On August 23-24, 2008, Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., was flooded with the best that the Northwest had to offer. Battle of the Imports (BOTI) opened its gates at 4 p.m., and soon after there was an overflow section of the raceway filled with people and cars. One of the most notable things about the tuner fans in the Northwest is that many of the cars you would’ve suspected to be in the car show were there to race. Whatever the case, the battle in Seattle was filled with death-defying racing, super clean show cars, and beautiful women.
Bergenholtz Racing took down the giant, GM Racing, to claim the ’08 Battle of the Imports Pro FWD championship. After securing the championship, Bergenholtz and his crew were feeling very confident, so confident that they decided to take on the best V-8 domestic racer the track could provide. The track brought out four competitors to choose from, and Bergenholtz took on the fastest of the bunch. This time it was a beautifully prepared ’63 Chevy Corvette with a pro-stock chassis, huge big-block motor, and nitrous oxide. This had to have been one of the closest races of the weekend. Since the ’Vette was a rear-wheel drive, he took the holeshot and Ed took off with him, almost door to door. Unfortunately the Mazda’s hard charge at the end of the track was not good enough. The V-8s got their revenge by only four-thousandths of a second. Not too shabby considering this Corvette had 17-inch-wide slicks on the back. But the action didn’t stop there. Ed’s Mazda hit an oil patch after the finish line, which sent him into a severe right turn just under 190 mph. The Mazda driver door lexan window was blown off the car but Ed was able to keep his car off the walls. Bergenholtz clipped the Chevy’s wheel bars, and although there was minor damage, nobody was hurt.
In the Pro Import Class Final it was an all-Texas showdown with Bryan Jimenez in his Your Mortgage Chevy Cobalt against Kenny Tran in his Jotec Scion tC. Tran dominated this battle when Jimenez experienced an uncharacteristic 11-second run. With only three rounds left in 2008, it’s coming down to the wire in the Pro Import Class championship.
The Pro Stock Class qualifying rounds were dominated by Jeremy Lookofsky in his DVS Honda Civic with a one-tenth of second gap to his nearest competitor. In the elimination round it was no different. In the Pro Stock Finals it was Lookofsky against Leslie Armendarez in her Scion tC. Armendarez set a very impressive 9.30 run in the finals but, unfortunately for her, it was not enough to knock off Lookofsky’s 9.20 run.
Off-track action was just as exciting. The Battle crew had over 30 girls on hand to provide on-stage entertainment. BOTI put on a fashion show, had go-go girls throwing out prizes to the crowd, and finished things up with a packed bikini contest. The ’08 Battle in Seattle will be put into the record books as one of the most impressive BOTI of the year.