Labor Day weekend got off to a early start in the Pacific Northwest with a new round of the Battle of The Imports. BOTI for short, this is an organizes series of events that feature a collection of local and national import (non-American) drag racers facing it off at local drag strips. The Pacific Raceway round was held on August 31st this year, the Friday right before the 3-day Labor Day weekend.
There was more to see than just the drag races, of course, with music being played and several cars out on display. There was an even mix of Subaru Impreza's, Mitsubishi Evo's, Toyota Supra's, and the odd Honda or two. Lots of chromework in the engine bays, lots of glitz on the outside as well. Everybody was quite friendly, and it kept everybody mesmerized till the drag racing started.
And a very big crowd of professional and amateur drag racers it was. The line in for tech inspection was longer than possibly expected, and the staging area was incredibly crowded. Indeed, it seemed as if there was more cars competing than those that came to watch! Honda's were the most popular car at the event, and came in every shape, size, and burnt tyre smell. Quite a few Evo's and Impreza's were also on hand to prove the capabilities of AWD launches, and there was even the odd RWD Honda S2000 or BMW as well. And the BMW is indeed an import, even if people don't always think of them that way.
A lot of raw power and sticky surfaces also conspired to send a few cars off to an early retirement, with one Mitsubishi Eclipse grenading it's transfer case! An Impreza sounded like it completely de-toothed 1st gear on launch, and was last seen limping slowly off the track. The fastest car of the day was a big power Supra that hit an 8.15 quarter mile during one run, along with sending off such a billow of smoke at the end that the officials called for a track inspection, fearing the engine had exploded! It was a pretty good event in the end, despite the usual rain of the Pacific Northwest making a brief appearance in the middle of it all. But that never stops anybody before in the Northwest, and it didn't the BOTI this time either.
