PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL - The Buzz 103.1 and Moroso Motorsports Park were host to the Sport Compact Spring Nationals that ended on Sunday, April 7, 2002. The event had a 1/4 mile time of 8.689 seconds when Alex Dieguez of West Palm Beach drove his '82 Datsun to a win in the Quick class at 156 mph.

Diequez's win came at a price, a big price for Joe Gonzales the 2001 defending champion for the Quick class. Gonzales had a great day making it to the final round, but his Mazda RX& just did not have the power to take the finish line.

The Front Wheel Drive/All Wheel Drive class (FWD/AWD), which is new for the 2002 season, had a full field and had some new comers as well as some familiar names. Local racer Luis Ferrer, Jr. took the final race in his '98 Celica when he defeated Charles Walker of Plantation. Being that Walker set the east coast record for the fastest Integra at Moroso on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 with a run of 10.88 seconds, hopes were high for a winner's circle photo. However, the '97 Acura broke on the line in the final round. This left an easy win for Ferrer, who still ran a 10.397 E.T at 135 mph. Stay tuned for the next Sport Compact event at Moroso, August 11-12, because this will be one of the great races to watch.

In the Super Comp class Otis Evans of Royal Palm Beach claimed his first win in his '92 Del Sol over Roberto Rivera. Moroso's 2000 Track Champion, Karla Watts, returned to the winner's circle again in the Super Street class as she defeated Christy Dublin of Titusville, FL.

The Show-n-Shine had an array of colors, shapes, and sizes. From Eric Engen of West Palm Beach and his awesome '94 Toyota Supra that was chosen as the "Best of Show" to Marissa Bechtel and her '97 VW Golf that she had repainted to the tune of "Hottest Chic Car".

The next event at Moroso Motorsports Park is the Pepsi Jet & Truck Nationals, presented by Truck & Trailer USA on April 27-28, 2002. This is the largest Jet & Truck event in the southeast, and will open on Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 9am. Spectator tickets are $15 per person at the gate, or you can stop by Truck & Trailer USA or and Bud's Chicken and Seafood location to get your $13 advanced tickets.

Detailed race results follow.

IMPORT & SPORT COMPACT WINTER SHOWDOWN

December 8-9, 2001

SUPER COMP E.T. MPH DI RT

Win: Otis Evans/Royal Palm Beach 12.761 104.23 12.70 .823
RU: Roberto Rivera/Miami 11.851 110.21 11.70 .860

SUPER STREET

Win: Karla Watts/Stuart 16.252 82.91 16.25 .529
RU: Christy Dublin/Titusville 18.052 76.44 18.11 .549

FWD/AWD

Win: Luis Ferrer, Jr/West Palm Bch 10.397 135.13 .814
RU: Charles Walker/Plantation Broke

QUICK

Win: Alex Diequez/West Palm Bch 8.689 156.63 .835
RU: Joey Gonzalez/Royal Palm Bch 13.315 74.66 1.061

SHOW N SHINE RESULTS

BEST OF SHOW

Erik Engen/West Palm Beach '94 Toyota Supra

BEST ENGINE

Jim Miller/Boca Raton '94 Acura Integra

BEST PAINT

Johnny Lopez/Miami '95 Mazda Millennia

BEST GRAPHICS

Chris Traad/Miami '92 Acura Integra

BEST INTERIOR

Ricky Suyono/Boynton Beach '00 Toyota Corolla VE

BEST DISPLAY

Raymond Perez/Pembroke Pines '93 Acura Integra

HOTTEST CHIC CAR

Marissa Bechtel/Davie '97 VW Golf

BEST TEAM

Lite Glow

CLUB PARTICIPATION

Disavowed

BEST HONDA ONE

Karl Lazar/ Boca Raton '95 Accord

BEST HONDA TWO

Mark McGinnis/ Pt. St. Lucie '00 Civic

BEST HONDA THREE

Billy Gamley/Boynton Beach '94 Civic

BEST ACURA

T. Chandler/West Palm Beach '91 Integra

BEST TOYOTA

Hiram Pacheco/West Palm Beach '84 Corolla

BEST NISSAN

Dan Crews/Lantana '96 Sentra GXE

BEST TRUCK/SUV

Jason Landau/Coral Springs '97 Dodge Dakota

BEST EXOTIC

Steve Kim/Coral Springs '00 BMW 3281

BEST MITSUBISHI

Jonathan Bioth/Port St. Lucie '96 Eclipse GST

BEST VW

Terry Maheuron/Ft. Pierce '67 Bug

BEST MAZDA

Jose Hernandez/Miami '93 RX-7

BEST KOREAN

Yuri Flores/Miami '98 Hyundai Tiburon

BEST FORD FOCUS

Robert Quinn/Greenacres '01 Focus

BEST DOMESTIC COMPACT

Ty Niehars/Vero Beach '00 Ford Mustang

AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Raymond Heinlein/Hallandale '00 Kia Sephia

Ben Hajdun/Jupiter '00 Acura Integra

Bobby Stumpf/Pt. St. Lucie '99 Acura Integra

Antonio Sigler/Miami '96 Nissan Altima

Raymond Sammler/Pt. St. Lucie '00 Dodge Dakota

Raymond Sammler/Pt. St. Lucie '95 GMC Sonoma

Jared Varela/Wellington '01 Porsche Boxter

Rickie Cruz/Weston '99 VW Passat

Chris Preston/Ft. Lauderdale '00 Honda Civic SI

Kyle Wharff/Miramar '99 Honda Prelude

Roberto Cortenano/Medley '96 Honda Civic

Ransford Robinson/Miramar '99 Honda Civic

Jacob Diaz/Miami '00 Honda Civic

Daymar Salgado/Miami Honda Civic