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ARSLANIAN, KUBO, TRAN AND DURST LEAD QUALIFYING

AT RECORD-SETTING WOODBURN EVENT

WOODBURN, Ore. - Stephan Papadakis clocked the fastest speed (207.80 mph) in NHRA Sport Compact history Saturday at the second annual Auto Trader Magazine Northwest NHRA Sport Compact Nationals at Woodburn Dragstrip.

Ara Arslanian (Pro RWD), Lisa Kubo (Pro FWD), Kenny Tran (Turbo Magazine Hot Rod) and Leslie Durst (Honda Tuning All Motor) will lead their respective categories into Sunday's eliminations at the $196,000 race, the seventh of 10 events in the $2.1 million NHRA Summit Sport Compact Drag Racing Series.

Papadakis blasted his AEM/Driver FX Honda Civic to a run of 7.063 at 207.80 during the first qualifying session. Papadakis' speed is more than two mph faster than the Pro RWD speed record (205.47 mph) set by George Ioannou at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J. in May.

"We know the car can do it," said Papadakis. "We made a small error with the boost on that run and it ran faster than it should have. We know the car has a lot of horsepower. However, we're here to go rounds, not to break E.T. or speed records. That's what we need to do on Sunday, go rounds."

Arslanian led Pro RWD qualifying when he drove his StreetGlow Toyota Solara to a run of 6.980 at 200.13 during the final qualifying session to earn his first career No. 1 qualifying position. Arslanian's teammate and Pro RWD points leader Ioannou qualified in the No. 3 spot.

Pro FWD-category points leader Nelson Hoyos drove his Bothwell Motorsports Chevy Cavalier to the Pro FWD speed record when he recorded 184-mph passes on his first two qualifying attempts. Hoyos clocked a run of 8.432 at 184.65 to set the Pro FWD speed record and qualify in the No. 2 position. The previous speed mark (181.70) was set this May at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway by Shaun Carlson.

"We have the car tuned to run big speeds," said Hoyos. "We had an issue with the shifter on the final run. It should have run 188 mph on that last run. Up to this point in the season our goal was to go rounds. Now that we have the upper-hand on the championship, we're going after numbers."

Lisa Kubo paced the Pro FWD field when she drove her APC Saturn Ion Quad Coupe to a pass of 8.260 at 182.14. It is Kubo's first No. 1 qualifying position of the season and fourth of her career.

Kenny Tran drove the first non-domestic car to the top qualifying spot in the Turbo Magazine Hot Rod class this season when he clocked a performance of 8.560 at 169.93 in his Quaker State Honda Civic. It is Tran's third career top qualifying spot. The only other drivers to qualify No. 1 in the Turbo Magazine Hot Rod category this season have been Marty Ladwig (Pontiac) and Mike Crawford (Dodge).

Leslie Durst raced to her second consecutive No. 1 qualifying position in the Honda Tuning All Motor category when she drove her Horizon Motorsports Honda CRX to a run of 10.324 at 129.77.

Final eliminations begin Sunday at 1 p.m.