Four Capture Wins at IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series at Darana Raceway - Hebron

HEBRON, Ohio — Four racers captured wins Saturday at the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series event at Darana Raceway - Hebron. Other eliminations and finals will be determined on Sunday and streamed live on IHRA.TV via YouTube and Speed Sport 2.

Jeff Chatterson won the Top Alcohol Dragster final with a strong 5.437-second pass at 262.85 mph. He beat Jared Dreher, whose dragster started to drift towards the center line in a 5.468-second run at 251.54 mph.

No. 1 qualifier Phil Esz romped to the Top Alcohol Funny Car victory. Esz posted a 5.422-second elapsed time at 265.33 mph. His final-round opponent, Ray Drew, had a little advantage at the tree, .021 to .035, but had trouble getting down the track.

John Jacklitch Jr. scored the Outlaw Snowmobile win, leaving in .180 seconds to .300 for Rob Lowe Sr. Jacklitch then skated down the track in 5.148 seconds to edge Lowe, whose time of 5.113 seconds was slightly faster.

Factory Stock also made it through eliminations with Jason Dietsch grabbing an Ironman with a 7.643-second pass at 176.89 mph. Runner-up Matt Obertanec had the better reaction time by .017, but came up short with an 8.824-second run at 153.37 mph.

NITRO CLASSES
The other classes didn’t make it all the way through eliminations, but several big races were wrapped up.

Larry Dixon Jr. won his first-round matchup against No. 1 qualifier Doug Foley, but had a parachute problem when they didn't deploy and stopped right before the sandpit. Dixon recovered to best Krista Baldwin in the semifinals to set up a final against Shawn Reed, who beat Todd Paton and Jasmine Salinas in the first two rounds.

Del Worsham, the No. 1 qualifier in Funny Car, will be looking for a second straight victory. He defeated Jody Austin and Terry Haddock to face Dan Hix in the final. Hix scored wins against Eric Stevens and Jack Wyatt.

Jay Turner and Tracy Kile made it to the Top Fuel Harley final. John Montecalvo and Jordan Esslin will be in the Mountain Motor Pro Stock final.

The legendary Rickie Smith is to go against Tim Molnar in the Pro Nitrous final. Outlaw Pro Mod pits Brandon Pesz against Billy Banaka, and Pro Mod made it to the semifinal round.

Photos by: Robert Richard/BME Photography