Kaua‘i’s Garden Island Racing Association will hold the year’s final pair of drag races this weekend at the Mana racetrack with back-to-back events Friday and Saturday nights. With off-season bragging rights at stake, this is the final opportunity for competitors
Kaua‘i’s Garden Island Racing Association will hold the year’s final pair of drag races this weekend at the Mana racetrack with back-to-back events Friday and Saturday nights.
With off-season bragging rights at stake, this is the final opportunity for competitors to earn championship points. Friday night winners will compete for the King of the Track trophy in a special three round elimination race Saturday afternoon during time trials. King of the Track eliminations will have three rounds of racing at 4 p.m., with Round 2 at 5 p.m. and the final at 6:30 p.m. Bracket racing for cash and points starts at 7:30 p.m.
Although the GIRA finale should be a good one, the Oct. 7 races are a tough act to follow. At that event, bike class winner Mike Hawkes, riding a 1300cc turbo-charged Harley-Davidson V-Rod, used a starting line advantage to beat Matt Kaleiohi aboard a 2003 Suzuki. Although Kaleiohi’s blistering 9.763-second/145.63 mph pass was faster than Hawkes’ 10.754-second/128.94 mph run, a leisurely reaction time of 0.757 seconds was no match for the Harley rider’s 0.651 reaction time.
In Muscle V8, a double break-out resulted in a win for Calvin Costa. Driving a 1988 Toyota pickup, Costa left with a 0.596 light running a 116.58 mph with an elapsed time of 11.603 seconds on an 11.65 dial-in. Fortunately for Costa, his opponent, Walt Barnes, broke out even more. At the wheel of a 1994 Ford Mustang GT 5.0L convertible, Barnes left the line with 0.658 starting line reaction time and ran 93.95 mph in 13.576 seconds on a 13.7 dial-in. As Barnes broke out by a greater amount, Costa was declared the victor.
Pro Et, the final race of the night, was a showdown between a pair of rear-engine dragsters. Kevin Sakamoto’s 0.581 second reaction time on a 166.67 mph, 7.675 second pass with a 7.64 dial-in gave him the win over Kevin Rapozo, who cut a 0.919 light, ran a 7.972 on a 7.51 dial-in at 157.89 mph.
Time trials run today and tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and racing starts at 7:30 p.m. both nights. Gates open at 11 a.m. for racers. Tech and registration will be open noon to 3 p.m. both days.
