Tamme wins Shifter Showdown as drag racing returns to Kauai Raceway Park

Jim Tamme returned to Mana and left with the win, driving Merle Williams’ 1993 Toyota truck to victory in Kauai Raceway Park’s Shifter Showdown. The June 6 specialty meet drew a 14-car field that mixed VW bugs, imports, American-made machines and trucks, giving the island’s drag-racing fans a broad snapshot of the sport’s local base.

The result carried extra weight because Tamme had not raced at Mana for more than 12 years. That kind of comeback matters at Kauai Raceway Park, where the Garden Isle Racing Association says it operates the island’s NHRA-sanctioned quarter-mile strip on a 3-acre state-leased parcel in Kekaha, adjacent to the Kekaha Landfill. The not-for-profit, incorporated in 1999, says it promotes safe motorsports and responsible street driving, a mission that makes the track more than a weekend showpiece. It is one of the island’s clearest legal outlets for speed, a place where drivers can race under rules instead of on public roads.

The field was tight at the top. Mikey Remigio was the No. 1 qualifier, and Bronson Tabios posted the best package at 0.050, showing how little separated the front-runners. Jesse Kealoha also made a statement in his debut with a 1967 small-block Corvette, running in the 9-second range, while Chris Bonilla’s 1964 Chevy Chevelle, Lethal Metal, ran in the 10s. Sam Fernandez returned in a 1974 Chevy Vega, adding another familiar name to a lineup that mixed veterans with fresh cars.

The event reached beyond Kauai as well. Racers came over from Maui and Oahu for Motorcycle and Super Pro, and Taylor Brown of Oahu entered junior dragster, underscoring how the island strip works as a regional gathering point, not just a local showcase. The track says it hosts hundreds of spectators and competitors each year, with racers as young as 8, and that mix of ages and islands gives the venue a community role that stretches beyond results sheets.

Danika Braun added another headline when she returned from Texas Tech for her first race of the season and won Top Gun. Kauai Raceway Park’s 2026 calendar now turns toward July 3 for Battle on the Beach, followed by Bracket Bonanza and Top Gun’s Quick Eight on July 4, keeping the summer schedule busy for the island’s racing crowd and reinforcing the track’s place in Kauai’s motorsports calendar.