The Project Mayhem sportbike crew also showed the fans a good time between racing rounds. It had been a while since we last attended an NHRA Sport Compact event and we were pleasantly surprised to find many different things to do and watch besides watching drag racing.
As for the racing, it was blazing too. We saw records break left and right. In qualifying for the Honda Tuning All Motor class, Scott Mohler and his Mopar-sponsored Neon set the track record with a 10.383 at 128.48mph, giving him the number one qualifying spot, edging out Jesus Padilla in his '85 Mazda RX-7. The top eight spots in the All Motor Class qualified with a 10.869 or better. Mohler was able to take the momentum from the previous day straight through to the finals, where he beat Leslie Durst.
In the Turbo Magazine Hot Rod Class both the track e.t. and mph records fell at the hands of Marty Ladwig and his Pontiac Sunfire. Ladwig was able to blister down the track in the finals with an 8.131 at 174.01 mph beating out Mike Crawford who ran an 8.328 at 173.01 mph in his Mopar-sponsored Neon.
In the Pro FWD category, it came down to Lisa Kubo and Nelson Hoyos. In qualifying, Nelson broke the track record with a 7.658-second run while Lisa destroyed the mph record with a 191.54-mph run. It was only fitting that the two met in the finals.
When the light turned green Hoyos was off and running while Lisa played catch up. In the end the track wasn't long enough and Hoyos crossed the finish line first with a 7.712 at 179.33 mph to Lisa's trailing 7.821 at 195.05 mph.
In the finals of Pro RWD, Stephan Papadakis was not going to be denied the win. In the first round of eliminations Steph broke the national e.t. record with a 6.755 run. In the finals against Ara Arslanian Steph proved it wasn't a fluke as he ran an even quicker 6.751 to Ara's losing 6.802.
The next stop on the NHRA Sport Compact Nationals event schedule is at Dallas, Texas. If you thought it was hot in Vegas be prepared for Dallas because it will be another hot and sweaty weekend.