Seattle’s KUBE 93 FM and an Auburn Arco AM/PM mini market gas station got together Sunday afternoon to help relieve some pain at the pump – if only for a short while.

It didn’t take long for the good word to get out, but it took considerably longer for the first 93 cars in line to take advantage of the promotion. Those fortunate motorists were allowed to purchase a maximum of 10 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline for just 93 cents a gallon.

To avoid a bottleneck on Auburn Way North, Auburn police diverted traffic to side streets, including westbound 37th Street Northeast.

After two hours and one short-lived scuffle (one aggressive motorist happened to cut in line in front of another), the promotion was deemed a success. The station will consider doing it again this summer.

“It was a lot of chaos,” said Ginger Wilcox, the Arco AM/PM station manager. “But overall, it went pretty smooth. KUBE helped out quite a bit. I was happy. People were dancing in the streets.”

KUBE 93’s Wake Up Show provided the music with its live on-site broadcast.

“Just as the economy is beginning to turn around and listeners are getting back on their feet, rising gas costs are making a negative impact on that growth,” explained Eric Powers, KUBE program director. “To help alleviate the strain, we gave our listeners the chance to participate in this amazing gas sale.”

Average retail gasoline prices in Seattle rose 5.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.77 gallon Monday.

Prices on Monday were 79.4 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 26.6 cents per gallon higher than a month ago.

For motorists, relief hopefully is on the way, or they could face an especially long and painful summer at the pump.