JUPITER, Fla. -- Sport Compact veteran Ed Bergenholtz captured his first career NHRA Sport Compact national event victory with an impressive Pro FWD performance in a weekend of record-setting action at the third annual BFGoodrich Tires NHRA Sport Compact Nationals presented by BUZZ 103.1 & R.J. Gators at Moroso Motorsports Park.

Series newcomer Shawn Hillier also collected his first national event win, earning the coveted Wally trophy in the Honda Tuning All Motor category. Steph Papadakis (Pro RWD), Paul Efantis (Modified), and Ron Lummus (Turbo Magazine Hot Rod) also were winners of their respective categories and collected their share of the $150,000 purse available at the South Florida race, which will air on ESPN2, April 14, at 2 p.m. (ET).

Bergenholtz, of Santa Ana, Calif., cruised to the victory with a pass of 8.563 seconds at 162.42 mph in his Golden Eagle Mazda 6 after final round opponent Jason Hunt rolled to the finish line when his Valvoline/Saturn Motorsports Ion Coupe suffered a flat tire and shut the clocks off in 14.936 at 29.19.

The victory was Bergenholtz’s first-ever in his 17-race career which began with his Oct. 2001 debut. His victory also was the first win by a Mazda-branded Pro FWD car. Bergenholtz advanced to the final round by spoiling the Pro FWD debut of the 2004 Hot Rod champion, Marty Ladwig. Bergenholtz clocked a run of 8.514 at 157.39 easily outrunning Ladwig’s Chevy Cobalt which stumbled off the line and could not recover.

“This victory has been such a long road, such a long time coming,” said an emotional Bergenholtz. “I hope this will give hope to competitors who think only the big budget teams can win. We surrounded ourselves with a lot of great people – including sponsors like MAZDASPEED, Golden Eagle, Nitto Tires, Konig, and Clutch Masters – and this is the result. Now that we have Bergenholtz Racing’s first NHRA Wally, we’ll have to push for a family of them.”

Hillier, of Encino, Calif., also defeated a reigning champion on his way to the victory circle in his Skunk2 Acura RSX. Jesus Padilla, the 2004 All Motor champion, was a little anxious and left the starting line early, leaving 0.036-of-a-second too early, activating the red light on the Christmas Tree, handing the victory to Hillier. Despite the foul-start for Padilla, Hillier powered down the track and clocked an impressive 9.95 at 135.97.

“I’m just totally ecstatic to be able to win my first NHRA race,” Hillier said. “All the hard work of the last few months paid off and we accomplished the goal of our weekend – to come out and beat Jesus Padilla, the reining champion. I saw Jesus’ red light, but we still wanted to give the crowd a nine-second show.”

Papadakis, the Pro RWD runner-up in the final standings by 11 points to Matt Scranton, was able to extract some redemption for last year’s short coming by defeating the defending champion in the final round, using his best performance of the weekend, a scorching pass down the quarter-mile in 6.654 at 210.62 behind the wheel of his AEM/DriverFX Honda Civic. Despite a starting line advantage in his favor, Scranton’s Ride Revolution Toyota Celica could not hold off the surging Papadakis and he crossed the line in 7.015 at 191.16 for the runner-up finish.

“It’s been a roller coaster of a weekend,” Papadakis said. “We weren’t even qualified until the third round\. Matt (Hartford) showed us Saturday that you could get down the track though, so we softened up the car a bit and we got in the show. Then we had a little bit of luck in the semifinal.”

In the semifinal, Papadakis was trailing Scranton’s teammate, Tirso San Juan, when San Juan’s Ride Revolution Celica went out of control and eventually turned over onto its roof before coming to a stop. San Juan walked away uninjured and Papadakis walked away with the round win and a trip to the final.

“It’s a shame that Tirso’s car wrecked,” Papadakis said. “But we’re still happy to start the year with a win for a change.”

Reigning Modified category champion Paul Efantis was the only 2004 champion to start the year in the win column after he edged out fan-favorite Luis Ferrer Jr. and his Hard Target Celica in the final. The New Maricet, Md., native clicked off a run of 8.028 at 135.15 in his Lucas Oil Solara which was enough to fend off the Ferrer’s Celica, which clocked a slower 8.162 at 158.11.

“This feels real good,” Efantis said. “We had a lot of changes during the off-season – including a different engine builder and a different engine program – so this gave us a lot of confidence. I’m also handling all the tuning duties myself this year for the first time in my career, so it was nerve-racking at times. We gave it a real mild tune up though, and the consistency paid off.”

With the national records in the Modified category being reset to minimums following off-season rules changes, Efantis’ performance of 7.557 at 185.72, will stand as the national records for elapsed time and speed in the category. His record setting performance was backed up by his semifinal blast of 7.373 at 189.83.

Lummus , from Anaheim, Calif., and final round opponent Gary Gardella delivered an exciting side-by-side race with Lummus coming out on top in the Turbo Magazine Hot Rod category. The victory gave West Coast racers four out of the five victories in the pro categories. Lummus’ 8.119 at 175.43 run in his Turbo By Garrett/Bothwell Motorsports Pontiac Sunfire provided just enough for a razor-thin victory over the 8.188 at 173.71 blast by Gardella’s Ecko Chevy Cobalt.

“Hard work and perseverance paid off,” Lummus said. “The Bothwell team and Garrett turbo have been working hard all off-season to redevelop our engine program for the rules changes and I can’t say enough about what a privilege it is to drive for these guys. I am looking forward to a great season – and to more wins and more Wallys.”

Lummus’ marks of 8.049 and 175.88, set during the first and semifinal rounds of competition respectively, also will serve as national records for the Hot Rod category after off-season rules changes for the category reset records to minimums as well.

John Ferguson, of Ovieda, Fla., titled in UrbanRacer.com Sport FWD by driving his GSC Motorsports Civic to a 10.618 at 141.06 pass, outrunning Jason Whitfield’s 10.618 at 133.51 time in his Honda Civic.

Mike Colon’s 1992 Toyota MR2 unleashed a 10.777 at 131.15 performance to beat Larry Mamnath’s 1988 Mazda RX-7’s time of 11.346 at 128.51 in the Sport RWD final.