IHRA President Aaron Polburn would just as soon let the talk of the recent Edmonton boycott of Pro Stock drivers fade into a sunset of memories.

He plans to do that, but he just couldn’t let the issue pass without speaking his mind.

In a recent interview in the Fayetteville Observer Times, Polburn was quoted.

“If this would even come close to happening again,” he told The Observer, “I can tell you that class can put their cars up on eBay because they would never, ever come to one of our tracks again.”

Polburn admitted he understands the financial hardship of the trip on some of the lesser financed teams, but the source of his ire was the meeting and purported pact signed by the top ten drivers not to attend. Pro Stock boycott in Edmonton may be behind the sanctioning body; but far from forgotten …


IHRA President Aaron Polburn would just as soon let the talk of the recent Edmonton boycott of Pro Stock drivers fade into a sunset of memories.

He plans to do that, but he just couldn’t let the issue pass without speaking his mind.

In a recent interview in the Fayetteville Observer Times, Polburn was quoted.

“If this would even come close to happening again,” he told The Observer, “I can tell you that class can put their cars up on eBay because they would never, ever come to one of our tracks again.”

Polburn admitted he understands the financial hardship of the trip on some of the lesser financed teams, but the source of his ire was the meeting and purported pact signed by the top ten drivers not to attend.

Only one Pro Stock entry showed preventing the boycott from being the second 100% successful professional boycott in drag racing history. In 1981, the NHRA Cajun Nationals were contested without a single nitro flopper in attendance.

Bob Bertsch was the one driver who crossed the proverbial “picket” line and admittedly did so in respect to his fallen crewman’s wishes and sponsorship obligations.

His defiance of his peers enabled him to claim the winner’s purse and points accompanying the triumph. Bertsch is now a championship contender since he’s now sixth in the points and eligible to pick up the 45 bonus points for attending all IHRA events.

The IHRA’s leader confirmed that he’s scheduled a meeting with several of the Pro Stock drivers during this weekend’s IHRA Canadian Nationals in Grand Bend, Ont. The objective of the meeting to come to a peaceful resolution to ensure such a thing will not happen again.

Mike Perry, IHRA Media Relations Director, said he’s ready to put the unfortunate experience behind him.

“I don't want to look back at what happened in Edmonton,” said Perry. “That is all water under the bridge, they made their decision and it's all over. Edmonton is over and I guarantee no one in our office will carry a grudge. I just hope the drivers feel the same way about Bob Bertsch, the one Pro Stock driver who did make the trip. Bob had his reasons and we should all respect that...just like the drivers who decided not to go expect people to respect their reasons as well.”

Robert Patrick, current IHRA Pro Stock world champion, told CompetitionPlus.com that he had his reasons for not going to Edmonton and they were all financially related. He said it didn’t matter what the other drivers were doing, he wasn’t going anyway.

“With the economy the way it is and the prices of diesel fuel as high as they are, totaling our expenses, there is no way we could come out but upside down for that event,” Patrick said. “We just decided that it’s not economically feasible for us to race this event. That’s it. There was no political agenda. No statement needed to be made. It was just a business decision and at this point I wasn’t in a financial position to take one for the team this time.

“Since I started racing IHRA Pro Stock in 1991, I have always supported the IHRA and I’ve been a fan of the sanctioning body. Nothing has changed.”

Patrick plans to compete to compete this weekend. He was the defending IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals champion.