Ledford, a Greenville, Mich. racer representing Mid-Michigan Motorplex, won the Top (No Box) final when his final-round opponent Drew Smith from Barbourville, Ky., fouled by a heartbreaking -.001 at the start.
It’s a prize that Ledford didn’t take lightly as his family operates Mid-Michigan and he works at Ultratech race fab shop where his dragster was built. Ledford was able to make a pass at 5.103 seconds and 98.15 mph with a .031 reaction time. Smith went down the track in 5.523 seconds at 92.14 in his run.
Both Ledford and Mod (No Box) titleist Zimmerman earned prize packages which included $20,000 from Summit Racing Equipment, an IHRA World Champion Ironman trophy, an IHRA Gold Card and a World Championship diamond ring.
Zimmerman, from East Peoria, Ill., representing Cordova Dragway, had a winning effort of 6.497 seconds at 103.19 mph against a 6.50 dial-in in his Ford Mustang. Final-round opponent Hayden Trumble from Pasadena, Texas broke out with a 6.426-second pass against a 6.43 dial-in at 104.53 mph. Trumble was a little quicker at the start with a .021 to .030 advantage at the tree.
Trumble and Smith earned $7,000 from Summit Racing Equipment with their runner-up finishes.
Larry Doty from Margate, Fla., realized a dream with his Sportsman championship after he was runner-up in 2019. Representing Palm Beach International Raceway, Doty won on a holeshot with a .017 reaction time in his Mercury Cougar to a .064 for runner-up Todd Payne in his Tesla.
Doty’s winning pass included a 9.197-second pass at 76.13 mph against a 9.18 dial-in as Payne barely missed his 7.68 dial-in with a 7.677 elapsed time at 90.56 mph. Doty earned $7,000 from Summit Racing Equipment, an IHRA World Champion Ironman, an IHRA Gold Card and World Championship diamond ring.
Payne was the top finishing Electric Vehicle driver as the Yadkinville, N.C., racer from Farmington Dragway went one round farther than he did in 2021 when he was a semifinalist. He beat Florida racer Geoff Grafton in their matchup of Teslas as Grafton left too early.
Aubrey Loy from Harriman, Tenn., added to the strong tradition of Knoxville Dragway with her Junior Dragster win over Cayden Keyes from Abilene, Texas. Loy became the third Knoxville driver in four years to win an IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Championship. Her dad, Travis, pointed out that Aubrey bested him by one spot as he was the 2019 Mod (No Box) runner-up.
Loy went 8.441 seconds at 77.53 mph against an 8.46 dial-in. She and her father both competed at the World Finals as he was eliminated in the No Box second round. Keyes, who posted a better reaction time, missed the dial-in with a 7.919 elapsed time at 78.91 against a 7.94 dial-in.
The prize package for Loy included $10,000 from Summit Racing Equipment, an IHRA World Champion Ironman, an IHRA Gold Card and an IHRA World Championship diamond ring.
It was a big day for all those who competed in Sunday’s main event at the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals as prizes were distributed for each round of eliminations. IHRA President Larry Jeffers and his staff want to thank all who attended this year's World Finals as well as the Holly Springs Motorsports staff for the incredible job they did over the weekend.
