The famed Battle of the Imports made the penultimate stop of its 19th season September 27 at Woodburn Dragstrip in northwest Oregon. The one-day event was the series' only foray into the Northwest this year, but promoter Frank Choi hopes to add a Seattle event to the itinerary for 2010.

This year's affair drew another huge crowd to E-Town over October 3-4, with tons to see and do. If you were competing, either on track or in the judging lanes, plenty of money was up for grabs - a reported $40,000-plus in cash payouts.

Jeremy proved to be on the ball, running a 9.190 elapsed time at 143.93mph in qualifications for the Pro Stock class. But no one wanted to play as he only had one rival, and he was in the 11s. Unfazed, Jeremy ran a 9.238 in the finals and continued to lap the Civic in search of an eight second e.t. A transmission failure toward the end of the day put the DVS on the trailer.

In Pro Import, Jeff Bush and his ETS Performance Diamond Star was the top dog. Tuned by English Racing, the DSM had just been converted to an automatic transmission and the team was tweaking maps in the qualifying rounds. Bush had the field covered but reported the engine was still short of all out at 41 psi. The DSM was by far the smoothest accelerating car on the grounds.

Street Comp and Street Performance were the two most hotly-contested classes. Each had a full field of eight combatants, all 16 flying the Honda banner. Tacoma, Wash., Honda tuning shop Speed Factory flexed its muscle winning both divisions.

Street Comp is reserved for four-cylinder FWD vehicles with a maximum of up to two power adders. Maximum tire size is 25 inches tall and nine inches wide. Vehicles must retain the factory OEM body including the windshield and windows.

Kevin Kemph and his '92 Civic emerged from qualifications with a bull's eye on his back as the number-one qualifier. He was also the only ride in single digits at 9.86 at 161 mph. The Speed Factory Honda laid down 9.74 and 9.73 e.t.s to gain entrance into the final. Kevin slowed to10.02 but his foe, Mike LeClair, broke just after the tree.

Street Performance is for normally aspirated four-cylinder FWD vehicles. Engine swaps are permitted but must be from the same manufacturer as the vehicle. Tire size and chassis regulations are the same as Street Comp.

Joel Sipes and the Speed Factory Honda occupied the top of the grid with an 11.37, but the top three cars were within about a half a second of each other. Joel got serious in eliminations breaking into the 10s with a 10.98 and improved to an impressive 10.81 in the finals against accomplished import racer Cloyes Holland.

The Battle series has found a balanced equilibrium of small venues that have the right amounts of cars and fans to support the proceedings. People can argue drag versus drift until they're blue in the face, but Frank Choi and the Battle of the Imports are going strong as they head into their 20th season.

2009 Battle of the Imports Round 5: Woodburn
Woodburn Dragstrip, Woodburn, OR

PRO IMPORT
Winner   Jeff Bush   9.320@149
Runner-up   Cesar Machado  

PRO STOCK
Winner Jeremy   Lookofsky   9.238@144
Runner-up    Thomas Strom    11.941@115

STREET TUNER
Winner     Brian RIbards     9.861@145
Runner-up     Lucas English    broke

STREET COMP
Winner    Kevin Kempf     10.027@155
Runner-up    Mike LeClair     broke

STREET PERFORMANCE
Winner    Joel Sipes     10.810@126
Runner-up     Cloyse Holland     11.610@113mph

Photo Gallery

Visit the 2009 BATTLE OF THE IMPORTS OREGON for more pictures