Battle Of The Imports Rocks The East Coast

The original import drag series, the Battle of the Imports, took its three-ring circus of speed to Virginia Motorsports Park in scenic Petersburg, Va. The Virginia Battle was a hotly contested, predominantly East Coast affair. The only invaders were Jeremy Lookofsky and Shawn Hillier in their L'Natural all-motor Honda.

The star of the show was Maryland's Paul Efantis and his 1997 Toyota Supra. Paul's single-turbo 2JZ-GTE, pressurized by a gargantuan Turbonetics Y2K, wreaked havoc in the Pro-Import Class. After qualifying first with a 9.120 at 154 mph. Paul smashed his way to the final, where he squared off against John Lee and his turbo Civic. Paul returned to his qualifying form with a 9.13, which was too much for Lee, who ran his best lap of the event with a 9.84.

The All-Motor Class is one of the Battle of the Imports' claims to fame. West Coast all-star Shawn Hillier, piloting Jeremy Lookofsky's Honda, went up against East Coast kingpin Norris Prayoonto. In qualifying, Norris laid down the gauntlet with a 10.486 at 127 mph. Hillier posted a 10.776 at 132 mph to nab the number two spot. Hillier broke in the first round, which opened the door for number three qualifier, Jeremy Allen. Allen did well to advance to the final but his 11.59 was easily covered by Norris P.'s 10.81.

In Street-Comp, Inline Performance's Stan Wladyka was number one with a 10.45 at 140 mph. The story here was Jason Hunt, who rallied from the sixth spot on the grid to advance to the finals against top dog, Wladyka. In eliminations, Hunt proved he had his act together, churning out 10s in his CRX as he dropped a 10.38 on Wladyka, who was pushing hard with a 10.59.

The remaining winners were: Anthony Melber in Street-Tuner; Ben Harris in Street-Performance; Fred Highland in Street-Stock and Maurice Barber in Sportsman Eliminator.