Drivers queued up for more than a block and waited as long as 90 minutes at dawn yesterday to score free gasoline at a cell phone company's promotion at a Kaka'ako gas station.

One sport utility vehicle got $103 worth of free gas at the event at the gas pumps at Lex Brodie's Tire and Brake Co.

Another driver made his way to the station in the wee hours and was second in line.

"I got up at 4:30, heard about the free gas, brushed my teeth and combed my hair and headed over," said Dean Thomas, a Waikiki resident. "I would have been first in line but I had to do a U-turn and got behind one car. No worries. I'm gonna score. It takes about $40 to fill this tank and it's on E. I was going to fill up yesterday but I'm glad I waited."

The promotion by Boost Mobile was held from 6 to 9 a.m. and came on a day when U.S. gas prices reached a record high, according to travel group AAA. The average price of regular gasoline was $3.22 in the country. Many Honolulu gas stations reported prices in the $3.50-plus range.

Cars began lining up shortly after 4:30 a.m. By 6, the line of vehicles ranging from SUVs to small cars extended down Queen Street and around to South Street. Police coned off one lane of South Street and monitored traffic.

The event also was a fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club. Drivers were asked to donate as they were leaving the pumps.

Dereck Antolin, a Pearl City resident who does construction near Lex Brodie's, was first in line yesterday.

"I usually fill up every Tuesday and right now I'm on E," he said, "I heard about the free gas and had to come over."

By 6 a.m. drivers were coming from all over.

"I live in Salt Lake and I haven't had my tank filled for a loooong time," said Jessica Ortega, a University of Hawai'i student driving a large Chevrolet SUV. "It costs $80 or $90 at least to fill it up. When I heard about this I left at about 5 a.m. and got in line at about 5:20, so it wasn't that bad."

Pro surfers Makua Rothman, a North Shore native, and Sunny Garcia, originally from Kaua'i and now living in San Clemente, Calif., were celebrity gas pumpers. Garcia flew to Honolulu yesterday for his sponsor, Boost Mobile, and to help the Boys & Girls Club.

"It's a great cause because we're asking for donations for the Boys & Girls Club," Garcia said while pumping $83 worth of gas into a large SUV. "You can't find a better reason than that. ... I should have brought my car."

Garcia returns to the Mainland today, but said he would first catch some waves.

"The water is a lot colder on the Mainland so I gotta get out today," he said, "but it's been a pretty good season for waves. And when it's good out here I'm always flying back."

Reach Dave Dondoneau at ddondoneau@honoluluadvertiser.com.