Palmer, Creasy Score Big at IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series in Virginia

DINWIDDIE, Va. — Scott Palmer denied Gary Pritchett in Top Fuel, and Dale Creasy Jr. won his second straight Funny Car race at the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series races Saturday at Virginia Motorsports Park.

Palmer, who won the first ever IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series race last July, denied Pritchett the chance to win back-to-back races. Palmer had a clean run of 3.075 seconds at 270.54 mph as Pritchett had to shut down before the finish.

The Top Fuel ladder saw Palmer best Chuck Loftin in the quarterfinals, and Lee Callaway in the semifinals.

Both Nitro racers earned $50,000 purses as well as taking home the prestigious IHRA Ironman trophies.

“The clutch and the blower were two things I made adjustments on, and that won us the race,” Palmer said. “We raced Gary Pritchett who is like family to us in that final.”

Creasy, a two-time IHRA Funny Car World Champion, faced off with another former World Champion, Del Worsham, in the final. They were only separated by .002 at the start before Creasy’s Dodge Charger had a winning run of 3.194 seconds and 278.40 mph. Worsham finished in 3.260 seconds and 277.32 mph.

The path to the final for Creasy included wins over Joseph Haas in the quarterfinals and Jacob McNeal in the semifinals.

“We do what we do, and we work hard to do it,” Creasy said about collecting his second straight Ironman. “Running Del in the final, I knew he was going to run good, so we had to step it up. We did.”

Mountain Motor Pro Stock featured a rematch of Johnny Pluchino and Jordan Ensslin in the final round. Pluchino came out on top once again by going 4.014 seconds at 180.21 compared to Ensslin’s 4.032 seconds and 178.54 mph. Ensslin had a .007 better reaction time in an extremely tight race.

Tony Scott scored his third straight win in Pro Stock with a win over Taylor Dietsch in the final. Dietsch had a .026 better light, but Scott’s Camaro powered down the track in 5.819 seconds at 140.59 mph to earn the victory.

Tony Wilson was quicker on the tree in every round of Pro Mod eliminations. It paid off with a .012 reaction time, paired with a 3.586 reaction time at 209.04 mph in the final round. Jason Harris, who tunes Wilson’s car, reached the final round for a second straight race and went down the strip in 3.661 seconds at 173.74 mph.

The Outlaw Pro Mod final matched Bubba Stanton against Hank Stubbs. Stanton put together a 3.501-second elapsed time at 219.08 mph after a .066 start. Stubbs was too quick at the tree to trigger the red light.

Jackie Fricke took advantage of problems with Joey Severance’s race car in the Top Alcohol Dragsters final. She posted a winning run of 3.609 seconds at 227.34 mph. Severance had an outstanding .019 reaction time, but slowed early in his run.

Phil Esz won the Top Alcohol Funny Car final by just .002 against Chip Beverett, who had the better reaction time. Esz, who has made the final round in the first two races of the season, countered with a winning effort of 3.592 seconds and 213.77 mph.

Anthony Mini and Rob Lowe faced off again in the Snowmobile final. Mini won a second straight time with a .063 to .095 advantage at the start combined with his 4.448-second pass at 159.36 mph.

The Nitro Harley elimination saw Jason Leeper recover from an earlier crash to roll down the track in 4.212 seconds at 186.05 mph in the final. Leeper was .037 better at the start than final-round opponent Mike Beland.

Paul Miller became the first repeat winner in Fuel Altered with a 3.833-second pass at 207.34 mph. Ryan Hill finished runner-up for a second straight race after lighting the tires up halfway down the track.

Montgomery International Dragway in Alabama hosts the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series on May 7-9.