Photos by Robert Richard
SATURDAY RESULTS: WORSHAM, PRITCHETT, HARRIS AND GIANGRANDE TAKE HOME IHRA SPRING NATIONALS TITLES
After two runner-up finishes at Darana Motorsports Park – Hebron, the former National Trail Raceway finally gave him something different. He left Sunday with a Funny Car trophy instead of another close call.
Worsham beat John Smith in the final with a 3.321-second run at 267.06 mph. Smith followed with a 3.594, but Worsham was out first and stayed there.
The win moved Worsham to eighth on IHRA’s all-time Funny Car wins list dating to 1971. It also pushed him into the points lead after Dale Creasy Jr. did not qualify.
He didn’t dress it up much afterward. He didn’t need to.
“It’s extremely special to get my dad back out here,” Worsham said. “You know, a year ago, I wasn’t sure what path or what direction he was taking. But we have a lot of people got to think right now. You know, tomorrow’s Mother’s Day so I want to say hi to my mom and happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there.
“And our partner, John Fink, who comes to all the races, he got sick and he’s in the hospital. He couldn’t come out this weekend, so say hi to him and Frank and my family couldn’t come. But you know, for all our sponsors, for Toyota, Richmond Gear, everybody IHRA, what they do for us and what they provide for us. I just can’t think of enough.
“This has just been a hell of a year, you know. It’s been a heck of a 12 months from when this started to where we are today.”
Worsham got there with wins over Jody Austin and Terry Haddock.
“The amount of work they do and the way they prepare a car and the kind of car they give me makes it really easy for me to go out there as a driver and just do my job and work hard at it,” Worsham said. “So I’ve got a shoutout to the crew.”
Gary Pritchett added another win in Top Fuel, and this one looked a lot like the last one.
Cameron Ferre left first in the final but lost traction almost immediately. Pritchett stayed in it and went 3.063 at 285.53 mph to take the win.
“This is a dream come true. I mean, we’re 3 finals now, two wins,” Pritchett said. “Just can’t believe it. It’s all because of the people that’s been in my corner my whole life. Cobra Enterprises is on here.
“Redline Oil and Singer Performance. United Garage Doors. We finally got Joe Clark a win in his company. This is their headquarters.”
Pritchett went through Scott Palmer and Lex Joon to reach the final. Three finals into the season, he has two wins.
Jason Harris didn’t need much in the final round, but he had already done enough to be there.
Jason Lee fouled, and the race was effectively over at the start. Harris still made the run, going 3.686 at 200.27 mph.
It’s his first IHRA Pro Modified win after finishing runner-up at the first two races of the season. That part had been hanging over him.
Afterward, he pointed somewhere else.
“I got to thank my crew. When you got a car like this, it’s your job to screw up and I hope I was there all day. Jason Lee and them are great guys.
“Everybody we ran today, super good competitors and you just got to do your thing and be up there and be on the wheel. And you know, it is what it is. And this is special.”
He came in as the No. 1 qualifier and opened eliminations with a bye. Wins over Peter Norton and Greg Belvins followed.
Matt Giangrande’s first IHRA final round came down to the start, and he didn’t miss it.
Facing Jerry Tucker in Mountain Motor Pro Stock, Giangrande left with a .01 reaction time and held the advantage to the finish line. Tucker ran quicker, 4.043 to 4.078, but the race was already decided.
It goes in the book as Giangrande’s first win and the 77th different winner in the division since 1977.
“I can’t tell you how bad we wanted to win one of these,” Giangrande said. “Enoch’s been trying a long time. Boy, this one’s for him. My team worked so hard.
“We needed to pull something out of our hat against Jerry, and we did. It looked like we had another holeshot win, but we’ll take them however we can get him. We didn’t want to go up there and red light and do anything silly, so we really want to make him earn it.”
Giangrande beat Brad Waddle, Dwayne Rice and Alan Drinkwater to reach the final round.
Bubba Stanton (Outlaw Pro Modified), Kyke Canion (Small Tire Bratz), Ryan Hill (Fuel Altered), Jordan Petersen (Nitro Harley), Joey Severance (Top Alcohol Dragster), Tony Bogolo (Top Alcohol Funny Car), and Taylor Dietsch (Factory Pro Stock) rounded out the professional winners.
SATURDAY RESULTS
FRIDAY QUALIFYING – WORSHAM, CALLAWAY, HARRIS AND RICE SET THE PACE FOR IHRA SPRING NATIONALS QUALIFYING
Del Worsham continued his early-season command of Funny Car qualifying in the International Hot Rod Association, securing his third consecutive No. 1 position at the IHRA Spring Nationals at Darana Raceway in Hebron, outside of Columbus, Ohio. The performance keeps him within striking distance of Dale Creasy Jr., whose back-to-back wins built a three-round cushion before failing to qualify.
“I mean, it’s a position we’ve been in before at IHRA multiple times,” Worsham said. “But really, the main goal, and I guess the first part of winning a race, is qualify the best you can. So we kind of handled that part of it.”
Worsham’s consistency atop the qualifying sheet has become one of the defining trends of the IHRA season. It has kept him within reach of the points lead despite Creasy’s early dominance.
The storyline shifted when Creasy, dominant through the opening two events, failed to make the field. That slip provided Worsham a clear path to chip away at the deficit without needing outside help.
“But yeah, it’s unfortunate for him, it just shows you how quickly things can turn,” Worsham said. “But if we don’t capitalize on it, it’s all for nothing.”
Creasy’s early two wins forced the rest of the field into recovery mode. Worsham acknowledged how quickly that advantage can disappear in IHRA competition.
“When you go two for two, starting out season, that puts everybody else in a pretty good hole, and you start digging your way out,” Worsham said.
The IHRA format, with only two qualifying runs, leaves little margin for error. One misstep can undo even the strongest start.
“What happened to him this week could easily happen to any of us at the next race,” Worsham said. “So you just have to be really careful and minimize mistakes and hopefully get yourself in a good spot in the field.”
Worsham’s 3.291-second run at 272.23 mph paced the Funny Car field, with Jon Capps close behind and Jack Wyatt third. The gap between contenders remained narrow heading into eliminations.
In Top Fuel, Lee Callaway led qualifying with a 3.055-second pass at 282.31 mph, followed by Gary Pritchett at 3.106 seconds and Kyle Satenstein at 3.145 seconds.
Jason Harris secured the No. 1 position in Pro Modified with a 3.601-second run at 210.08 mph, with Kye Kelley second. Dwayne Rice led Mountain Motor Pro Stock at 4.046 seconds and 177.44 mph, while Jerry Tucker posted the fastest speed at 179.07 mph.
Top Alcohol Dragster saw Joey Severance take the top spot with a 3.465-second run at 222.44 mph, with Rich McPhillips second and Jamie Noonan third while posting the fastest speed at 229.36 mph. Chip Beverett led Top Alcohol Funny Car at 3.647 seconds and 211.76 mph, followed by Phil Esz and Mick Steele, who recorded the top speed at 214.59 mph.
Tony Scott continued his strong start in IHRA Factory Pro Stock with a 4.993-second pass at 144.46 mph, followed by Taylor Dietsch and Jason Dietsch. Ryan Hill led Fuel Altered at 3.732 seconds and 214.69 mph, with Dan Pettinato second.
Chris Smith topped Nitro Harley with a 4.109-second run at 185.72 mph, while Jason Leeper reached 200.27 mph. David Marshall led Snowmobile with a 4.733-second pass at 151.67 mph, and Anthony Mini posted the fastest speed at 158.51 mph, while Steve Comella claimed the No. 1 spot in the John Holt Hemi Showdown.
