HUMBOLDT, Iowa — Humboldt County Dragway racers captured the IHRA Division 6 (Midwest) title Saturday on the home track.

Individual champions were also crowned at the western Iowa drag strip, with drivers picking up specially-designed IHRA Ironman trophies.

Final-round action was highlighted by Ernie Thielen’s outstanding run in Top (Box) and Wade Lardy repeating as Sportsman champion. Thielen got off the tree in .002 and then matched his 4.91 dial-in with a 4.914-second pass at 142.54 mph. Runner-up John Russell had a .045 reaction time and then posted a 4.731-second time at 147.69 mph. 

Travis Ruetzel won on a holeshot .016 to .067 over Brad Nickerson in the Mod (No Box) final. Ruetzel’s winning pass was 5.600 seconds at 116.31 mph on a 5.58 dial-in. Nickerson had a 6.230-second pass at 110.78 mph against a 6.22 dial.

Lardy was the Sportsman winner as Aaron Hansen broke out in the final round. Lardy went down the drag strip in 7.638 seconds at 89.68 mph against a 7.61 dial. Hansen finished in 7.829 seconds at 85.49 mph on a 7.84 dial. Lardy had the slight .070 to .077 advantage at the tree.

A near-perfect .001 start for Ken Lawrence trumped Brian Wood’s .009 reaction time in the Motorcycle final. Lawrence’s bike motored down the track in 6.662 seconds at 106.08 mph. Wood, the 2024 IHRA Division 6 champion in the Top class, had a 5.424 elapsed time at 114.50 mph.

Tyler Honomichl, who finished Junior Dragster runner-up in 2024, had the best reaction time in every round of eliminations for the smaller cards. His slowest reaction time was in the final, but it still worked out with a .085 start paired with a 7.990 elapsed time at 79.53 mph on a 7.96 dial. Runner-up Rylee Hill had a 12.287-second run at 50.36 mph on a 12.54 dial.

Special awards were also handed out, with Humboldt winning the Best Appearing Team and Best Team Spirit. Dustin Medenwald received the Best Appearing Open Bodied award. Wade Lardy was the winner of the Best Appearing Car/Truck.

Matt Anderson had the Best Appearing Motorcycle and Patrick Scully was the winner of Best Appearing Junior Dragster.

The IHRA Division 5 (Thunder) Team Finals are up next, Sept. 4-6 at Muncie Dragway.