ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. – The NHRA Sport Compact Fallnationals provided excitement in the sportsman categories when three of the four East Region Sportsman Champions (UrbanRacer.com Sport FWD, Sport RWD and BFGoodrich Tires Street Stock) were crowned in the final round at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. The other sportsman category to crown a champion (Quick 16) was won earlier in the day.
The winners were Fernando Reyes in Urban Racer.com Sport FWD, Darin Dichara in Sport RWD, Cristian Gomez in BFGoodrich Tires Street Stock and Brian Ballard in Quick 16.
The professional winners were Brad Personett (Pro RWD) Leslie Armendariz (Honda Tuning Magazine All Motor), Gary Gardella (Pro FWD), Rafael Fuentes (Modified) and Kenny Tran (Hot Rod).
Another champion crowned was Personett, who was able to wrap up his third consecutive Xplod Series Pro RWD world championship earlier in the day. He also won the race by defeating Boris Rojas. Personett’s Titan Motorsports Scion tC powered to the event win with a run of 6.75 at 202.70
“I am really happy with the championship,” said Personett. “We’ve done different things on the car all season, so it is nice to win for the third time. Without the help of all the people at Scion it wouldn’t have been possible. I also want to thank Precision Turbo, G Force Transmission, Borla and Fidanza for all their support.”
Armendariz knew what she needed to do coming into the event in order to keep herself in the hunt for her first Xplod Series World Championship in Honda Tuning Magazine All Motor. She accomplished two of the three things by qualifying number one and winning the event. She fell short of setting a national record for time which would have given her 20 extra points.
By defeating Norris Prayoonto, Armendariz won her first race since 2003 and her fourth in her career. She ran an easy 10.12 seconds at 140.85 mph after Prayoonto started early to get a red light.
“I learned something today,” said Armendariz. “I have been stressing out and it just isn’t worth it. It wasn’t a pretty win, but I did what I set out to do. My sponsors have stuck with us. I have a bunch of sponsors to thank like Scion, AEM, Brisk USA, Calico Coatings, CP Pistons, Drive Shaft Shop, ERL Performance, EMCO, Goodyear Racing, Royal Purple, SCE Gaskets, Steen Chassis, TWM Induction, Web Camshafts and Vance & Hines Motorsports. We’ll roll with the momentum and see where it takes us.”
Gardella has been the driver to beat in Pro FWD in the second half of the season. He is driving like another Chevy Cobalt driver by the name of Dave Connolly on the POWERade Series. On the same day that Connolly earned his fifth win in a row, Gardella drove to his fourth win in a row (Two Indianapolis’, Dallas and Englishtown). By qualifying number two he came up one point short of the maximum number of points available at an event (138). He set the record at 7.15 seconds.
Gardella defeated Marty Ladwig in a hard fought race. His time of 7.17 at 202.79 bested Ladwig’s 7.25 at 192.58.
“This Red Bull Dupont Chevy Cobalt got us to the winner’s circle,” said Gardella. “I am now about one and a half rounds ahead of second place. I think I will need to get to the final in Pomona to win the championship. I have been battling to win the championship, and the NHRA championship is the one that really means something to me. I want to do it for everybody that has had to put up with me.”
There was a new winner in Modified. Rafael Fuentes from Corozal, Puerto Rico, ran hard all weekend and defeated tough cars to earn his first career Wally trophy. He ran unopposed in the final round. His opponent, Brent Rau, had engine problems in the previous round and was unable to fix it before the final. Fuentes easily drove his Starlet to the finish line in 8.51 seconds at 147.55 mph.
“I am very happy,” said Fuentes. “I worked hard all weekend and I wanted it bad. I noticed the competition in Modified and knew that I had to work hard. I want to thank my whole crew, especially my Dad, Rafael, and Siguel, Edwin and Gaby. Thanks to my whole team.”
Tran kept his hopes alive for a championship by defeating his Hot Rod rival Stephanie Eggum. His Q Racing Scion tC powered him to a time 7.94 seconds at 180.00 mph. Eggum broke the transmission and was unable to make the run.
“I feel confident,” said Tran. “It will be a tall order to break the record and win the race in Pomona, but I think that’s what it will take to win the championship. I know what we need to look for to win. I expect to see Stephanie (Eggum) in the final. It’s going to take extra effort fro all of us to win.”
Despite her unfortunate finish to the weekend, Eggum set a time record of 7.87 seconds to gain 20 additional points in her quest for a championship.
The NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series will next be at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Oct. 20-21, for the seventh annual NHRA Sport Compact World Finals.
ENGLISHOWN, N.J. — Sunday’s final results from the sixth annual NHRA Sport Compact Fallnationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. The race is the 10th of 11 in the NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Drag Racing Series.
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