National Import Racing Association - BF Goodrich

This past winter, NIRA's pro racers did a lot of research. They've fine-tuned their combinations and examined all aspects of NIRA racing, including their competition. In doing so, it wasn't long before rivalries developed. These racers all have a goal, a target, and a nemesis.

Some of the more notable rivalries to watch are new. For example, in the Pro Import category, a rivalry exists between RJ Simrock and Abel Ibarra. Ibarra, the 2000 season champion, is under attack from the Team AEBS Ford Focus. But the old school East Coast racers, like Marcos Acosta, are also aiming for a piece of Abel's pie. And since Abel is the champion, all the racers in this class can only agree on one thing: they've got to dethrone the king.

In the Pro Comp class, only one racer has been traveling with the series: Craig Paisley. Even Ray Lockhead, Paisley's closest rival, has been unable to tour the series. Vinny Ten's Supra is still the fastest in the world but, with his schedule mainly limited to East Coast events, he will most likely show up just to spoil the plans of other top contenders in his class.

In Pro FWD, there's a lot going on. Rado has publicly announced that he's gunning for Steph's AEM Drag Civic and, with new crew chief Dave Jusko, the World Electronics Integra looks strong. Other competitors such as Steven Thomson and the Shaun Carlson-driven Meguiar's Ford Focus are out for blood this season and look to be real contenders. And who knows what'll happen for Ed Bergenholtz and the Nitto CR-X? This class is shaping up to be one of the best in import racing.

In the new Pro 4 Cylinder category, a lot of action is slated for this season. Lisa Kubo will take on Myles Bautista and Leevon Eisele. Lisa told us that it'll take more than two guys to take the win over her. Len Monserrat, one of last year's champions, will hold up the all-wheel-drive banner but Sean Glazar, a record holder, is out for glory, too. Who will take out Len and Lisa? How much damage will Gary Marsh or Brent Rau cause? And where's Kenny Tran in all of this? This class has more entries than any others, so make sure you keep up with it all season.

NIRA's pioneering Pro Stock class was the greatest success story of last season. While Roger Sangco and Jason Alvarez are on a racing break this season, the other racers (like Bisi Ezeroiha and Jeremy Lookofsky) have worked all winter on stepping up their program. Scott Kelley, Larry Kelley, and other air-cooled VW's are out to prove that Hondas can't compete with old technology (their words, not mine) and with all the newcomers in this class, we'd hate to predict a champion.

One thing is certain: these racers have their sights set on their competition. It takes consistency to win a championship and we suspect that those who are crowned will be those racers that travel to more events than their competitors. We also suspect that a lot of racers will get stepped on as their competitors claw their way to the top. We're expecting a lot of fighting on the racetrack for this year's NIRA smack down, so make sure you get ringside seats.