Just one year ago Bobby Lagana Jr. hoisted the IHRA Ironman trophy after a dominating run in Top Fuel at the Grand Bend Motorplex.

Friday night, Lagana looked like he hasn’t missed a beat.

Coming off of a weekend sweep at the IHRA national event in Edmonton just two weeks ago, Lagana (Scarsdale, N.Y.) continued his dominance on the IHRA’s Canadian tour with a top run of the night during opening night at the Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals presented by Parts Canada at the Grand Bend Motorplex.

The year was 2002.

That season Grand Bend celebrated its third-ever IHRA national event, there were 12 events on the IHRA national event calendar – only two of which are still on the schedule – and Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Shannon Jenkins (Pro Mod), Brian Gahm (Pro Stock) Jimmy Rector (Alcohol Funny Car) and Doug Vancil (Nitro Harley) were celebrating IHRA national championships.

Oh, and it was also the last time the very IHRA-distinct classes of Top Fuel, Pro Stock, Pro Mod and Nitro Harley all competed at an IHRA-sanctioned event together.

That is, until this weekend.

Winning streaks are a bit of a rarity in the Pro Modified Racing Association.

Only two drivers in the eight-year history of the doorslammer series have managed to string together more than one race win in a row and no one has accomplished that feat since 2010. But in 2013, PMRA veteran Rocky Di Lecce is rewriting the record books, having won all four races on the schedule so far in 2013. And this weekend the Mississauga, Ontario native is eying a series-record fifth consecutive win at the International Hot Rod Association’s premier Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals presented by Parts Canada at the Grand Bend Motorplex in western Ontario.

One of the most anticipated stops on the entire Summit Pro-Am Tour, Maryland International Raceway hosted a Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by AMSOIL doubleheader over the weekend plus the conclusion of the Richmond Pro-Am from April making for a busy weekend with plenty of winners.

And of the 21 Ironman trophies handed out over the weekend, only one driver managed to double-up.

Winners from the regularly scheduled Division 1 doubleheader at MIR were Scott Wasko and Vonnie Mills (Top Sportsman), Cody Bayus and Larry Cox Jr. (Top Dragster), Norman Hall and Nick Chiles (Super Stock), Stephen McGrath and Sterling Simmons Jr. (Stock), Vince Gregoire and Mike Harbaugh (Quick Rod), Gerald Pierce and Vince Gregoire (Super Rod) and Michael Schiberl and Dale Koncen (Hot Rod).

From the rain-delayed Richmond Pro-Am that began and April and finished nearly three months later, those winners were Mike Koontz (Top Sportsman), Chad Traylor (Top Dragster), Pete D’Agnolo (Super Stock), Chris Bowman (Stock), Tommy Cable (Quick Rod), Kevin O’Brien (Super Rod) and Jake Milstead (Hot Rod).

Racers got to enjoy at least one day of racing at beautiful Dallas Raceway over the weekend before the rains came with a number of upsets highlighting the day’s activities.

Day 1 of the two-day Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by AMSOIL event was concluded over the weekend, while the rained out Day 2 will be run this Saturday, July 20 at Dallas Raceway. Parking will take place on Friday with a test and tune from 5-10 p.m. followed by the final Division 4 Summit Pro-Am event of the season taking place Saturday afternoon.

The one race that was completed was filled with championship-altering upsets as all seven major Pro-Am classes were won by drivers not in a podium position in the points entering the race. Saturday’s winners were Lance Abbott (Top Sportsman), J.R. Baxter (Top Dragster), Pete Peery (Super Stock), Sharon Bogues (Stock), Dale Scates (Quick Rod), Jeff Lopez (Super Rod) and Mike Frederick (Hot Rod). Junior Dragster winners were D.J. Hartley (Master), Kenneth Hillin (Advanced) and Trace Casey (Beginner).

Maryland International Raceway’s Team 1 won the Team Championship on Sunday, July 7 ahead of the second place Richmond Dragway’s Team 1 by the slimmest of margins – 1 point – at the all Junior Dragster Team Finals at Maryland International Raceway.

The team of 10 junior racers brought home an Ironman to their track for the honor.

The 2013 IHRA Nitro Jam series returns to the Grand Bend Motorplex in Grand Bend, Ontario July 19-21 for the Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals presented by Parts Canada. This exciting 1/4 mile competition is one of the biggest drag races in Canada and will feature racing in several different classes with professional and sportsman racing taking place all three days.

Here is what’s making headlines entering this weekend’s race:

EVENT: Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals presented by Parts Canada

PRO-AM DIVISION: Division 3 North Stars

WHERE: Grand Bend Motorplex | 70292 Bullock Line, Grand Bend, ON N0M 1T0

WHEN: July 19-21

CONTACT: (519) 238-7223 | www.grandbendmotorplex.com

The 2013 IHRA Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by AMSOIL season continues July 12-14 at Dallas Raceway in Texas for an IHRA Division 4 doubleheader at the famed ‘Concrete Palace’. The 1/4 mile track will host a test and tune on Friday followed two days of qualifying and racing on Saturday and Sunday. It is the final Division 4 race of the season meaning points are at a premium.

EVENT: 2013 Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by AMSOIL

DIVISION: Division 4 Renegades

WHERE: Dallas Raceway | 8055 W. Highway 175, Crandall, TX 75114

WHEN: July 12-14

CONTACT: (972) 474-2600 | www.dallasraceway.com  

The 2013 IHRA Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by AMSOIL Division 1 season continues July 12-14 at Maryland International Raceway in Maryland with a Pro-Am doubleheader. This exciting 1/4 mile showdown will feature a full racing weekend with a test and tune on Friday and qualifying and racing Saturday and Sunday plus bonus racing and the remainder of the Richmond Pro-Am.

EVENT: 2013 Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by AMSOIL

DIVISION: Division 1 Patriots

WHERE: Maryland International Raceway | 27861 Budds Creek Road, Mechanicsville, MD 20659

WHEN: July 12-14

CONTACT: (301) 884-9833 | www.mirdrag.com

There is nothing like winning one for momma.

With his 80-year-old mother watching from the sidelines and all of his family and friends cheering him on, Alberta native Tim Nemeth drove his beautiful 1977 Pontiac Firebird to a win in the AMSOIL Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car class and in the process ended Tim Boychuk’s three year reign at the IHRA Mopar Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam Nationals presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports all on championship Sunday at Castrol Raceway.

With Edmonton native Boychuk riding a three year winning streak at his home track in IHRA’s premier event, Nemeth came out of nowhere and blasted to the No. 1 qualifying position and ran that momentum all the way to an IHRA Ironman, giving the man known better as the “Iceman” his first-ever Rocky Mountain Nationals win.