BFGoodrich NHRA Sport Compact Nationals

Moroso Motorsports Park, West Palm Beach, FL April 17-18, 2004
Story and Photos By Nick Chin by Modified Magazine

The NHRA headed to South Florida for the BF Goodrich Tires Sport Compact Nationals and packed the bleachers full of fans, for an exciting record breaking drag racing weekend. Pro FWD dips into the 7's! Hot Rod goes 8.0! Pro RWD exceeds 207 MPH!? All Motor charges into the 9s! A Moroso crowd packed the both stands? Records are made to be broken and this weekend in Palm Beach was definitely a breakers paradise.

On Saturday's qualifying, Lisa Kubo stepped into the first seven second pass for a front wheel drive in history in her Ecotec-powered APC Saturn Motorsports Ion Coupe ripping a 7.96 @ 180.83. She then proceeded to back that record up in the Final round of the event against Nelson Hoyos with a 8.003 E.T. at 186.87 mph pass against Nelson's very worthy 8.209@ 180.83 mph. Congradulations to the Kubo crew and Saturn Motorsports on that historical run.

In the Pro RWD, there was a bit of excitement as well, as George Ioannou had to fend off friend Craig Paisley in the final round for the win. Paisley, while valiant in his efforts to upset the contender, didn't have enough to steam pass the Street Glow Solara. George managed to claim a record himself with a NHRA national speed record of 207.13mph!

More fierce racing followed in the Hot Rod class cars. Kenny Tran, a crowd favorite spent the weekend trying to work-in his new sequential transmission while Marty Ladwig seemed invincible on the tarmac. Gary Gardella in his new Dupont sponsored Civic had a steady start in the first round knocking Kenny Tran out of the competition with a 9.07 ET. Coming back in the second round to put down a more impressive number, 8.50 seconds, but it was just not enough for GM backed Sunfire of Marty Ladwig who layed down a 8.16 second pass. The breaker of the Class, Ladwig, ran a most impressive 8.08 at 177.09 mph in the Finals backing up his 8.181 run he posted on Saturday!!! Wow this one also written into the books.

In the All Motor Class, Jesus Padilla was the talk of the weekend breaking a record himself to claim the quickest ET. Without the aid of any forced induction, additives or juice, he managed to get hisRX7.COM Mazda RX-7 into the 9's! Which was backed up on Sunday and became an official NHRA record.

It's amazing how close behind the Pro FWD the Hot Rod racers are now and one has to wonder if they have to sandbag. Surely this is only a taste of what these teams have got up their sleeves, this being the second event for the year. I can almost guarantee more excitement to come from those looking to break records and those to keep their own intact. Only time will tell but the trek will definitely be worth it. For this event the crowd seemed completely satisfied, packing up the bleachers, going wild at the Extreme Bikini contest and staying till the very last pull down the track.