The hottest driver on the IHRA Nitro Jam tour at the end of the 2008 season was Edmonton’s Tim Boychuk, driver of Barry Paton’s Ontario-based Top Fuel Dragster.

Boychuk closed out the year with victories at Epping, New Hampshire, and Rockingham, North Carolina, setting himself up as one of the drivers to watch in 2009.

As the current season got underway, however, Boychuk and his team struggled to get back to their winning ways through the first two races of the year. At race No. 3 the tide finally began to turn as Boychuk took top qualifier honors at Dallas Raceway.

 One event later they were back in the groove, taking the Top Fuel Ironman at the Sooner Nationals at Tulsa Raceway Park. The win moved Boychuk to fourth in points, and with six races yet to go, put him in contentions for the title.

Read all the professional and sportsman race coverage from Tulsa as well as a full-length feature on Boychuk in Issue 12 of DRM.

In addition to the national event coverage, check out reports from the Summit Pro-Am and Champion System Sportsman Nationals action at Richmond Dragway, Holly Springs Motorsports, and Coastal Plains Dragway.

Follow the latest on our World Products Motown LS small block build-up project as we present part 6 of the ten-part series by Barry Kluczyk. The 800-plus horsepower bullet will provide propulsion for the Summit SuperSeries Box-class championship Mullis dragster which will be presented at the end of the season.

The next stop on the Nitro Jam Series tour is Grand Bend Motorplex  in Grand Bend, Ontario, home of the MOPAR Canadian Nationals. We have a detailed preview of the event in Issue 12.

In addition, there’s another opportunity to get off track with Randy Cunningham as he interviews sportsman standout Troy Williams Jr.

And of course IHRA President Aaron Polburn offers his unique take on the state-of-the-sport and the world in general in his “The Last Word” column.

Don’t forget to take advantage of a great opportunity to save big bucks on parts, services, and shipping, courtesy of leading performance industry manufacturers and DRM advertisers. Put DRM Online’s Extra Value Coupon Program to work today and stretch your hard-earned dollars. Spending less and racing more is the name of the game in today’s economy, so get in on the savings today!

Participating companies include:

ACD
Altronics
Aries
Booth-Arons
Champion System
DJ Safety
Halls Custom
Harland Sharp
Moduline
Pro-Filer
Reher-Morrison
Roman Performance
S&W
Sunset Ridge

For this issue and other issues of Drag Review, go to www.ihra.com/dragreview