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Easy Street Racing Update |
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Written by Ali Afshar
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The Subaru/SPT/ESX team was out in full force this past weekend in Las Vegas, NV. Shows, autograph sessions, racing and battling the tremendous heat, which reached 118 degrees at times, our Street Class Subaru Sti and Pro Modified Subaru Sti were out in front of thousands of fans!
This event was a historic first as it combined the NHRA Sony Xplod Sport Compact drag racing with D1 Drifting in nighttime action! The heat of the days was unbearable for any type of competition. Even at night the temperatures were up in the 100 degree range. Street Class Subaru Driver Julie Stepan commented, "It was so hot the graphics on our cars were starting to bubble off! "
The festivities started with an autograph session at the New York - New York Hotel/Casino at the ESPN Zone Thursday night. Hundreds of fans received free Subaru posters and NHRA T-Shirts that were signed by all their favorite drivers.
We also got a chance to meet all the fans at the Saturday night Autograph session at the Sony Xplod booth signing more posters and t-shirts.
In racing action our team battled the heat and suffered technical difficulties.
In our Street Class Subaru STi, Julie Stepan going into the semi-final round as the #2 Qualifier ran a 9.5 second 1/4 mile and secured her spot in the finals.
In the finals, Julie got the starting advantage and was on her way to another victory, when a mechanical failure mid-track slowed the car and ultimately led her to lift off the throttle, for a runner up finish.
In the Pro Modified class our Subaru STi had very tough competition as a over 13 cars were qualifying for only 8 spots. After the qualifying rounds were over, our Subaru Sti secured the #8 spot running a very quick 8.3 second 1/4 mile. The field in the Pro Modified class was very fierce as all the cars were running in the 7.5 second to 8 second 1/4 mile times. In the quarter-finals our Subaru suffered a starting line problem and caused a false start. This led to the #1 Qualifier to automatically advance to the semi-finals running a 7.58 1/4 mile.
Thanks to Findlay Subaru/Subaru of Las Vegas for their display and promotional help! www.findlaysubaru.com
Special thanks to Jason Gelletly for his assistance this weekend as well.
And as always a sincere thank you to all our sponsors at Subaru of America, F5 Fujita, BFGoodrich, Arceo Wheels, etc. for making our dreams a reality.
For a host of pictures please visit:
For television airing times please visit www.nhra.com and make sure to check out the F5/SPT Pit Pass Segment that is hosted by Julie and myself.
Thanks again,
Ali
ESX
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