Front-wheel-drive vs. rear-wheel-drive, Honda versus Toyota, Japan vs. United States, six-cylinder vs. four-cylinder, everything was riding on the line. In this case, the starting line as Russ's driving let loose on the launch, giving the victory to Kida.
In the Apex Integration Outlaw Class, Stephan Papadakis and his AEM/NuFormz Civic was given the green light to steal the championship away from Craig Paisley and the Paisley Racing Supra when Paisley suffered a first round loss.
Unfortunately, the lights would have no mercy on either, as Papadakis would redlight in the first round. Returning to IDRC competition since his crash at the 2000 Gr8ride.com West Coast Nationals, Ray Lochhead and his SR Motorsports' RX-7 acquired attention and respect with new-found power and reliability. Lochhead mustered a track best 8.869 at 150.46 to take home the class victory at the finals.
Opening the door and the odds-makers best guess on who'll be the favorites to win in the IDRC's $100,000 2001 championship series.
Mazda RX-7s dominated the qualifying field in the Toyo Tires Street Class Presented by Sport Compact Car. Half of the field was made up of the Wankel-powered Mazdas as well as the number one, three and four qualifying positions.
Ari Yallon and the RX7.com Mazda was the only driver who clinched the national point's championship before the finals. Although he had already won the big money coming into the race, Yallon held nothing back and qualified number one with a 10.323-second performance. Looking to make a name for themselves in the Street Class, Rhys Millen and the UPRD Supra qualified an instant off Yallon's pace, with a 10.393. The field would shake out to Yallon vs. Millen in the final. Millen accomplished his mission with a final round victory and a personal best of 10.024 at 146.21 mph.
For the 2001 season, rule changes will require radial tires so race fans will have to wait and see if the RX-7 and Supra teams will face any serious competition from the Diamond Star camp.
Abel Ibarra and his Flaco Racing RX-7 also put an exclamation point on his championship by qualifying number one, setting a new track elapsed time and mph record (7.939 @ 171.08), and winning the JE Pistons Pro Class.
DC Sports stepped up big time and answered many racer's prayers by putting up the cash and support for the All-Motor competition. California showed its dominance, with all-motor technology as every racer who made the field, carried a California driver's license.
Joel Mandl captured the number one qualifying spot with an 11.483 at 115 mph. Jarrod Silvers had top mph during qualifying with a 119.02 mph trap speed.
In the final, a pair of CRXs would face off, as Erick Aguilar would manage a mere .04-second victory against Jarrod Silvers for the closest final of the day.
Nearly 20 cars in the 9s, a dozen cars in the 8s and a trio in the 7s made for incredible racing action that West Coast fans had never before seen. The IDRC transformed the race surface of Los Angeles County Raceway (LACR) to record-setting standards.
Import racing's biggest names made this race one to remember as Ibarra, Paisley, Kubo and Yallon took home 2000 IDRC National Series Championships and a total of $60,000 in cash.
In 2001, IDRC is stepping things up once again with an even busier race schedule, bigger championship payout and undoubtedly the most intense import drag racing in the world.