A 2:30 a.m. race that ended in a crash on Moanalua Freeway yesterday left three people injured, tied up rush-hour traffic for hours and had police searching for the other driver.

Witnesses said that a white 1994 Honda was racing east-bound when it lost control, hit an embankment and tree, flipped over and skidded, ending up near the Ala Kapuna overpass, police Maj. Clayton Kau said.

Traffic investigators yesterday were still trying to find out how fast the Honda was traveling when it crashed.

A 20-year-old female passenger was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition with head and other injuries, traffic investigators said. A 17-year-old male passenger also was taken to Queen's in serious condition.

The 20-year-old driver, Matthew K. Bailey, suffered minor injuries. He was booked at the Kalihi police substation for investigation of drunken driving and causing a negligent injury, and then released pending investigation, police said.

Witnesses told police that the other vehicle involved in the race drove off on Ala Kapuna, Kau said.

Kau asked anyone with information on the other driver or vehicle to call police or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.

The police investigation closed all east-bound lanes of Moanalua Freeway until 6:30 a.m., Kau said.

"The impact scene covered several lanes of freeway," he said. "We are cognizant of the fact that people have to get to work and it was approaching peak hours in the morning."

State transportation officials were monitoring the traffic congestion when two accidents and a stalled vehicle occurred on the town-bound lanes of H-1 Freeway about 6:20 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., said Brennon Morioka, director of the state Department of Transportation.

"It was just one thing added on to another," Morioka said. "It was pretty obvious it wasn't going to get better anytime soon."

Transportation officials allowed all drivers to use the Zipper Lane just as police were reopening Moanalua Freeway about 6:30 a.m.

"We want the traffic to work itself out," Morioka said. "We want to maintain the integrity of the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) system. We don't want to make opening the Zipper Lane to everybody an everyday occurrence, or for incidents that will only cause minimal delay."

So far this year, 31 people have died in 29 traffic accidents that involved fatalities, said police spokeswoman Michelle Yu. Sixteen of the crashes involved drugs, alcohol and/or speeding, she said.

At the same time last year, Honolulu had 21 deaths in 20 traffic accidents involving fatalities.