TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2008

Pacific Raceways played host to Round-7 of the Battle of the Imports and treated fans in the Emerald City to some of the best side by side drag racing the Northwest has seen all year. With a 90-minute wait to get into the facility, the action was nonstop the moment fans gathered inside. "The weather was taken out of the equation as we had the best weather of 2008," commented Frank Choi, Battle of the Imports. "The lines getting into the facility were out of control and reminded me a little of the old Palmdale, CA days."

In the Pro-FWD class, Ed Bergenholtz (Tustin, CA) secured the first of the three class championships offered this year. Bergenholtz qualified with a 8.413 and ran an uncontested final of 7.636 at 189.58 securing his first Battle of the Imports Championship and a total of three national championships in the last five years.

Later in the evening, fans were treated to a grudge match between the MAZDASPEED6 and a 63 Outlaw Corvette with 632 cubic inches of Detroit iron driven by Jeff Dungey (Grayland, WA). The fans were on their feet cheering for Bergenholtz in this classic "Import versus Domestic" matchup. When the green light dropped, the Corvette jumped out in front and barely managed to stay ahead as the MAZDASPEED6 chased him down.

At the eigth mile, the Dungy was ahead by a nose with a 4.803 to Bergenholtz's 4.880. By the end of the track, Dungey crossed the stripe first with a 7.429 barely holding off Bergenholtz's 7.456. "This is what it's all about," commented Ron Bergenholtz, Bergenholtz Racing. "Fans love drama and Ed represented all imports racers everywhere in this particular race against this domestic. Ed may have loss by only a hair but, for that 7-1/2 seconds, everyone here was on the same team."

In Pro-Import, current points leader Kenny Tran (Garland, TX) driving the Jotech Racing Scion tC wanted to make sure that he protected his 38-point lead over rival Bryan Jimenez (Houston, TX) piloting the Everybody's Mortgage Chevy Cobalt. Tran qualified number one with a 8.149 with Jimenez (Houston, TX) right behind him with a 8.352. Jake Montgomery (Nampa, ID) rounded out the only other 8-second ET with a personal best of 8.669. During the finals, Tran came out on top with a 8.201 against a traction limited 11.308 of Jimenez. Kenny Tran moves on to Round-8 in Woodburn, OR with a slight cushion knowing that anything could happen in the final two-events.

In Pro-Stock, the competition was fierce with all six competitors qualifying with 9.90's or better. "We knew the competitors would do real well at this venue," commented Frank Choi. "This is the first time we've had all the competitors qualifying in the 9's." The final round was set between Jeremy Lookofsky (Northridge, CA) piloting the quickest and fastest P/S car in the country against Leslie Armendariz (Huntington Beach, CA). Durst left the starting line first but Lookofsky caught the Horizon Motorsports Scion tC at the 330' and held on for the win while setting a class record of 9.286 to Armendariz's 9.493. On the flip side, Armendariz moved up to second in points and managed to close the gap by 59-points.

Round-8, a.k.a. "Game Point," is right around the corner and is scheduled for September 27-28 at Woodburn Dragstrip located in Woodburn, OR just south of Portland. Championships are on the lines and fans can bet the racing action will be even more intense than ever.