2001 Mazda NHRA Import World Finals

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.

The All Motor Class was another edge-of-the-seat affair. After qualifying rounds, Scott Kelley sat in the number-one spot ahead of points leader Joel Mandl. As far as the All Motor championship, Mandl just needed to advance through two rounds to secure the big one, but competition this time around was tough with less than four tenths of a second splitting the entire field.

The first round saw Tsuneaki Mankumo and the Signal Auto CRX advance along with Mandl and Tony Shagday, who made a his seasonal debut back behind the wheel of the Skunk2 Integra. Kelly took the win light in his first round confrontation. The semis paired up Mankumo against Kelly and Shagday against Mandl. Kelly out-treed Mankumo, but when something went awry in the Volkswagen at the end of the track Kelly gave away the win and the championship. Mandl had the big one wrapped up, but was still looking for his first win of the year after earning the points lead by several runner-up finishes. Unfortunately, Shagday hadn't lost his touch and the Skunk2 powered its way around Mandl's Civic to take the ticket to the final. Shagday used the lane choice to his advantage and drove past Mankumo for his first NHRA victory with an 11.14-second e.t.

Ari Yallon already had the Street Tire Class wrapped up going into the finals, but after an incredible five wins in five NHRA events he was looking for a perfect six out of six. Things were going as expected after qualifying, with the ultra-consistent Yallon sitting on top of the qualifying table almost half a second ahead of his nearest pursuer. A first round bye run made things even easier for the Texan, and a matchup with the 12-second Supra of Michael Rickman was as good as an advance to the final free card. When it came down to the last two, Joel Tanzman had been turning mid-10s throughout competition and threatened to spoil Yallon's quest for an unbeaten season. However, consistency may as well be Yallon's middle name, as the champion pulled out another good light and the win as he made it six for six.

The Modified Class saw Craig Paisley make his NHRA comeback after a horrific crash earlier in the season kept him on the sidelines. However, a good start to the year had earned the East Coast racer enough points to keep him in contention for the championship going into Pomona. Paisley got straight down to business by taking the top slot in qualifying with an 8.74. Carlos Gonzalez, also in the chase for the championship, qualified second with an 8.82, followed by Ray Lockhead, Steph Papadakis, Adrian Sabori, Ed Bergenholtz, Jose Vidal and Alan Jacobs. Papadakis fought mechanical gremlins all weekend long, keeping his runs below par, while Bergenholtz spent the outing dialing in the revamped CRX. The big surprise came in the form of a red Mazda RX7 owned by Ray Lockhead. The back-halved rotary stepped up big time, running mid-8s and defeating the almighty Toyota powerhouse driven by Paisley in the final. Paisley's runner-up finish was, however, enough to earn him the championship.

The Pro Class produced one of the best drag races we've seen all year long. Jose Torres and the Siguel Racing Mazda claimed the number one position during qualifying with a 7.58-sec. blast. Abel Ibarra in the mighty Toyo Tires Mazda was a tad behind with a 7.60, and R.J. Simrock took third in the AEBS Ford Focus. Hiroshi Shiobara came out all the way from Japan with a big-power Nissan 300ZX, hungry for a Wally.

The points race was still heated up with Ibarra and Simrock both in contention for the championship. In the first round, Ibarra got past Dan Bollschweiler and Simrock ousted the Mazda driven by Efron Vasquez. Shiobara busted out a gigantic 7.53 at more than 181 mph in the opener, and in doing so simply worked Adam Saruwatari's NSX. Torres also advanced on a bye run.

The semis produced a clash between Shiobara and Torres, and then Simrock and Ibarra. When Torres broke the Japanese driver got the easy advance to the final. But in the other battle the championship was on the line. If Ibarra was going to be crowned champion he had to beat Simrock. The pair staged and both cut awesome lights, but Simrock gained the holeshot and had the power to hold off the hard-charging Mazda. Simrock had the championship in the bag. That didn't stop him from letting it all out in the final. Another fast reaction time and Simrock was out in front. At half-track, the Nissan's huge power began reeling in the Ford and at the stripe Shiobara grabbed the win light setting a low e.t. and high mph of the event.

The 2001 NHRA Summit Import Drag Racing Series produced some intense heads-up drag racing all season long, culminating in one of the best import drag races ever at Pomona. Five of the most die-hard import racers in the land have gone into the record books as NHRA racing champions. For 2002, the organizers have bumped up the schedule to include eight events across the country. Stay tuned, and we'll let you know when and where and, of course, bring you the very best in coverage.