“Tournament Of Champions” – the new sportsman world championship system 

In 2009, each Nitro Jam national event (and select other events) will become individual tournaments, with the winner of each tournament getting a spot in a select field of racers that will race each other for the world championship at the end of the season.  This race, during the World Finals at Rockingham, will crown a national championship as well as the national top 10 in each class.  This format provides incredible value for the racers who financially can only afford to attend the national event closest to them.  It also provides opportunity for those that can run more than one event, as each national event becomes a new opportunity to qualify for the world championship race.  If you do poorly at one tournament, the slate is wiped clean and you enter the next tournament with a new opportunity to qualify for the world championship.   

To spend today’s money on travel demands that each event provide value for competitors.  By creating a tournament system, competitors can choose one or multiple events to compete for a world championship without the financial commitment of maximizing claims and having to follow the tour.

With the new tournament system in place, the competitors who live in areas where there is only one national event close to them now have just as good of a shot at competing for a world championship as anyone else.  Geography and gas prices will no longer dictate who can participate in the sportsman national world championship program.  The goal is to have the event champions from each of the tournament events decide the world championship by racing head-to- head for it.   The tournament system also eliminates the variables in scores based on the size of the event and/or the division it is contested in.  A win is finally worth the same amount at every Tournament Of Champions event.

To further expand this tournament format and populate the World Championship race with a true cross section of the best racers from all over North America, there will be additional ways to qualify for the world championship final event. 

1. All Summit Pro Am division champions will automatically qualify for the world championship race.  (Note: The current Summit Pro Am points system will not change).  Summit Pro Am division champs will earn a first round bye run in the world championship race.
2. In each Summit Pro Am Division, the #2 & #3 points finishers in each class will qualify for the world championship race. 
3. All IHRA category champions at all the IHRA Sportsman National events will qualify for the world championship race.
4. Each of the class winners of the Summit All Star race will also qualify for the world championship race.  (Summit All Star points will continue to be kept specifically for this program)

As you can see, this world championship race will consist of a cross section of the best drivers from every tournament in all regions of the US and Canada that IHRA visits.  All these tournament winners (35 spots total) will meet in Rockingham during the World Finals to battle it out in head to head competition.  The world championship will now be decided on the race track and not by where you live or the cost of fuel.

There will be some competitors that have to make a big trip to Rockingham, without question.  In the big picture one big trip is by far more economical than the old system of competing for the sportsman world championship.

HOW IT WORKS

1. A maximum of 35 competitors in each class can qualify for the World Championship race by winning a nitro jam national tournament, a Sportsman National tournament, the Summit Pro Am division championship, finishing 2nd or 3rd in your Summit Pro Am division or winning the Summit All Star race.
2. The 1st round ladder will be generated using only the drivers that show up to compete at the World Finals (less any Division Champions – see below).  Example: If 28 drivers show up in Hot Rod, then a 28 car ladder will be created.  If 32 drivers show up in Super Rod, then their class will run a 32 car ladder.
3. Each class’s ladder at the world championship race will be generated via reaction time from the class’s final time run prior to the World Championship race.  The best reaction time of the pair will get lane choice.  Ties will be broken by coin flip. 
4. All Summit Pro Am division champs will earn a 1st round bye run and be inserted into the second round.  The 2nd round ladder will be re-generated based on 1st round reaction times of  the 1st round winners and any 1st round actual bye runs.   
5. A competitor may not have more than one spot on the ladder in the same class regardless of how many tournaments they win.  For example: John Doe wins the national event in US 131 in Stock and a Sportsman Nationals event in Stock.  John Doe would only have one spot on the ladder in Stock.  The other position will remain open.
6. A competitor MAY qualify for the world championship in a maximum of two different categories but may not drive the same car in two classes during the World Championship race.

1. If a competitor was to win 3 Tournament of Champions events in 3 different classes, then the first 2 Tournament Of Champions events that competitor won would determine the eligibility for the World Championship.
2. If a competitor was to win 2 Tournament Of Champions events in 2 different classes, then went on to win a Division Championship in a 3rd class, the World Championship eligibility would become the class that the Division Championship was won in plus the 1st Tournament Of Champions event class the competitor won.
3. Any Division Championship won would always become the primary class and ladder position the competitor would qualify in.

1. The final national order (World Champion through 10th place) will be determined by head to head racing.  The winner of the run-off at the World Finals will be the national champion, the runner up will be #2 nationally; the semi-finalists will be #3 and #4 nationally, etc.  #3 through #10 will be determined by the best reaction time when the competitor is eliminated.  The end of the year World Championship payout (Champion through 8th place) will be earned by the competitor’s finish during the world finals.  Ties will be broken by best package.
2. The World Championship race will be contested on a 1/4 mile.
3. The 32 car qualified fields in Top Sportsman and Top Dragster will remain qualified fields at each nitro jam national events during the season.  The World Championship race in Top Dragster and Top Sportsman will follow the 1/4 mile nitro jam national event format and rules (wing requirement, maximum dial requirement, etc).
4. The Saturday & Sunday “World Finals” in Rockingham in 2009 will not be a traditional “open” national event.  The only IHRA sportsman class racing contested during those two days will be for the competitors who qualify for the world championship and the competitors who qualify for the Summit Super Series world championship.  There will be a 2 day (Thursday/Friday) IHRA Sportsman National event (the last chance to qualify for the world championship) prior to the World Finals.

Tournament Of Champions – World Championship Prize Money

TOP SPORTSMAN (28)

Gary Bingham, Ricky Adkins, Chris Gulitti, Allen Firestone, Scott Blake, Gary Wojnowski Sr., Bruce Thrift, Wayne King, Mike Knotz, Mike Sowards, Jeff Pittman, Scott Wasko, Bob Phillips, Billy Thigpen, Steven Pym, Kamron Wright, Mark Payne, Donn Rudd, Gilmer Hinshaw, Chris Nyerges, John Hochstedler, Jeff Rudisill, Ronnie Dodson, Rick McDonough, Rob Harvischak, Bob Gulitti, David Wayne Dins and Stephanie Johnson Raynor.

TOP DRAGSTER (32)

Chris Bermond, Brett Nesbitt, Russell Marr, Jacky King, Tom Koenen, Jim Rubino, Rick Schneider, Nick Willard, Chad Traylor, Steve Witherow, Dylan Stott, David Johns, Jim Huggett, Donny Urban, Steve Schmidt, Luke Bogacki, Vincent Musolino, Casey Spradlin, Randy Scheuer, Britt Cummings, Ricky Adkins, Wes Washington, Troy Williams Jr., Marco Abruzzi, J.R. Baxter, Brian Folk, Ed Pauley, Russell Leach, Danny Waters Jr., Rob Berschneider, Brad Marcotte and David Barr.

SUPER STOCK (30)

Slate Cummings, Michael Beard, Kevin Helms, Allan Patterson, Casey Plaizer, Pete D’Angolo, Larry Cummings, Jacques Blais, Anthony Bertozzi, David Hunt, Bob Cupp, Tim Herbert, Alex Denysenko, Mike Crutchfield, Nick Folk, Scott Richardson, Bryan Worner, David Simmons, Michael Lyons, Byron Latino, Tracy Robbins, Bob Phillips, Missy Phillips, Mark Nowicki, Hagen Gary, Gil Carty Jr., Tim Worner, Jerry Jennings, David Mercer and Brandon Peterson.

STOCK (29)

Slate Cummings, Greg Rowe, Bob Murray, Mike Cotton, Randy Hutchings, Jim Marshall, Don Pires Jr., Myron Piatek, Nick Folk, Adam Keir, Phil Jackson, Michael Bolton, Craig Marshall, Jeanne Linke, Aaron Allison, Jody Simoneaux, Terry Taylor, Lisa Bolton, Mike Mayhew, Bob Marshall, Chris Jackson, Ken Kucera Jr., Michael Lee Truell, Wallace Dent Jr., Gale Pinkston, Ronald Traupman, Jarrod Grainer, Brent Darroch and Hillarey Sloan.

QUICK ROD (31)

Luke Bogacki, Brett Nesbitt, Doug Miller, Jimmy Stookey, Jamie Fiesel, Ron Folk, Lisa Bingham, E.J. Parker, Brandon George, Tony Helms, Jeff Lopez, Mike Lund, Matt Weston, Donny Urban, Scooter Choate, Jason Hoff, Billy Ray Upton, Pat Martin, Jay Bunce, David Elrod, Lauren Freer, John Dustin, Steve Mikus, Michael Pennington, Mark McKay, Stuart Smith, Jacob Elrod, Steve Muller, William Tishko, Allen Constantine and Jeremy McCormick.

SUPER ROD (29)

Ben Massey, Shane Maddox, Leonard Greathouse, Shawn Carter, Dennis White, Tony Elrod, Jim Linter, Francis Ross, Calvin Butler, Todd Thompson, Shannon Waycaster, Ted Moore, Joe Bauman, Steve Furr, Dale Koncen, Tom Dimond, Jimmy Lewis, Brian Folk, Richard Scott Lawton, Jacob Elrod, Matthew Cooke, Billy Smith, Robby Clarke, Danny Estep, Lance Pinto, Donald Webb, Tommy Maedgen, Charles Siegler and Jeffrey Estep.

HOT ROD (32)

Jay Bunce, Glenn Ferguson, Jeromy Hefler, Casey Plaizer, Tony Elrod, J.J. Brock, Ray Knight, Brian McLaughlin, R.L. Koontz, Jeff Heilmeier, Bryan Harris, Craig Schultz, Tom Coonly, Kenny Underwood, Edward Bolton, Donald Webb, Nick Karas, Sidney Norwood, Patrick Forster, Chip Johnson, Travis Harvey, Ken MacNicol, Bitsy Slatterly, Tim Wilson, Timothy Shuck, Chris Carpenter, Keith Mayers, Tim Anderson, Doug Wood, Tim Watson, Mark McKay and Chris Dean.