Jackson Racing Battle Of The Imports - Atco Raceway

Who would have thought that two days of import racing in Jersey would still not be enough? This was IDRA's first event at Atco Raceway and there was some intense racing. The two days combined a total of more than 4,000 spectators, 200 race cars and another 200 show cars. There was plenty of hype during the two days. Would Vinny Ten's 1,000-hp Supra jump into the 7s? Can Sean Glazar be the first uni-body Quick Class racer to test the 8-second water? Could Jeremy Lookofsky regain his title of being the world's quickest and fastest all-motor Honda or would Skunk2 go a full year with the title locked?

Vinny Ten was the number one qualifier in the Jackson Racing Pro-Mod class with an 8.22 at 164 mph. The week before the event, Ten did a few shakedown runs, netting an 8.3, 8.2 and an 8.1 respectively. The JZA80 Supra was on the verge of 7s, but a failed torque converter halted his assault. He was able to make it to the semifinals, but fell victim to Juan Lopez in his '71 Datsun, who went on to win the Pro-Mod class.

Sean Glazar also had his car out the previous weekend to do a few shakedown runs before the IDRA event. The Extreme Motorsports-sponsored Talon qualified in the number one spot, far ahead of the competition with a brutally quick 9.17 at 156 mph. In the semifinal round, the Talon smoked down the track with another 9.17. At the end of the track, the car laid a cloud of smoke -engine problems. The Diamond Star was still able to make it to the finals and a match against Cam Worth's hard-charging RX-7. The Pettit Racing RX-7 went on to win the Pro-Import VIII with a 10.41 over Sean's 11.71.

The biggest accomplishment of the two days went to Jeremy Lookofsky's L'Natural CRX. Days before the event, the CRX was motorless and nearly hopeless. Lookofsky hot-shoed back to California to muster up enough parts to build an engine while the car was resting in Virginia at Nu Image. Nu Image is home to the fastest East Coast Honda, piloted by Norris Prayoonto. Prayoonto was nice enough to let Lookofsky borrow his shop to install the new engine a few days before the race. All the hustle was well worth it, because the Ground Control-sponsored CRX regained the title of the world's quickest and fastest, all-motor Honda. Driver Shawn Hiller piloted the car to a 10.73 at a whopping 129.01 mph, demolishing the previous record of 10.91 at 123 mph. If beating the record was not enough, Hiller piloted the CRX through qualifying and competition-all in the magical 10-second zone. The car ran 10.88, 10.73, 10.94, 10.97 and won the Pro-Street class with a 10.78 at 125.48 mph.

If the race event wasn't enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, then the 200-plus cars in the car show was enough to keep the street racer in you happy. Next stop is back to the birthplace of import racing, IDRA's home track in Palmdale, Calif.