IHRA
Rain washes out Saturday, Nitro Jam to resume on Sunday
Courtesy of IHRA
MARTIN, MI – After a long, hard-fought battle with Mother Nature on Saturday Mother Nature finally won as IHRA officials were forced to pull the plug and will resume racing on Sunday with two full rounds of Nitro Jam beginning at
noon and a full menu of sportsman racing.
Passing storms produced heavy rains throughout the morning and afternoon and a few lighting strikes even damaged the tower, forcing IHRA officials to move the remainder of the Northern Nitro Jam to Sunday.
Gates will open at 8 a.m. with sportsman racing to get underway at 9 a.m. followed by two rounds of Nitro Jam beginning at noon. All tickets purchased on Saturday will be honored on Sunday.
The Northern Nitro Jam will conclude on Sunday with a full day of incredible racing
Smallwood stuns in Pro Fuel final at Martin Nitro Jam
Courtesy of IHRA
MARTIN, MI – It is one of the oldest sayings in the books, but its wisdom always rings true. If at first you don’t 
succeed, well, let Cherissa Smallwood tell the rest.
“You just can’t give up. Whenever you think you have reached your breaking point or things just won’t go your way you just have to keep working at it. We are living proof of that tonight,” Smallwood said.
Smallwood, who has struggled through a tough year with zero round wins and nothing to show for her team’s effort entering this weekend’s event, stunned the Pro Fuel field Friday night with her first career IHRA Nitro Jam victory on opening night at the Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park.
Smallwood, behind the wheel of the popular “Nitro and Lace” dragster, bested Pro Fuel veteran Robin Samsel in Friday’s final, joining Peter Gallen (Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car), Jay Turner (Nitro Harley) and Ron Maroney (Fuel Altered) in victory lane during opening night of Nitro Jam’s season finale.
IHRA World Finals to be held October 14-16 at Virginia Motorsports Park
Courtesy of IHRA
NORWALK, OH – Following this past weekend’s Summit Pro-Am and Tournament of Champions qualifier at Richmond Dragway, a grand total of 76 drivers have already clinched a spot in the year-end Summit Racing Equipment
Tournament of Champions to be held at Virginia Motorsports Park in October.
A total of seven Nitro Jam events, three TOC qualifiers, one Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular and a few events from 2010 have contributed to the count, with dozens more to be added to the Tournament of Champions field over the next three months, including two more qualifiers over the next two weekends.
Following this weekend’s Summit Pro-Am and TOC qualifier in Pittsburgh and the Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park the following week, the rest of the tournament field will be filled via the remaining Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular to be held the day before the World Finals and the Summit Pro-Am Tour as the top three finishers in each IHRA division will move on to the championship showdown in October.
Pro Fuel, Fuel Altered championships still up for grabs
Courtesy of IHRA
MARTIN, MI – While three of the five fulltime Nitro Jam classes have already decided a champion, two others will go down to the wire at the upcoming Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park the weekend of August 12-13.
The final chapter in Pro Fuel Dragster and the new Nostalgia Fuel Altered class will finally be written later this month when Nitro Jam visits Michigan’s fastest track in Martin for the professional season finale. A total of four drivers are in contention for two Nitro Jam championships highlighted by one of the closest battles in Nitro Jam history taking place in Pro Fuel.
Only three points separate defending Pro Fuel champion Bill Evans from current points leader Michael Manners in yet another great battle in Nitro Jam’s 100-percent nitro-powered dragster class. Last year’s championship battle came down to the final pass of the year and it appears history will repeat itself once again.
Northern Nitro Jam to feature championship battles in four nitro classes
Courtesy of IHRA
MARTIN, MI – In addition to an already historical weekend of racing on tap for the upcoming Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, championships will be awarded in all four nitro classes on the property as the Nitro Jam
professional drag racing series wraps up its season at Michigan’s fastest track the weekend of August 12-13.
And of the nitro classes handing out hardware, two drivers have already sealed up a Nitro Jam championship entering Martin. Peter Gallen, driver of the “Poverty Stricken” 1974 Vega Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car, and Steve Dorn in Nitro Harley, will be able to rest easy as both have already clinched the title in their respective categories and both will essentially be making victory laps in front of the anticipated capacity crowd in Michigan later this year.
Boychuk splits Funny Car battle at Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals
Courtesy of IHRA
GRAND BEND, ON – Call it a draw. Call it a split. But whatever you call it, don’t think this battle is over just yet.
In a battle of two of the fastest nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars in world, Pennsylvania’s Peter Gallen claimed round one on Saturday while Alberta’s Tim Boychuk proved top dog on Sunday, splitting the much anticipated matchup between the
two during the Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals at the Grand Bend Motorplex in Ontario.
Peter is a pretty tough opponent to go against so we were thrilled to get the win this afternoon,” Boychuk said. “It is nice to split with him. They have a great car and a great team and they know how to put the numbers down so anytime you can beat a team like that it is really special.”
Gallen set a blistering pace to open the weekend, temporarily setting a new world record in the process, but Boychuk was able to battle back and pick up his own Ironman trophy on Sunday with the two quickest laps of the afternoon to split the weekend and leave the title of nostalgia racings fastest driver unanswered – for now.
Wild evening of racing greets fans at Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals
Courtesy of IHRA
GRAND BEND, ON – Peter Gallen 1, Tim Boychuk 0. In a showdown that was billed as a battle of the fastest between Pennsylvania’s Peter Gallen and Alberta’s Tim Boychuk, it was all Gallen on Saturday as the driver of the “Poverty
Stricken” 1974 Vega Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car blasted to a potential world record and a win in front of a capacity crowd at the Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals at the Grand Bend Motorplex in Ontario.
Gallen put a blistering 5.707 elapsed time on the charts at 247.25 miles per hour to pick up the win, his sixth of the season to wrap up a wild and crazy evening of racing in front of one of the biggest crowds in recent Grand Bend history.
“We felt like we had something to prove. We wanted to go out there and win this thing,” Gallen said. “To do that, we knew we had to run some pretty quick numbers and thankfully we were able to do that. The last time I raced Tim we didn’t get to race him in the final and we really wanted to go up against that team with a win on the line.
Turner returns to ‘The Bend’ 11 years after inaugural victory
Curtesy of IHRA
GRAND BEND, ON – Do you remember what you were doing exactly 11 years ago? Jay Turner does. He was visiting 
victory lane atop his noble steed – a nitro-gulping, 2,000 horsepower Nitro Harley Davidson.
“It was a rainy weekend,” recalls Jay Turner of the first Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals ever held at the Grand Bend Motorplex in Ontario back in 2000. “But nothing could slow us down. We were determined to win that thing and sure enough we came away with the win.”
And that wasn’t all. “I remember the enthusiasm of the fans. The crowd there was nuts,” Turner said. “I remember that the weather was bad almost all weekend, but the fans kept coming in. We packed the place. There was nothing that could deter those fans.”
Top Fuel battle reaches fevered pitch in Grand Bend
Courtesy of IHRA
GRAND BEND, ON – Exactly one year ago at the annual summer spectacular known as the Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals at the Grand Bend Motorplex in Ontario, Canadian owner/driver Todd Paton piloted his Tim Horton’s backed Top Fuel
dragster to a victory over former champion Bruce Litton to claim the very first Top Fuel victory by a Canadian at an IHRA Canadian event.
Next week, Paton hopes history will repeat itself once again.
With the 11th annual Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals just a few days away, Paton will be back in action at Grand Bend this weekend looking to once again put his familiar red and black nitro machine in victory lane against a trio of very tough Top Fuel opponents at one of Canada’s premier drag racing events.
“We were a late addition to the show last year and we surprised even ourselves by coming out on top and finally getting a win in this thing,” Paton said. “Hopefully we will have the same kind of success in Grand Bend and win another Ironman for Canada.”
Winners crowned on championship Sunday at inaugural Summit Racing Sportsman Spectacular
Courtesy of IHRA
BUDDS CREEK, MD – Over the past 40 years thousands of different drivers from all corners of North America have h
oisted trophies and celebrated victory with the International Hot Rod Association.
None, however, have done it more than Anthony Bertozzi.
Bertozzi, a native of the small town of Ashland located in the heart of Virginia, has compiled an impressive resume during his lengthy drag racing career that includes a record 16 IHRA championships and over 60 national event victories, all of which sweeter than the last.
So when the IHRA decided to celebrate the past four decades with a special race held over the weekend in southern Maryland featuring a record payout and other prizes just a few hours from Bertozzi’s home, it was only fitting that the winningest driver in IHRA history participate.
And even more fitting, win. Bertozzi was one of nearly half a dozen winners from the inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular held at Maryland International Raceway over the weekend, winning the Super Stock class and pocketing a cool $5,000 in the process awarded to class winners at MIR.
