The BFGoodrich Sport Compact Nationals, the first NHRA sport compact drag race of the 2002 season, should have been called the Split Second Nationals. A fraction of a second or a fraction of speed decided a number of battles. Any questions about the vitality of the 2002 SC season were answered at the Gainesville Raceway on April 13 and 14.
In one of the most impressive vehicle debuts in recent memory (maybe ever), the Turbonetics Celica came out of the box blasting insane trap speeds and wild e.t.s. How does 7.32 at 199.93 mph grab ya? This is no typo, the Turbonetics Celica was a mere .07 mph away from Summit Racing's $25,000 payoff for the first "import" to break the 200-mph barrier. Get out the checkbook, guys.
On the other end of the debut spectrum was Jojo Callos. His new car, a black Integra with Castrol sponsorship, spun on its maiden journey, in what was the most impressive save in recent memory, (maybe ever). The car drifted to the left of the line and Callos had his hands full all the way down the track. At about 1,100 feet, the So Cal racer found himself out of the groove and in trouble with physics. After going sideways a number of times, the car came to rest facing the starting line.
In competition, there was close racing in nearly every class. In the first round of Pro, Grant Downing and the Venom Tundra went up against Tadatoshi Wakita and the Blast SC400. The Venom truck went 7.37 at 187 mph and the SC400 turned a 7.56 at 181 mph. It has to hurt to blast a 7.5 and get put on the trailer. The Pro Class has come a long way.
Craig Paisley and his nitrous-breathing Tundra tore off 8.34 and 8.44-second e.t.s to make to the finals against Matt Scranton and the Turbonetics Celica. Paisley's .463 to .565 tree advantage doesn't illustrate the jump he got. As Paisley continued his consistent string of runs, the Celica bogged heavily at the start. When it finally came online, it hooked and booked, running an 8.266 at a stunning 197 mph. This effort allowed the Celica to squeak past the Tundra at the traps by a scant 0.142 seconds, as Paisley posted an 8.408. It seems a matter of when, not if, Summit's $25,000 will be deposited in the Celica's checking account.
On the other side of the line, Paisley was pleased with his first outing. "We've come a long way since our last test session and to run as consistent as we did was great. The engine is on a single-stage nitrous system and we're planning to run a three-stage set-up so there is a lot of on-the-fly R&D ahead. This engine is coming out and going on the dyno." Paisley hopes to get his two additional stages of nitrous by the E-Town race; we'll see.
In Modified, 2001 champion Carlos Gonzalez picked up where he left off last season by grabbing the number one qualifying spot with an 8.45. His day ended early as technical difficulties in round one opened the door for Christian Rado, who was piloting the Paisley Racing Supra. Big round one upsets continued when Alex Driggers and the Rosado Racing Corolla sent Stephan Papadakis to the trailer by running an 8.78 at 144 mph to Steph's 9.05.
In the semis, Rado made quick work of Len Monserrat. Then, in a rare oddity, Driggers and his second round foe Nelson Hoyos, who was driving the GM Racing Cavalier, were both DQ'ed for leaving before the tree was activated. This gave Rado a walk in the park in the finals.