SOUTH FLORIDA RACERS DOMINATE IDRC HURRICANE NATIONALS

By Angela Wall
Photos courtesy Moroso Motorsports

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL - Moroso Motorsports Park saw over 400 sport compact vehicles compete during the Import Drag Racing Circuit (IDRC) Auto Trader Sport Compact Hurricane Nationals, presented by HorsePower Sales.

Moroso's quarter-mile was dominated by south Florida racers from Orlando to Miramar, with the quickest time of the day, 8.358 seconds, being set by West Palm Beach resident Alex Dieguez (photo above) in the Outlaw class. Dieguez drove his '82 Toyota at 152 mph to defeat fellow West Palm Beach native Howard Spires. Spires put up a great fight driving his 2000 Acura down the track at 149 mph in just 9.786 seconds.

In the Street class a familiar name was in the runner-up spot, Joey Gonzalez. Gonzalez had a few race car problems he fought with throughout the week, but was not about to give up on the Moroso year-long points race, so he decided to use his street RX7 in the battle so he could at least accumulate enough points to stay in the game. Gonzalez did get points, although Jesus Rivera, Jr. of Orlando took home the class title when he drove his '94 Supra to an impressive 11.919 E.T at 135 mph.

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Another well-known name, Chad Gibney, was in the winner circle in the All Motor class. Gibney, of Merritt Island, had a record day in his '90 Honda as he took the quarter-mile in 11.625 seconds at 115 mph. The numbers in the All Motor class were consistent across the board with 11's flashing on the scoreboards each run. Gibney took the victory over Domingo Alverez of North Miami, who came so close in his '73 RX3. Alverez ran an 11.435 at 114 mph, but it was his reaction time of .680 that hurt his calculations because Gibney had a light of .420, which just took him to the winner's circle.

The next event at Moroso will be the Arrigo Dodgeland Mopar Show, September 15, and then September 28-29 will see the third of the four sport compact series events. For more information please call (561) 622-1400 or visit www.MorosoMotorsportsPark.com.

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