MANA — The moans from the crowd peppered the thunder of unbridaled engines July 6 on the final night of the two-day July Fourth drag races at the Kauai Raceway Park presented by the Garden Isle Racing Association.
“Jesse Kealoha, after going rounds in the Battle on the Beach to reach the top, lost the chance at the $7,000 purse on a red light,” said Kerri Barros of the GIRA. “You could hear the crowd moan at the jump of the light.”
Kealoha relinquished the purse to Tom Brown whose dragster powered the quarter mile on an elapsed time of 7.46 seconds, reaching 177.56 mph on a 7.46 dial-in for a clean run, and the pot.
The Battle on the Beach was one of two special events presented by GIRA. It involved more than 24 entries in the Top Gun class trying for the $7,000 cash prize.
The second event, the Rudy Ramos Challenge, had the winners from each class with the exception of the Jr Dragsters competing in a challenge to honor Ramos.
Brian Dow, racing in the Super Pro class aboard a ‘65 Mustang, claimed the top honor on a 10.37 ET to reach 117.56 mph on an 11.25 dial-in over Seth Morales, racing in the Street class in a ‘92 Honda Civic punching in a 14.63 ET to reach 94.28 mph on a 14.00 dial-in.
“Fellow racers from the neighbor islands joined this two-day competition,” Barros said. “The fans enjoyed watching the Higa’s husband-and-wife team from Maui run their Plymouth Arrow race car named ‘Pig Pen’ do wheelies in every round, and Chris ‘Killa’ Bonilla revealed the old skool 1970 red-with-gold flake Opel named ‘Kinky Borinky.’”
Gilbert Barretto Jr., a long-time GIRA racer at the Kauai Raceway, claimed dual firsts in the Pro ET class, winning on both nights.
Sanoe Kaluahine, aboard her Junior Dragster, was iced out of the top spot, Friday night by Layne Montemayor, came back to chip out a win, Saturday night by a mere 1/100 second, taking out Devin Almarza on a 7.92 ET over Almarza’s 7.91 ET.
Kaluahine was also named to the Academic Excellence Award To Honoree class, being joined by Kelsey Kai and Kyle Rapozo. Christopher Silva, Ryancie Sakamoto, Christian Silva, and Devin Almarza made the cut for Academic Excellence Honoree Award.
Additional Junior Dragsters belonged to Ryancie Sakamoto nailing Closest to Dial-in honors on an 8.544 run over an 8.54 dial in, and Kelsey Kai getting Best Reaction honors on his 0.000 reaction time.
Next on the Garden Isle Racing Association calendar is the Ladies Night event that will roll out on Aug. 3 at the Kauai Raceway Park in Mana.
July 5 Results
Jr Dragster: Winner: Layne Montemayor, ET 8.91, MPH 71.74, Dial-in 8.90; R/U: Sanoe Kaluahine, ET 7.97, MPH 81.41, Dial-in 7.90; SEMI: Christopher Silva; SEMI: Christian Silva
Top Gun: Winner: Kelsie Iida-Vierra, ’03 Spitzer dragster, ET 7.97, MPH 159.97, Dial-in 7.90; R/U: Koty Kaiakapu, ’67 Chevy Nova, ET 9.37, MPH 141.68, Dial-in 9.22
Pro ET: Winner: Gilbert Barretto Jr., ’67 Chevy Camaro, ET 11.36, MPH 114.83, Dial-in 11.35; R/U: Aaron Imada, ’92 Honda Civic, ET 10.26, MPH 129.76, Dial-in 10.32 (break out)
Muscle V8: Winner: Alma Koetje, ’98 Chevy Covette, ET 12.25, MPH 111.88, Dial-in 12.23; R/U: Isaac “Sabu” Carvalho, ’95 Chevy Camaro Z28, ET 12.23, MPH 109.79, Dial-in 12.29 (break out)
Sport Compact: Winner: Brandon Fujishige, ’18 Cadillac ATS-V, ET 12.50, MPH 101.93, Dial-in 12.48; R/U: Robby Silva, Jr., ’91 Honda CRX, ET 12.31, MPH 108.59, Dial-in 12.30
Super Pro: Winner: Brian Dow, ’65 Ford Mustang, ET 10.44, MPH 119.09, Dial-in 10.32; R/U: Wendall Nonaka, ’87 Buick Regal, ET 9.82, MPH 145.65, Dial-in 9.78
Street: Winner: Seth Morales, ’92 Honda Civic, ET 14.46, MPH 93.80, Dial-in 14.00; R/U: Derick Balualua, (unavail), ET 14.75, MPH 92.71, Dial-in 14.30
Bike ET: Winner: Sanny Molina, (Unavail), ET 9.78, MPH 148.14, Dial-in 9.25; R/U: Matt Kaleiohi, ’03 Suzuki Hayabusa, ET 9.35, MPH 147.90, Dial-in 9.25 (red light)
July 6 Results
JR Dragster: Winner: Sanoe Kaluahine, ET 7.92, MPH 81.82, Dial-in 7.90; R/U: Devin Almarza, ET 7.91, MPH 82.40, dial-in 7.90; SEMI: Ryant Sakamoto; SEMI: Taylor Montemayor
Top Gun – Battle On The Beach: Winner: Tom Brown, Dragster, ET 7.46, MPH 177.68, Dial-in 7.46;R/U: Jesse Kealoha, ’92 Nissan 300Z, ET 7.81, MPH 174.14, Dial-in 7.79 (red light)
Rudy Ramos Challenge: Winner: Brian Dow, (Super Pro), ’65 Mustang, ET 10.37, MPH 117.56, Dial-in 10.22; R/U: Seth Morales (Street), ’92 Honda Civic, ET 14.63, MPH 94.28, Dial-in 14.00
Pro ET: Winner: Gilbert Barretto, Jr., ’67 Chevy Camaro, ET 11.33, MPH 114.93, Dial-in 11.25; R/U: Gabby Saiki, ’95 Honda Civic SI, ET 11.34, MPH 115.12, Dial-in 11.40 (break out)
Muscle V8: Winner: Chris “Killa” Bonilla, ’38 Plymouth Pickup, ET 11.67, MPH 102.90, Dial-in 11.65; R/U: Kevin Wataya, ’86 Chevy Camaro, ET 11.90, MPH 111.34, Dial-in 11.89
Sport Compact: Winner: Bronson Tabios, ’94 Honda Civic, ET 12.97, MPH 102.63, Dial-in 12.80; R/U: Joshua Sheldon, (unavail), ET 13.30, MPH 100.07, Dial-in 13.30
Super Pro: Winner: Donaven Gomes, ’80 Dodge, ET 10.98, MPH 118.25, Dial-in 10.95; R/U: Lennox Camat, ’72 Chevy Vega, ET 10.13, MPH 133.45, Dial-in 10.10
Street: Winner: Trentan Camat, (unavail), ET 14.40, MPH 90.60, Dial-in 14.00; R/U: Keanu Dotario, ’99 Honda Civic, ET 14.52, MPH 93.15, Dial-in 14.20
Bike ET: Winner: Matt Kaleiohi, ’03 Suzuki Hayabusa, ET 9.25, MPH 140.03, Dial-in 9.10; R/U: Adam Beetles, ’09 Kawasaki Concours, ET 11.52, MPH 122.25, Dial-in 11.40
