Racing is officially back at the International Hot Rod Association.

After getting away from traditional racing and exploring a more entertainment-based program over the past three years under Feld Motor Sports, the IHRA announced today that it will be combining the best of both worlds with the return of traditional elimination-style racing in its professional classes while still maintaining a family-friendly format.

IHRA’s top tier series that has been branded as Nitro Jam, will be rebranded as the IHRA Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series and will feature a new logo incorporating the excitement of the new series plus new event logos for each of the NJDRS national events held in 2014. All events on the expanded 2014 North American Tour schedule will once again be branded as Nationals and will feature the addition of traditional qualifying and eliminations in its professional classes as well as a points chase and a championship points fund.

In less than one week the battle for the 2013 IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Championships officially get underway in Memphis, Tennessee as the best drivers from across North America hit the track at the Summit World Finals October 11-12 at Memphis International Raceway.

At the center of this huge weekend of racing are IHRA’s two championship tournaments – the Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions and the Summit SuperSeries. A total of 10 championships will be on the line during these two races as well as over $200,000 in cash and prizes.

In the Summit Tournament of Champions, 117 drivers from 20 states and five Canadian provinces will represent their divisions as the best drivers from the 2013 IHRA Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour season. The drivers will be competing for a world championship in Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Super Stock, Stock, Quick Rod, Super Rod and Hot Rod.

It is simply the greatest prize package in all of sportsman drag racing and it will all be on the line at Memphis International Raceway the weekend of October 11-12.

The Summit Racing Equipment SuperSeries presented by AMSOIL has long been revered as one of the greatest sportsman programs in all of drag racing and for the 12th year in a row three more names will be etched into the IHRA history books as winners of one of the most prestigious programs around.

Designed to give grassroots racers a chance to compete on the biggest stage in motorsports, the Summit SuperSeries features a 16-car tournament in three separate classes at the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals with the winner of each being crowned an IHRA World Champion and taking home their share of the lucrative SuperSeries prize package made possible by dozens of generous sponsors. This year’s world champions will be crowned in Top ET, Mod ET and Junior Dragster.

Thanks to a collaborative effort between the International Hot Rod Association and Motor Mania TV, the IHRA is pleased to announce that the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals from Memphis International Raceway will be broadcast live exclusively on IHRA.com the weekend of October 11-12.

Both days of the Summit Racing Equipment World Finals will be broadcast live through a special partnership with Motor Mania TV as the Summit SuperSeries, the Summit Tournament of Champions and the complete Nitro Jam professional show will all be seen live and uncut throughout the weekend on IHRA.com.

Last year the live broadcast received over 35,000 views from 25 different countries and from as far away as Russia all tuning in live to watch the IHRA crown its champions.

North Carolina’s finest took center stage Friday during the opening day of the Division 9 Summit Racing Equipment Team Finals as six more drivers punched their ticket to the Summit World Finals next month to compete for the Summit SuperSeries World Championship.

Tim Lucas (Top ET), Brian Perkins (Mod ET) and Noah Strickland (Junior Dragster) each won their respective classes on Friday during the opening day of the D9 Summit Team Finals, while runner-up finishers Michael Paschal (Top ET), Jim “Bo” Sells (Mod ET) and Dawson Wiggins (Junior Dragster) also advanced in the Summit SuperSeries championships.

In the team competition Fayetteville Motorsports Park took the overall crown at the Division 9 Summit Team Finals with 67 points, 20 ahead of runner-up Greer Dragway. Mooresville Dragway was third with 46 points, followed by Farmington Dragway (44) and Dunn-Benson Dragstrip (41). The remainder of the top 10 were Piedmont Dragway (34), Elk Creek Dragway (22), Coastal Plains Dragway (14) and Rockingham Dragway (12).

During a busy opening day at the Division 4 Summit Racing Equipment Team Finals at Dallas Raceway on Friday six more drivers advanced to the Summit World Finals to compete for the Summit SuperSeries championships next month.

Buzz Johnson (Top ET), Joe Boner (Mod ET) and Leroy Thomae (Junior Dragster) each won their respective classes during opening day of the D4 Summit Team Finals in Dallas, joining runner-up finishers Don Boulware (Top ET), Kevin Grider (Mod ET) and Michael Turman Jr. (Junior Dragster) who also punched their tickets to the World Finals in Memphis.

Dallas Raceway won the Summit Team Finals team competition, racking up 55 points to edge second place Pine Valley Raceway by eight points. Redline Raceway was third with 45 points, followed by Little River Dragway with 41 and Big Country Raceway with 38. The rest of the team finishers were San Antonio Raceway (34), Wichita Raceway Park (31), Lonestar Motorsports Park (26), Edinburg Raceway (15), Caprock Motorplex (13), Desert Thunder Raceway (10), Northstar Dragway (6), Amarillo Dragway (6) and State Capitol Raceway (2).

The regular season is over, divisional champions have been crowed and racers are ready to relax following a long season of racing.

Almost ready to relax, that is.

There is still one very important matter at hand as drivers gear up for the 2013 Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions October 11-12 at Memphis International Raceway. Until then, drivers can relish in a divisional title for the next two weeks until the biggest race of the season commences.

After a memorable season of racing within the six divisions of the Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by AMSOIL, several big-name drivers and a few new faces have emerged as division champions completing the field for this year’s Tournament of Champions.

With emphasis being put on the Summit Pro-Am Tour as the only road with which to earn a spot in the Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions in 2013, racing on the divisional level has been as intense as ever.

And following the final Summit Pro-Am race of the season at Farmington Dragway over the weekend, the field is finally set for the Summit Racing Tournament of Champions set to be run the weekend of October 11-12 during the Summit World Finals at Memphis International Raceway.

So who is in and who is out? Check out the official top three drivers in each division below and we will have a complete breakdown of all qualifiers, classes and Pro-Am champions in the next two weeks.

In the final race of the 2013 IHRA Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by AMSOIL season, many of IHRA’s usual players emerged as winners in the first true doubleheader in the history of Division 9.

A total of 18 drivers walked away with Ironman trophies over the weekend at Farmington Dragway, with only Marvin Dunahoo and Alexcis Schultz doubling up. Dunahoo, from Roanoke, Virginia, won Super Stock both days driving his PFA-1 ’77 Mustang to victory while Schultz, from Woodbridge, Virginia, won twice in the Good Vibrations Junior Dragster Master category.

Other winners from the final Summit Pro-Am race of the season were Ken Ellison and Donny Urban (Top Sportsman), Steve Furr and Wesley Washington Jr. (Top Dragster), Duanhoo (Super Stock), Lee Truell and Gil Carty (Stock), Chad Traylor and Brett Nesbitt (Quick Rod), Donald Webb and Cameron Manuel (Super Rod) and Keith Mayers and Robert Robertson (Hot Rod). Junior Dragster winners were Schultz (Master), Nicholas Furr and Chelsea Brown (Advanced) and Katie Craft and Hunter Moss (Beginner).

A six-time IHRA Top Fuel World Champion with 52 national event victories and two world records, Clay Millican is without a doubt one of the greatest drivers in the history of the International Hot Rod Association™ (IHRA) to ever suit up. And now, Millican’s Top Fuel Dragster will sport a look worthy of its driver’s remarkable accomplishments in IHRA competition at the Summit Racing Equipment World Finals at Memphis International Raceway™ (MIR).

Millican will debut a brand new design on his Top Fuel Dragster in his return to IHRA competition at the Summit Racing Equipment World Finals at Memphis International Raceway the weekend of October 11-12. The Tennessean will unveil the new design at his home track in Millington on Friday, October 11, in front of the jam-packed grandstands at MIR, as he goes head-to-head in a battle of former IHRA world champions against longtime rival Bruce Litton.

The special paint scheme, produced by PCD Wraps and Graphics, will pay tribute to Millican’s six IHRA Championships and will feature sponsors Parts Plus, Union Auto Parts and AC Delco. The dragster will include the brand new IHRA Nitro Jam logo which will also be debuted at the event.