Sacramento Raceway was the fourth stop for the NHRA Summit Import Drag Racing Series in its inaugural season. There was a big turn out in cars and fans as 570 vehicles went to war down the 1320 and the pit-side stands were filled to capacity. A bit of controversy centered around the lights in the left lane. The lane was the site of many red lights throughout the day by drivers who are not normally prone to impatience. Reportedly, the phenomenon would take place when the right-lane competitor would fully stage before the left-lane car would even pre-stage.
Hot Rod
JoJo Callos was the runaway qualifying leader in Hot Rod at 9.22 behind the wheel of the JG/Edelbrock Civic. Callos was far ahead of Jimmy O'Connor's Venom Civic (9.75) and Lisa Kubo's Nitto Tires Civic (9.93).
There were no major upsets in round one as Callos, O'Connor, Kubo, Kenny Tran, Andrew Tran, Eddie Chuong, and Andrew Bermea all advanced to the second round.
O'Connor drew the bye run followed by Andrew Tran stunning Kenny Tran (no relation), ending the day of the class' number-two points earner. After Callos ripped Bermea with a 9.446, the normally steady Kubo lost her chance to put further distance between herself and Tran by drawing a red light.
In the semifinals, O'Connor ended Chuong's Cinderella tale while Callos zipped into the finals posting the quickest e.t. of eliminations, a 9.33 at 149.37 mph, to erase Andrew Tran's game 11.41.
Callos was relentless in the final, nailing O'Connor on the tree (O'Connor not doing himself any favors with a sleepy .813 reaction), and powering away to a 9.41 to 10.03 victory.
Pro
R.J. Simrock struggled on his first two qualifying passes in Ben Ma's AEBS Focus, then stole the No. 1 qualifying berth from Efren Vasquez in the final qualifying session Sunday. Four drivers got past Vasquez's 8.169 Sunday, with Simrock leading the way at 7.854. Jimmy O'Connor motivated the Venom Performance Toyota Tundra truck to a second-best 7.922 at 170.96 mph. Jose Torres and Abel Ibarra had their RX-7s third and fourth with runs of 8.050 and 8.119 respectively.
In round one action, Ibarra and the Toyo Tires/ExtrudeHone Mazda got a first-round bye when Vazquez was a broken no-show. Simrock also got a bye when Marcos Acosta broke the Driverfx.com '95 Mazda MX-3 just off the line in a West Coast versus East Coast battle. O'Connor then red-lighted against Moises Benitez and Torres and his potent Siguel Racing RX-7 entry got an easy freebie when fellow Puerto Rican Rafael Rivera, winner of the B&M NHRA Import Nationals in Gainesville, broke just off the line.