Gary Gardella, an Import Drag Racer hailing from Jackson, New Jersey, was taking Import Drag Racing by storm in 2007.
A champion that year, with backing from Red Bull, Dupont, and General Motors, it looked like he and his team would be contenders in drag racing for years to come.
Unfortunately, near the end of the same year, everything changed.
After about a decade-long run, with the National Import Drag Racing (NIRA) series its predecessor, the NHRA folded their sport compact division, leaving Nopi, a rival series with similar rules and regulations, the lone series in the discipline. But, only a few months later, Nopi folded, leaving all competitors seemingly out in the cold.