Father Knows Best for Motorcycle Champion Stidham

It looked like Austin Stidham’s chance for a motorcycle championship had gone up in smoke about as soon as he arrived at the IHRA SuperSeries World Finals at Alabama International Dragway.

The Ohio racer, who calls Darana Dragway – Xenia in Ohio, his home track, hurt the engine on his bike Thursday. With it out of commission, he borrowed a motorcycle from his dad, which he raced over the weekend. His father is his racing hero, the one who got Austin started 16 years ago.

Stidham beat Music City Raceway’s Drew McClain in the finals to claim the title. He was rewarded with a celebratory championship package, which included a huge $10,000 winner’s check, a special IHRA Ironman trophy, a commemorative champion’s medal, and an IHRA Gold Card.

“The weekend did not start out well. I didn’t get things figured out until this morning,” Stidham said on the Saturday of his victory. “Yesterday was a completely different day, but today everything fell into place.”

Stidham, who qualified for the World Finals by winning his class at the IHRA Division 5 (Thunder) Team Finals, had a .006 to .028 advantage at the tree. Stidham’s winning pass was 5.721 seconds at 122.21 mph.

A machinist and tool maker by trade, Stidham molded a path to the final, which included a victory over the previous night’s Race of Champions winner Tommy Guzan. He proceeded to post a 5.732-second pass on the 5.73 dial-in along with a .018 reaction time to beat fellow Ohio rider Austin Poole in the quarterfinal round.

He had a bye run in the semifinals, which he used to run 5.723 seconds on his 5.71 dial-in time.

It all went back to being prepared. Stidham and his father actually had two extra motorcycles they brought to the IHRA World Finals for spares.

“I didn’t want to have to use them, but I had to pick one,” Stidham said. “I had never ridden either of them, but this was the one I was most comfortable on. We just figured it out along the way.”

Check out IHRA.com and our social media pages over the coming days as other IHRA World Champions and finalists are highlighted.

Photos by: Hobbie Lee ProPhotography