Located in central Florida, Orlando is first and foremost a tourist destination. Disney World, SeaWorld and Universal Orlando have been attracting outsiders to the area for decades, but one hotspot that almost always gets overlooked is Speed World Dragway, an NHRA-sanctioned strip about 20 miles outside of the city's center. As has been the case on occasion over its 19-year history, the Battle of the Imports drag racing series returned to Speed World's 1,320 to open up its 2009 campaign on Sunday, April 19, in clear, warm conditions. Hot shoes from near and far traveled to the locale with machinery in tow to do battle and ring in a new season.

In the Pro classes, Norris Prayoonto and his Honda Insight moved to the top of the all-motor Pro-Stock qualifying with a 9.640-second pass at 140.37mph, clear of No. 2 qualifier Jesus Padilla in his Mazda RX-7 which registered a 9.914 at 133.67. Prayoonto remained essentially unchallenged throughout his day, watching Ian Wyre break in the first eliminator and receiving a bye in the class' semifinal.

His eventual foe Padilla also had an easy path to the Final, though not quite as easy as Prayoonto's. He eclipsed No. 5 qualifier Cruz Vicente's RX-7, 9.836 at 137.47 to Vicente's 10.553 at 125.61, and then took out No. 3 Armando Melendez, 9.819 at 136.91 to 15.428 at 52.48.

The championship round was a true drag race, a squeaker of the best kind. The duo had near identical reactions, Prayoonto with a .107 to Padilla's .119, and were neck-and-neck all the way down the strip, Prayoonto crossing the stripe first with a 9.572. Padilla was just a narrow .2 behind the race's winner at the finish.

Pro-Import also had some high drama, which began in qualifying after each car (five total) broke into the nines. Luis Ferrer topped the list, and got a first-round bye to start off his march to the closer. He then took out No. 4 qualifier Gerardo Guardiola in the semi, recovering from a slower RT to win 10.037 at 103.81 to Guardiola's 10.357 at 149.38.

Second-best qualifier Sergio Reyes easily beat No. 5 man Junior Espinal's '95 Honda Civic in their first eliminator and then byed into Final. In the title bout, Reyes in his EVO had the better reaction by .06, but Ferrer reeled him in with his Corolla for the win, ultimately pulling out a .4-second advantage in ET.

Last year at BOTI Orlando, import modeling hottie Jessica Barton wowed everyone behind the wheel of her Supra by winning the Street-Tuner category. She returned to Speed World Dragway on Sunday to have another go in the ST ranks, where she qualified third (again) in a field of eight that was evenly split between nine-second cars and 11-second ones.

Barton put away No. 7 qualifier Shane Samuels in round one, 9.146 at 158.67 to Samuels' 12.212 at 120.40, even with an abysmal reaction of 1.058. She then killed off No. 5 man Larry Ramnath's Nissan, 9.215 at 156.68 to 10.186 at 123.36, again with a poorer RT of .568 to Ramnath's .491.

Her eventual finals challenger, Darin Dachiara, qualified second fastest and beat No. 6 Chris Moreno with a 9.029 at 161.94 to Moreno's 10.616 at 136.50. Dachiara then dispatched No. 4 Mario Deniz in the semi, 8.947 at 161.30 to 10.079 at 133.25.

In the Final, Barton got a massive hole shot, launching in .175 to Dachiara's glacial .529. In the end, Dachiara had the superior time and speed, but Barton crossed the finish line first, repeating her ST class victory from last year.

Street-Comp had another full roster of racers, with the list headed up by Jonathan Reynolds' Integra, Rodolfo Mercado's Civic and Josue Echavarria's Civic, in that order. To move through the first round, Mercado beat No. 6 John Ferguson, 10.019 at 152.83 to 10.720 at 143.28, and then earned a Final birth by besting No. 8 David Marks, 10.198 at 133.46 to 11.514 at 126.28.

Echavarria toppled No. 7 Omar Crespo in their opener, 10.564 at 147.57 to 11.187 at 133.00, and then lucked out over Reynolds, who broke in their semi. However, Echavarria would be the one to break in the Final, handing the first-place trophy to Mercado.

Finally in the Street-Performance run group, Loan Nguyen was pretty much untouchable, slotting first in the qualifying order. She received a bye in her first eliminator and then lined up against No. 3 qualifier Richard Asuncion's '92 Civic in the semi, dispatching him with a 10.929 at 127.45 to Asuncion's 12.930 at 103.20.

No. 2 qualifier Marc Podkowik went through No. 5 Francisco Dallo's '92 Civic, which broke, and No. 4 Christian G.'s Civic, laying down a 12.528 at 83.26 to Christian's 19.570 at 73.67, to get into the Final. As the racers faced off, it was Nguyen's lightning-quick reaction time (.088 to .142) that helped her secure the class' top honor. She put in a 10.944 at 127.15 to Podkowik's 11.126 at 121.39 for the victory.

Battle now heads north for Round 2: BOTI MIR on June 14, set for Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville.

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