engine problem at the top of the track Mortensen grabbed the easy win. Kubo was out of the race, but not out of the championship yet. In second semi, the pressure was all on Callos. Not only did he need to win his semi matchup against Tran's Jotech powerhouse, he needed to go all the way to the winners circle to clinch the championship. But Callos always keeps his cool, and after cutting an awesome light and the holeshot got to the line two tenths ahead of Tran, with a 9.23 e.t. to the Texan's 9.42. It couldn't go any closer to the wire.
In the final NHRA Hot Rod race of the year, Callos had to win to take home the championship by just one point ahead of Kubo. If he lost in the final the championship purse went to Kubo. Callos and Mortensen staged for the final, Mortenen's first final in his very first drag race, and when the tree dropped the unlucky Mortensen suffered a driveline failure and Callos, unaware, powered on down the track, posting a personal best 9.12 at 156 mph. The Championship belonged to Callos and the JG Edelbrock Honda.