LIHUE — Ryant Sakamoto lost little time switching out from his drag racing jumpsuit into baseball gear.
Saturday, he was behind Flying Saucer irons instead of the throttle of his dragster fundraising for the Islander Baseball program during the Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School Media TV craft fair.
“Ryant took the Junior Dragster division at the last Garden Isle Racing Association drag races held on Nov. 10 at the Mana Raceway Park,” said Tracie Sakamoto, Ryant’s mother. “That was the last race for this year so he’s now playing baseball until next year.”
Ryant Sakamoto topped the Junior Dragster division on a final run that clocked 7.92 elapsed time, reaching 82.15 mph on a 7.90 dial-in over the efforts of Christopher Silva who piloted his 2005 Half Scale Outlaw to a 7.95 ET, reaching 80.91 mph on a 7.90 dial-in. Kasey Carveiro settled in the semifinal slot.
Other category winners in the GIRA final drag races of 2019 included:
Top Gun: Calvin Costa – ‘20 T-Bucket, ET 8.05, 166.78 mph, Dial-in 8.00 over Koty Kaiakapu – ‘67 Nova, ET 9.28, 135.27 mph, Dial-in 10.00 (break out).
Pro ET: Kip Furugen – ‘67 Bug, ET 10.45, 128.58 mph, Dial-in 10.60 (break out) over Jessie Kealoha – ‘69 Camaro, ET 9.79, 135.27 mph, Dial-in 10.00 (break out)
Muscle V8: Kevin Suga – ‘85 Toyota pickup, ET 12.05, 103.38 mph, Dial-in 12.01 over Alma Koetje – ‘98 Corvette, ET 12.26, 111.78 mph, Dial-in 12.24.
Sport Compact: Robby Silva Jr. – ‘91 Honda CRX, ET 12.27, 101.00 mph, Dial-in 12.25 over Kalani Mahuka – ‘04 Acura RSX, ET 13.04, 113.50 mph, Dial-in 13.00.
Street: Eric Bachmann – ‘88 Blazer, ET 15.62, 79.19 mph, Dial-in 15.40 over Bryce Boeder – ET 16.84, 76-17 mph, Dial-in 16.85 (break out).
Bike ET: Kahale Kaleiohi – ET 22.22, 53.43 mph, Dial-in 21.10 over Wilmark Geronimo – ‘04 Yamaha R6, ET 27.80, 66.36 mph, Dial-in 11.00 (red light)
King of the Track: Keith Nonaka – ‘68 Camaro, ET 11.72, 112.72 mph, Dial-in 11.58 over Travis Freitas – 04 Civic Coupe, ET 13.97, 80.71 mph, Dial-in 14.00 (break out).
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
