Bfgoodrich Tires Nhra Sport Compact Nationals

It's been more than two years now since I lived in Florida, and I have to say I am long overdue to move back. Ninety degree heat and 100-percent humidity wrap your body like a warm wet blanket. And while that thought may not appeal to everyone, who really cares when scantily clad women and hard-core racing action converge at one of the fastest tracks in the country. Moroso Motorsports Park in West Palm Beach, Florida, hosted the second event of the 2003 NHRA season. And racers were blessed with a practically rain-free weekend; however, I almost wish it would have rained as I envision babes in bikinis frolicking in the wet, yanking each other's clothes off while Nelly's "Hot in Here" plays over the loudspeakers. 'Hey, baby...aren't you a little warm out there? Yeah, you don't need that...' Damn, I should be directing videos! (Uh, do those "art films" you have stashed in your basement count?-JN) But for now I will resort to my other love, which is snapping pics of record-setting runs at one of the best import drag events of this new season.

Pro RWDThe boys at Bullish Racing look to dominate the Pro RWD class in 2003 with Street Glow as their new sponsor. Although drivers Ara Arslanian and George Ioannou took the top two qualifying positions, they were quickly eliminated when George found a bad rear-end bearing and Ara shook the tires against the Turbonetics Celica in the first round. While this left the door open for practically any team to win, a lot of the crowd favorites, like Matt Hartford and the Summit Racing Cavalier and Grant Downing and the Venom Tundra, also couldn't make it past the first round. Having beaten Arslanian, Matt Scranton was fortunate enough-given his transmission woes early on-to take a bye run in the semis and easily make it into the finals.

But Manny Cruz and his 2002 Cougar wouldn't have it as easy when matched against Abel Ibarra in the semis. Taking a slight advantage over Ibarra from a faster reaction time, Manny warded off Ibarra's pursuit just in time for his scoring tower to light up, giving Manny the win. And while Manny snatched the holeshot from Scranton, it was obvious the Turbonetics Celica had the power to take victory, the winner's purse, and the Wally, giving Scranton his first win with V-6 power. (Big deal, I got a Wally once. Wait, that was a wedgie.-JN)

Pro FWDOnly five racers competed in Pro FWD with the '03 Cavalier driven by Nelson Hoyos topping out the group. You may remember Nelson as the owner of the yellow Hoyos Racing Ford Focus, but with the demise of the V-8 group and conflicting rule changes for domestic V-6s, Nelson's Focus has become a show car that is currently up for sale. So with his new ride, Hoyos found no one to give him a real challenge in eliminations, taking a bye in the first round and easily defeating Luis Ferrer in the semis. But it was John Brown's debut of his '03 Civic that was up to the task of an upsetting victory for Nelson. Taking an easy win in the first round against David Hickman and a bye in the semis, John looked to lay the smackdown on Nelson. And when the tree turned green, Nelson was rudely awakened when John left the line at the very same time with a slight lead. It was neck-and-neck the entire length of the track, but John kept his lead long enough, giving him his first win with his new car.