On April 12 and 13 people from the sport compact world invaded Orlando, FL to battle it out at Orlando Speedway Park. Drag racers from all over the U.S. duked it out on the drag strip, beautiful ladies shook their booties off on the main stage to try to claim the grand prize and show cars sparkled on the grassy fields to compete for a prestigious Battle trophy. Overall, Battle went off with a hitch. Sure, there was a long rain delay on Sunday, but with a "show must go on" attitude from the Battle boys and the track crew, the season opener was completed.
A grip of sportsman racers showed up and filled up the pit area. History has shown that the Orlando Battle has always had strong support from Puerto Ricans and this year was no different. There were dozens of Puerto Ricans in attendance with their beautifully crafted sport compact drag machines, the majority of them being rotary-powered cars. This meant the fire breathing, on-track action was almost enough to make my old ears bleed. Watching these cars blister down the track made for very entertaining racing.
In the Pro FWD class it was the match-up of Marty Ludwig Chevy Cobalt versus Bergenholtz Racing Mazda 6. Unfortunately for Bergenholtz Racing an experimental motor garneted on the starting line, which gave the win to Marty Ludwig's Chevy. In the Modified Class final it was Luis Ferrer, Jr.'s new tC against Carlos Perez's stereo booming '85 RX-7. On this pass Ferrer's car was pushing so much boost he cracked his intake plenum, giving the win to Perez. In the Pro Import class final it was reaction time that determined the winner. Bryan Jimenez's Chevy took the win with a slower 8:332 pass compared to Kenny Tran's faster Scion's 8:232. In the Pro Stock class it was a battle between Honda and Toyota power; Norris Prayoonto's Honda Insight went against Scott Kelly's Toyota Corolla to take the win.
Since Frank Choi and Battle are the originators of the sport compact drag racing, they introduced real-time, online streaming video to their series this year. This means fans from around the world can watch the action live via the Internet. Another innovative idea introduced was a street race style grudge match race. That's right, Battle is going back to its roots: street racing. After a few jabs between Kenny Tran and Ed Bergenholtz, a race was set up at the end of the event. Kenny Tran was going to be set out four car lengths from Ed Bergenholtz with someone to flag the race. Unfortunately due to the engine failure earlier on, this race was never completed and there was no report if any bets were placed for this race. Personally, my bet would have been on the Mazda. Four cars are not enough to cover the .75-second differential. Kenny, ask for six next time or cheat like a mutha. Hopefully this race happens in the near future.
For additional photos and full race results, visit www.superstreetonline.com.Drag racers from all over the U.S. duked it out on the drag strip, beautiful ladies shook their booties off on the main stage to try to claim the grand prize and show cars sparkled on the grassy fields to compete for a prestigious Battle trophy. Overall, Battle went off with a hitch. Sure, there was a long rain delay on Sunday, but with a "show must go on" attitude from the Battle boys and the track crew, the season opener was completed.
A grip of sportsman racers showed up and filled up the pit area. History has shown that the Orlando Battle has always had strong support from Puerto Ricans and this year was no different. There were dozens of Puerto Ricans in attendance with their beautifully crafted sport compact drag machines, the majority of them being rotary-powered cars. This meant the fire breathing, on-track action was almost enough to make my old ears bleed. Watching these cars blister down the track made for very entertaining racing.
In the Pro FWD class it was the match-up of Marty Ludwig Chevy Cobalt versus Bergenholtz Racing Mazda 6. Unfortunately for Bergenholtz Racing an experimental motor garneted on the starting line, which gave the win to Marty Ludwig's Chevy. In the Modified Class final it was Luis Ferrer, Jr.'s new tC against Carlos Perez's stereo booming '85 RX-7. On this pass Ferrer's car was pushing so much boost he cracked his intake plenum, giving the win to Perez. In the Pro Import class final it was reaction time that determined the winner. Bryan Jimenez's Chevy took the win with a slower 8:332 pass compared to Kenny Tran's faster Scion's 8:232. In the Pro Stock class it was a battle between Honda and Toyota power; Norris Prayoonto's Honda Insight went against Scott Kelly's Toyota Corolla to take the win.
Since Frank Choi and Battle are the originators of the sport compact drag racing, they introduced real-time, online streaming video to their series this year. This means fans from around the world can watch the action live via the Internet. Another innovative idea introduced was a street race style grudge match race. That's right, Battle is going back to its roots: street racing. After a few jabs between Kenny Tran and Ed Bergenholtz, a race was set up at the end of the event. Kenny Tran was going to be set out four car lengths from Ed Bergenholtz with someone to flag the race. Unfortunately due to the engine failure earlier on, this race was never completed and there was no report if any bets were placed for this race. Personally, my bet would have been on the Mazda. Four cars are not enough to cover the .75-second differential. Kenny, ask for six next time or cheat like a mutha. Hopefully this race happens in the near future.
For additional photos and full race results, visit www.superstreetonline.com.