Lance Pinto from Walworth New York emerged victorious in Super Rod on Sunday at the Keystone Summit Sportsman National Championship event to claim the first of two $5,000 Super Rod bonus payments.  The second $5,000 Super Rod bonus will be paid to this Sunday's Super Rod champion at Maryland International Raceway.

In keeping with the IHRA tradition of highlighting sportsman racers, the 2017 version of the IHRA Rulebook features Summit Super Series Champions Mickey Nelson (Top; Maryland International Raceway), Vic Ellinger (Mod; Thompson Raceway Park) and Allison Lloyd (Junior; Richmond Dragway) on the cover.

The new rulebook is in the mail and will be delivered to IHRA members in the next few days.

The IHRA Rulebook has been available online HERE and all updates since the book printed can be found HERE. (Revised 1/26/17)

Summit Sportsman National Championship Contingency Update:

The latest contingency postings for the Summit Sportsman National Championship can be found HERE.  Contingency contracts are being returned on a daily basis and will continue to be added up to the beginning of the Immokalee event. 

The IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship series will open the season at Ralph Hester’s Immokalee Regional Raceway on the first weekend of February.  The Summit Sportsman National Championship series gets underway in sunny Florida Feb. 3-5.  For the past 15 years, the Immokalee event has been the traditional kick-off for the new IHRA season. 

The track is located southeast of Ft. Myers and has historically enjoyed great weather during the month of February.  Ralph, Thomas and crew always do a great job hosting this event and go above and beyond to make racers feel welcome regardless of where they call home.  It is not uncommon for competitors to think they came to a party, and a race broke out.  Ralph and Thomas can be seen cooking at the racer’s appreciation BBQ or driving through the pits with their small block Chevy powered ice cream machine handing out ice cream.

IHRA officials have placed the final Summit Sportsman National Championship double race weekend at State Capitol Raceway, filling the previous TBA on the 2017 schedule.  The second State Capitol event will be held June 2-4.

“A big thanks to Lanny, Val and Gary at State Capitol Raceway for hosting a second event” said IHRA Division Director Frank Kohutek.  “State Capitol is well known for awesome Southern hospitality and great racing.  This has always been a facility that rolls out the red carpet for our racers and we are looking forward to the upcoming third stop of the Summit Sportsman National Championship Series here on March 3-5.”

The Summit Sportsman National Championship makes its debut at Immokalee Regional Raceway February 3-5 in what will be a historic beginning of a new National Championship program for IHRA class racers.  Awaiting participants of the Summit Sportsman National Championship at the end of the 15 double race event weekends is an industry leading points fund. The Summit Sportsman National Championship will award $15,000 to the national champion, $5,000 to the runner-up and $3,000 to third place finisher in Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Stock, Super Stock, Quick Rod, Super Rod, Hot Rod.  Junior Dragsters will compete as one class and feature a national points fund of $2,000 to win, $1,500 for second and $1,000 for third.

Championships can be once-in-a-lifetime experiences rewarding a generation of effort. Or, as is the case with three-time IHRA AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car World Champion Jason Rupert, they can be a harbinger of things to come.

After the first of his six-consecutive Nitro Funny Car titles in 2011, Rupert had no way of knowing that continued hard work and a team-wide pursuit of excellence would bring six-straight championships culminating with three consecutive IHRA AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car titles.

Team Bray Racing is back on track with a full blown assault on the Australian drag racing scene for 2017, having struck a multi-year sponsorship deal with well-known Australian oil company Gulf Western Oil. The iconic team consists of drag racing legend and six-time Pro Slammer Champion Victor Bray and his son Ben Bray, also a fierce competitor and lightning fast driver.

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) is pleased to announce that the first edition of the relaunched Drag Review Magazine is now available. Please click HERE to view the complete digital magazine.

Click on the cover image to view the selected digital magazine