Stine, Mandell head up list of Pro-Am winners at IHRA Spring Nationals

PUBLISHED: UPDATED: May 10, 2026 at 2:08 PM

HEBRON, Ohio — Chris Stine kept the pressure on his opponents to win the Top Dragster class at the IHRA Spring Nationals at Darana Raceway, Hebron.

Stine’s quick lights forced his opponents to leave too quick in the final three rounds of eliminations. Stine had a .009 reaction time paired with a 4.084-second run at 174.15 on a 4.08 dial to win his final. Chris Ferguson went -.008 too quick at the start, which disallowed his run of 4.643 seconds.

Similarly, Bob Mandell Jr. won the Top Sportsman final when Jason Hutcheson turned on the red lights. Mandell posted a 4.071-second run at 178.64 mph on a 4.06 dial. Hutcheson went down the drag strip in 4.580 seconds at 152.59 mph.

In the Rod classes, Gary Fleenor had a better light .010 to .035 over Ron Stayer Jr. It led to the Quick Rod victory. Fleenor went down the track at 5.728 seconds at 141.24 mph. Stayer posted a 5.723-second pass at 128.39 mph on the 5.70 Index.

Rick Stroud was able to overcome Mike Coughlin’s great start in Super Rod with a 6.426-second pass at 115.68 mph on the 6.40 Index. Coughlin finished in 6.453 seconds at 125.49 mph after having an .003 to .013 advantage at the tree.

Glenn Ferguson won on a holeshot .016 to .067 against Shawn Pitts. Ferguson then ran 7.049 seconds at 101.81 mph. The quick start was needed as Pitts was closer to the 7.00 Index at 7.011 seconds and 95.52 mph.

Super Stock had a close race to the line as Mark Nowicki emerged with the victory. Nowicki went 6.097 seconds at 111.11 mph on a 6.04 dial-in after a .036 reaction time. Homer Carty was a little closer to his 6.11 dial-in at 6.148 seconds and 109.94 mph, but wasn’t as good at the start with a .064 reaction time.

Brent Darrock posted a 6.590 second elapsed time at 102.58 mph to win the Stock final. Michael Ours went early to trigger the red light, which eliminated what would’ve been a winning effort at 7.138 seconds and 93.97 mph on a 7.12 dial-in.

The IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series heads to Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania next on May 22-24.