Worsham, Satenstein Put Exclamation Point on IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series Season

DUNN, N.C. — Former IHRA champion Del Worsham finished off a dominant season in Funny Car in Saturday’s IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series event at Darana Motorsports Park – Dunn in Dunn, North Carolina.

Kyle Satenstein scored his first win in the Top Fuel ranks as winners of both the nitro classes

earned $50,000 winners’ purses and prestigious IHRA Ironman trophies. The races were live-streamed on IHRA.TV and broadcast on SPEED SPORT 1.

Other winners included: Chris Powers in Mountain Motor Pro Stock, Randy Weatherford in Outlaw Pro Mod, Cam Clark in Pro Nitrous, Ethan Steding in Pro Mod, Ryan Peery in Top Fuel Harley, Tom Fox Jr. in Top Alcohol Dragster, Phil Esz in Top Alcohol Funny Car, Anthony Mini in Outlaw Snowmobile and Paul Miller in Fuel Altereds.

Worsham made it to the final round in all five IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series races this season. He beat John Smith in the quarterfinals, Jacob McNeal in the semifinals and Bobby Bode in the final.

Bode lost traction, which handed the win to the consistent Worsham, whose winning numbers were 3.319 seconds and 265.27 mph.

Satenstein got past Bernie Plourd in the quarterfinals and Cameron Ferre in the semifinals. He then beat No. 1 qualifier Lex Joon in the final. Satenstein had a 3.137-second pass at 273.83 mph to outdistance Joon at 3.473 seconds and 187.83 mph.

Powers, who won earlier this season at Darana Dragway - Milan in Milan, Michigan, had the same exact elapsed time at 4.068 seconds as final-round opponent Jordan Ensslin. Their speed was nearly identical as Ensllin’s 176.65 mph was three-tenths faster than that of Powers. The difference was Powers’ slightly better .051 to .061 start.

Weatherford capped off a memorable season in Outlaw Pro Mod. He won the $125,000 IHRA Outlaw Pro Mod Nationals in August and finished with his first national-event win Saturday. He got the holeshot .026 to .075 over Frankie Taylor. Weatherford ran a 3.566 at 211 mph, while Taylor was at 3.651 and 202.09 mph.

Pro Mods saw Steding, who made his debut in the class this weekend, take the win over Kevin McCurdy. Steding was a little better at the tree and down the track. He had a 3.568-second pass at 209.49 mph. McCurdy went 3.687 seconds at 200.35 mph. That was after Steding had the .063 to .073 advantage at the start.

Clark edged Dane Wood in an incredibly close Pro Nitrous final settled by just .001 seconds. Clark had a .046 to .054 reaction time, but his 3.698 seconds at 202.73 mph wasn’t as quick as Wood, who powered down the track in 3.691 seconds at 201.46 mph.

Peery became the first back-to-back IHRA Top Fuel Harley winner since Jay Turner in 2016. Peery set a new national record, going 4.088 seconds at 207.56 mph. Chris Smith, the No. 1 qualifier, had mechanical issues and finished in 6.406 seconds at 89.35 mph.

No. 1 qualifier Tom Fox Jr. capped off a dominant weekend in Top Alcohol Dragster. He took advantage of a red light by his final-round opponent, Shane Conway. Fox recorded a winning pass at 3.563 seconds and 214.14 mph.

Phil Esz, who was the No. 1 qualifier for the fourth time this year, and Tony Bogolo matched up in the final round of Top Alcohol Funny Car for a second straight race. Esz, who ran a 3.629 at 210.80 mph, won again to capture his fourth win of the season when Bogolo fouled at the start.

In Outlaw Snowmobile, Anthony Mini found himself in the winner’s circle. Mini, who qualified third, bested Courtney Moeller in the final round with a 4.403 at 162.37 to a 4.801 at 145.02. Mini worked his way through Travis Neyssen, Mitchell Moeller and Rob Lowe to reach the final round.

Miller won the Fuel Altered final with a 3.725-second pass at 205.54 mph. Pete Dove was runner-up for a second straight event after issues halfway down the track.

Photos by: Robert Richard/BME Photography