The Battle of the Imports road show came through Woodburn, Oreg., Sept. 27-28. People from all over the Northeast came out to strut their stuff.The best in import drag racing came to claimtheir share of the valuable BOTI championshippoints. Being that the '08 season is coming to a close, the BOTI championship races are tightening up and racers from all over are positioning themselves in their respective pro classes.
The cool thing about Woodburn Raceway is that they have a campground on the premises, so many of the traveling racers camped overnight. Another cool feature about Woodburn is there is a large outlet mall almost in walking distance to the track. This allowed many of the racers' spouses to enjoy the famous Oregon no-sales-tax shopping while their counterparts were clashing on the track.
The only class where the championship was locked up was in the Pro FWD class. The '08 BOTI class champion is Ed Bergenholtz from Bergenholtz Racing. Bergenholtz is the pilot for the Mazdaspeed/Nitto Tire Mazda 6. This is the classic story of David versus Goliath. Bergenholtz Racing campaigned its car on a very shoestring budget and took down corporate giants like Toyota, Scion, and GM. This is proof that it's more than money in racing. People can win with persistency and ingenuity. Congratulations go out to the Bergenholtz crew.
In the Pro Import class finals it was the classic all-Texas showdown with Bryan Jimenez in his Your Mortgage Chevy Cobalt against Kenny Tran in his Jotec Racing Scion tC. Coming into this event Tran was leading the championship series with Bryan chopping on his tail but then Tran pulled something out of his hat when he took the win from No. 1 qualifier Bryan Jimenez.
There was a big shakeup in the Pro Stock class. The class leader, Norris Prayoonto, was eliminated in the one of the semifinals, which left the door wide open for Second Place contender Leslie Armendariz. It was an all-Toyota final with Scott Kelly in his Toyo Tires/TRD Toyota Corolla against Armendariz in her Scion Racing Scion tC. Armendariz won with Kelly red lighting at the starting line, which resulted in her making up some very valuable championship points.
Besides the on-track action there were activities happening on stage throughout the day, like numerous contests, go-go dancers, and the world famous BOTI bikini contest. Cars came as far as Seattle to compete in the car show. The prototype car builder and designer, Troy Sumitomo from Five Axis Designs, was on hand handing out prices and displaying his latest line of Scion body kits and wheels.
Being that is was the first time BOTI held an event in Woodburn, we should be seeing some very exciting things happening in the future in the Northwest.