Boesch, Weis Head Up IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series Pro-Am Qualifying

Boesch, Weis Head Up IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series Pro-Am Qualifying

BENSON, N.C. — Darian Boesch and Scott Weis paced Thursday qualifying at the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series Pro-Am races at Darana Motorsports Park. Live streaming of the event was featured on IHRA.TV.

Boesch, a driver from Louisiana, led Top Dragster qualifying with a 3.942-second pass at 190.54 mph. New Jersey racer Marty Jones posted the second quickest time of the day at 4.045 seconds and 186.79 mph. Chris Stine, an Indiana driver, was third at 4.066 (174.93 mph).

Weis, a Virginia driver, took his 1963 Corvette to the top of the Top Sportsman ladder with a 3.956-second run at 187.78 mph. Vermont driver John Benoit was the second quickest in his 2015 Corvette at 4.005 seconds and 181.62 mph. Boesch was third quickest in this class, driving his 2018 Camaro to a 4.054-second pass at 181.32 mph.

Several other classes qualified Thursday including Super Stock with North Carolina racers Russell Ghent and Joshua Barczy 1-2 in qualifying. Ghent’s 1994 Camaro went 6.175 seconds (1.225 under) his 7.40 Index time. IHRA Hall of Fame driver Anthony Bertozzi had the top speed at 124.89 mph.

The Stock Eliminator class saw South Carolina hotshoe Jim Marshall drive his 1978 Camaro to the No. 1 spot at 6.730 seconds on an 8.16 Index. He earned the top qualifier over Terry Taylor who posted a 6.686-second run on a 7.98 Index.

In the Rod classes, Delaware driver Keith Mayers was just .006 over the 6.40 Index to earn No. 1 qualifier in Super Rod. His final numbers in a 1988 Alfa Romeo were 6.406 seconds at 128.81 mph. Canadian racer James Cowie was second at 6.444 seconds. Lauren Freer posted the top speed at 136.33 mph.

North Carolina drivers claimed the top two spots in Quick Rod. Parker Rochelle was dead-on with the 5.70 Index at 130.82 mph to be at the top of the ladder in Quick Rod. Freer was No. 2 qualifier in this class with a 5.703-second pass at 151.46 mph. 

Two more North Carolina drivers headed up the field in Hot Rod with Nicholas Reavis going down the track in 7.001 seconds at 108.95 mph on a 7.00 Index. Donald Webb was second quickest at 7.004 seconds at 106.82 mph. Tennessee driver Michael Whitaker had the top speed at 124.24 mph.

Those classes got through the first round of eliminations.

More great racing is coming up Friday with gates open at 8 a.m. On-track action begins with round 2 eliminations for the Hot Rod, Stock, Quick Rod, Super Stock and Super Rod classes at 10 a.m.  Check out IHRA.TV and the International Hot Rod Association social media pages for more updates.