The International Hot Rod Association Summit Sportsman National Championship is coming down the home stretch with the upcoming double-race weekend at Carolina Dragway in Aiken, S.C.

It is the 13th stop in what has become a 14-race series after the recent cancellation at Baton Rouge. Under the SSNC format, championships are determined using points claims from the best seven of 10 events the racer competes in.

Carolina Dragway in Aiken, S.C., Sept. 1-3, 2017 

The International Hot Rod Association Summit Sportsman National Championship Comes to Carolina Dragway in Aiken, South Carolina on Sept. 1-3, 2017 for the next-to-last stop in the 14-race weekend series.

Working in the engine shop at one of the most successful race teams ever should give a person a pretty solid understanding of what makes cars go fast.  That’s exactly the advantage Robert Vogler, III has over the other drivers in Top Dragster as they compete for the Ironman Trophy, the $15,000 championship prize and maybe even a vacation on the island of Aruba that comes with winning the inaugural International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Summit Sportsman National Championship. 

After consulting with Dragway 42 track management and having a lot of competitors ask about the format of the event, the decision has been made to contest the upcoming Summit Sportsman National Championship finals under an 1/8th mile format. 

“The track got a late start on getting open this year and have not had a chance to run a lot of 1/4 mile events yet this season” said IHRA Division Director Jon O’Neal.  “We fielded a lot of questions from racers on the format for the event that were competing at the Empire SSNC in large part because most of our SSNC competitors have never been to this facility since it was completely rebuilt.” 

PORT ALLEN, La. (Aug. 22, 2017) — With a forecast calling for heavy rains throughout the weekend, the International Hot Rod Association and State Capitol Raceway have cancelled the Summit Sportsman National Championship race scheduled for this weekend.

The race has been plagued with weather issues with this being the fourth time the triple-race weekend has been forced to abandon the weekend.  Multiple rescheduling scenarios have been reviewed including running next weekend which currently has just as bad of a forecast as this weekend does.  With only a few weekends remaining before the SSNC finals at Dragway 42 all of the remaining options for rescheduling this event have some kind of conflict which now force the permanent cancellation of the event.  

The International Hot Rod Association Summit Team Finals got under way last weekend, Aug. 18-20, with the Division 6 (Border Bandits) at Northern Lights Raceway in Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada.

MILLINGTON, Tenn. — The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) made a stop in the 15-stop series on Aug. 18-19 at Memphis International Raceway.

Vernon Rowland from Blanchard, Okla., earned both Quick Rod and Super Rod victories in Race No. 2. Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. went to Super Stock and Stock finals in Race No. 2, while Marlon Goates reached Top Sportsman final rounds in both races.

LEICESTER, N.Y.  — The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) made a stop in the 15-stop series on Aug. 18-20 at Empire Dragway.

Paige Montgomery of Alden, N.Y., extended streaks in the JR Race Cars Junior Dragster division with her fourth straight win and fifth straight final-round appearances. Other weekend performances included Tony Fabiano in Super Rod, Billy Ryan in Hot Rod, Pete D Agnolo in Super Stock and John Hayek in Stock reaching the final round both days.

It’s the busiest racing weekend of the season so far for the International Hot Rod Association with a pair of double-race weekends for the Summit Sportsman National Championship and the first of nine division races in the Summit Team Finals.

Mike Dunn speaks with Danny Waters Jr at the Summit Racing Sportsman Nat'l Championship at Piedmont Dragway.