Sat, 31 May 2003, 10:49 AM NHRA Sport Compact Extreme Rush to Take Place at Route 66 Raceway NHRA POWERade Series

Courtesy of NHRA Communications

JOLIET, Ill. -- Event The top eight point earners in the NHRA Summit Sport Compact Drag Racing Series' Pro RWD and Pro RWD categories will compete in front of thousands of racing fans during the NHRA Sport Compact Extreme Rush. The exhibition event will be held at the Lucas Oil Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill. and the O'Reilly Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas, two NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series events.

Extreme Rush 1 at Route 66 Raceway will take place May 29-June 1, while Extreme Rush 2 at the Texas Motorplex will be held Oct. 9-12.

George Ioannou, driver of the Street Glow Toyota Solara for Ara Arslanian's Bullish Motor Racing, earned the top spot in the Pro RWD category with 472 Extreme Rush points after scoring victories at the BFGoodrich NHRA Sport Compact Nationals in South Florida and the Nitto Extreme Performance NHRA Sport Compact Nationals in Englishtown, N.J. Ioannou also claimed the No. 1 qualifying spot at two events.

The leading point earner in the Pro FWD category was Nelson Hoyos, who drove his Bothwell Motorsports Chevy Cavalier to one victory and two runner-up finishes, along with two No. 1 qualifying awards. Hoyos earned 513 Extreme Rush points to lead the category.

The competitors in the NHRA Sport Compact Extreme Rush will receive two time trail passes on Saturday, May 31, with eliminations taking place on Sunday, June 1.

The winner of the Extreme Rush will earn a $4,000 bonus, while the runner-up receives $1,000. The two semifinalists are awarded $750 and the four first round finishers collect $500 for a total of $17,000 at each event.

ESPN2 will televise both NHRA Sport Compact Extreme Rush events in the fourth quarter of 2003 as part of the 13-episode NHRA Stylefest series. The 30-minute shows will feature highlights and interviews from both Extreme Rush events.

Extreme Rush 1 Final Point Standings:
Pro RWD
1. George Ioannou, Street Glow Solara, 472 points
2. Matt Scranton, Turbonetics Celica, 407 points
3. Ara Arslanian, Street Glow Solara, 368 points
4. Grant Downing, Venom Tundra, 341 points
5. Stephan Papadakis, AEM Civic, 323 points
6. Jorge Lazcano, Contreras Auto 300ZX, 304 points
7. Abel Ibarra, K&N Filters RX-7, 275 points
8. Manny Cruz, Cruz Racing Cougar, 274 points*
   Matt Hartford, Summit Racing Cavalier, 274 points*
* Cruz wins tiebreaker by virtue of his two round victories to Hartford's zero.

Pro FWD
1. Nelson Hoyos, Bothwell Motorsports Cavalier, 513 points
2. Chris Rado, World Electronics Celica, 303 points
3. Jerrold Rhodes, Rhodes Racing CRX, 301 points
4. John Brown, John Brown Racing Civic, 294 points
5. Luis Ferrer, Ferrer Racing Celica, 212 points
6. Jarrod Silvers, Silvers Racing Civic, 189 points
7. Shaun Carlson, Team Mopar SRT-4, 178 points
8. Bruce Mortensen, Venom Civic, 115 points

Extreme Rush 1 First Round Pairings:

Pro RWD
George Ioannou vs. Manny Cruz
Matt Scranton vs. Abel Ibarra
Ara Arslanian vs. Jorge Lazcano
Grant Downing vs. Stephan Papadakis

Pro FWD
Nelson Hoyos vs. Bruce Mortensen
Chris Rado vs. Shaun Carlson
Jerrold Rhodes vs. Jarrod Silvers
John Brown vs. Luis Ferrer

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