But an odd thing happened to the 26-year-old racer out of Waco, Kentucky when he reached the final round of the Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions presented by AMSOIL at Memphis International Raceway. With everything on the line, Mason actually found himself quite calm and relatively relaxed for such a monumental moment in his life. In fact, you could almost say Mason was in his own little world when he pulled into the water box.
Jeremy Mason
“Honestly, the first round on Sunday was probably the most nerve-racking round for me. With the washout on Saturday and the weather change, you really just had to trust your car. Getting past that round was the real key to winning the championship,” Mason said. “I treated the final round like any other round, honestly. Yes, there was a lot on the line, but I was setup well for the run. I don’t believe in changing how you do things for a particular race. I left the line knowing I had him significantly on the tree, I got down the track and then killed what I needed to run above the number.”
With a clear mind and a determined heart, Mason put together a solid package in the finals of Quick Rod during the IHRA Summit World Finals, posting a .010 light packaged with an 8.913-second pass in the 8.90 index class at 153.63 mph to take the win over Randal Langley. Langley, from Naples, Florida, had a slightly better run of 8.907 at 172.65 mph, but his .045 reaction time did him in.
With the win, Mason collected his very first IHRA championship coming off of a season that saw him record two wins and take the Division 3 championship with the IHRA Summit Pro-Am Tour presented by AMSOIL. But it wasn’t an easy road to Memphis.
Mason actually started the year rather slowly and looked well out of the championship picture until a late surge put him atop the Quick Rod standings entering the World Finals.
Summit Tournament of Champions Quick Rod Final: Jeremy Mason (near) vs. Randal Langley
“Our year started out rather rocky. For one, I haven’t been able to race as much as I have in years past because I switched jobs in February and I haven’t had the vacation time to take off. We also didn’t start the year well in our first few races,” Mason said. “But we ended up finishing strong. We had a win and runner-up in Michigan, won our final race of the year in Darlington and we turned that into a championship in the division, which is my third division championship in the last four years.”
Once in Memphis, Mason overcame the tumultuous weather which threw a curveball at all racers, delaying eliminations from Saturday to Sunday. But on Sunday, Mason put together a strong showing with wins over Patrick Forster, Travis Ringguth and Steve Muller to reach the final.
In those rounds, Mason had reaction times of .015, .013 and .010 and managed a pair of double-breakout victories over Ringguth and Muller. The win over Muller in the semifinals – an 8.888 at 153.49 mph to an 8.857 at 163.20 mph – propelled Mason into the championship round.
“Man, this is just awesome. It really is a dream come true. I have been trying for about four years now and to finally get it done, what a finish to an amazing year,” Mason said. “It feels awesome to be a world champion. It has been a dream of mine ever since I started in Junior Dragsters so many years ago. It feels great to know all of my persistence and dedication has paid off when it comes to drag racing.”
Jeremy Mason
Mason’s final round opponent, Randal Langley, had one win in 2014 helping to propel him to second in the final Division 2 standings. Langley had wins over Mike Pople, Mark Miles and Mark Meadows to reach the final in Memphis.
While Mason was certainly excited about his first championship, he was also reflective of recording that championship-winning performance in his last race in his Undercover dragster as he moves to a brand new Miller Race Cars dragster in 2015. Only this time, he will be racing as an IHRA World Champion.
“That car was right there all weekend long and it was truly special for my last pass in my Undercover to be a world championship winning pass,” Mason said. “I could not do all of this without the support I receive. I would like to thank my mom and dad. They have supported me throughout all of my racing. I also want to thank my girlfriend Brandi. I could not do all of this without the great companies that support and partner with me including Renegade Racing Fuels and Oils, MAHLE Motorsports, Clevite, Ohio Crankshaft and Pro System Carbs. Thank you to everyone.”
