Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The IHRA Triple Crown opener in Columbus, Ohio.
1 – KNOW YOUR ROLE – Winning $150,000 at the opening IHRA Triple Crown event earned Tripp Tatum a trophy, a big check, and a spot as the only Top Fuel driver still eligible for the series’ $1 million bonus.
It also earned him a new job.
Before the winner’s circle celebration ever started at Darana Raceway, Tatum was sent straight to the team’s cooler to mix drinks for the crew responsible for putting him in position to win.
“They made me the mixologist,” Tatum said. “Yeah, it’s a little bit surreal feeling right now. It won’t hit me for a while, but I’m on Cloud Nine.”
The celebration followed a near-flawless weekend.
Tatum qualified second, defeated Chuck Loftin in the quarterfinals with a 3.822-second pass, outran Jasmine Salinas in the semifinals with a 3.770 at 329.43 mph and then chased down Gary Pritchett in the final.
Pritchett left first with a .033-second reaction time to Tatum’s .041, but trouble near the finish line slowed his dragster’s momentum. Tatum blasted to a record-setting 3.764-second run at 328.47 mph to secure the biggest payday of his Top Fuel career.
The victory may have come with his name attached, but Tatum pointed directly to the people around him when discussing how it happened.
“All these guys did a really good job, couldn’t have done it without them,” Tatum said. “Bob Lagana coming to help out this weekend, Aaron Brook’s helping out, Tony Shortall coming to help out.
“My guy, Donnie Bender, is my only guy at the shop that pretty much puts this entire car together. Same with Shortall; helps there too. And obviously a lot of influence from Lagana’s and CAPCO. Yeah, I’m very lucky and blessed to be in this position. And it’s a lot of … well, most of it’s because of them.”
Now comes the inevitable discussion about the Triple Crown bonus.
Tatum remains the only Top Fuel winner with a shot at the $1 million prize, but he’s not changing his approach.
“To me, it’s one round at a time, one everything at a time,” Tatum said. “I’ll start worrying about or being on that maybe after the next race. You got to win the next one to even think about that.”
And if that million-dollar check ever arrives?
“It would help a lot,” Tatum said. “And I would be just the dummy that’ll put it all right back into it.”
2 – THE BEST WIN OF HIS LIFE – Paul Lee has won a lot of drag races over the years, but even he didn’t hesitate when asked where his victory in the opening IHRA Triple Crown event ranked.
At the top.
“Oh, it absolutely is the biggest win in my career,” Lee said. “And not only was it the biggest win, it was the smoothest weekend.”
The Funny Car veteran collected the $150,000 winner’s purse at Darana Raceway after defeating Del Worsham in the final round. Lee left first with a .042 reaction time to Worsham’s .068 and backed it up with the only three-second run of eliminations, a 3.937-second pass at 326.32 mph.
Worsham remained close in the final with a 4.018 at 323.04 mph, but Lee’s team never gave away an advantage all weekend.
That consistency is what impressed Lee most.
“I know everybody says that their crew is the best, whatever,” Lee said. “I’ll tell you what, we made seven runs down the track, six runs out of seven that went down the track smooth, flawless, no mistakes.
“These guys changed an engine and quick warmups, quick turnarounds, and I just can’t say enough about having zero mistakes in seven runs. They did a great job.”
Lee’s path to the final included victories over Jon Capps in the quarterfinals and Joe Haas in the semifinals before setting up the showdown with Worsham.
“The team did an outstanding job all weekend, zero mistakes,” Lee said. “I give it to my guys, Jon Schaffer, Seth Randolph, John Medlen and the crew – excellent job and a flawless weekend.”
“It doesn’t get more flawless than this. Del has a killer car. He’s a long-time friend and we knew he was going to be right there.”
The victory keeps Lee eligible for the $1 million bonus heading into the Sept. 10-13 Triple Crown finale at Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania, his home track.
Still, he’s not getting ahead of himself.
“It’s no big deal. It’s a drag race, right?” Lee said. “There’s more important things in life that are going on in the world.”
“This is just a drag race. When the time comes, we’ll try to take advantage of the opportunity.”
2B – THE WORSHAM FACTOR – Del Worsham has probably won more money racing in the rejuvenated IHRA than any other competitor.
He’s reached every Funny Car final round the sanctioning body’s latest version has contested except for the season opener in Dunn-Benson. Yet after all the win lights and final-round appearances, the one prize he wanted most slipped away Saturday night at Darana Raceway.
The $1 million bonus is off the table.
Worsham’s bid ended in the final round of the opening IHRA Triple Crown event when Paul Lee beat him to the finish line. Lee left first with a .042 reaction time to Worsham’s .068 and sealed the victory with a 3.937-second pass at 326.32 mph.
Worsham wasn’t far behind with a 4.018 at 323.04 mph, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. In Funny Car racing, it means loading up and figuring out where the race got away.
For Worsham, the answer may have come one round earlier. A semifinal run in which the car drifted out of the groove forced the team to adjust its approach heading into the final.
“It was,” Worsham said when asked if this was the one he really wanted. “It’s the one that paid the most and had the most prestige.”
The disappointment was obvious, but so was the perspective.
“There’s three of these,” Worsham said. “The million dollars is off the table, but I added it up and looks to me like there’s still a half a million dollars out there to win if I can win some of these races and win those races over in Reading. So we’ll keep going, man.”
The former world champion knows drag racing doesn’t reward anyone for dwelling on missed opportunities. There are still races to win and money left on the table.
“It was a tough race and we made a decent run and it just wasn’t enough to win,” Worsham said. “I think the semifinal run, getting out of the groove and having the car not go straight just put us behind.”
“So for the final, we were just trying to make sure we got to the final. It is. It’s sad and it’s a bummer, but at the same time, I feel like we raced about as hard as we could and did about all we could do.”
Worsham’s million-dollar hopes may have ended in Ohio, but his season is far from finished.
“I know we can do better,” Worsham said. “And we will.”
3 – HARRIS KEEPS ON KEEPING ON – Paul Lee wasn’t the only driver to leave Darana Raceway with a big check and bigger possibilities.
Jason Harris did the same thing in Pro Modified, surviving one of the toughest fields of the weekend and positioning himself for another run at a $1 million payday.
Harris defeated Jacob McNeal in the final round of the opening IHRA Triple Crown event, turning a strong qualifying effort into one of the biggest victories of his season. The win kept him eligible for the Triple Crown bonus and put him back in familiar territory.
Earlier this year, Harris found himself one race away from a $1 million prize in the Drag Illustrated Winter Series. He didn’t get the final piece of the puzzle then.
Now he gets another chance.
“It feels surreal,” Harris said. “We’ve had a really good year so far.”
The road to the winner’s circle wasn’t easy.
McNeal delivered one of the best reaction times of the weekend in the final round, leaving with a .004 light and putting immediate pressure on Harris. By the finish line, however, Harris had done what he has done throughout much of the season – he found a way to win.
Harris left with a respectable .019 reaction time and drove the “Party Time” entry to a 3.567-second pass at 210.58 mph to secure the victory. McNeal followed with a 3.599, 205.95, but the finish line belonged to Harris.
The victory was another reminder that Harris has quietly become one of the toughest competitors in Pro Modified. His operation continues to deliver consistent performances while competing against some of the deepest fields in the category.
Harris was quick to point toward the people around him when discussing the win.
“What can I say?” Harris said. “Harts Charger, Pro Line, TKM, all these companies that stand behind me, man. It’s just amazing.
“I got a great team, Brandon Stroud. A lot of good companies stand behind me. Southern Diamond Company, like I say, these companies that stand behind me and let me do what I do, and I just win races, and it just seems like it falls in place.”
For most racers, one opportunity to race for a million dollars would qualify as a career highlight. Harris now finds himself working toward his second.
“Let’s see if I can do a little better job this time,” Harris said. “It feels like it’s right there in front of you, but it’s so far away at the same time.”
The win at Hebron moved Harris one step closer. The next challenge comes at the Milan, Mich., event set for July 9-11, where he’ll try to keep the dream alive and move one race closer to the biggest payday in drag racing
4 – DEFLORIAN TAKES THE MOUNTAIN MOTOR CROWN – John DeFlorian, the last driver to win an NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock title, stands to achieve something even better. He is the only Mountain Motor Pro Stock driver to have a chance at a seven-figure payday.
DeFlorian’s Saturday night win landed him the $50,000 winner’s share of the purse and special IHRA Triple Crown trophy, and he did so by a .005 win margin over Jeremy Huffman in the final. Huffman didn’t make it easy with a .002 reaction time, but DeFlorian wasn’t far behind with a .020 reaction and a 4.052-second elapsed time at 177.30 mph. Huffman posted a 4.076,175.99 mph as the runner-up.
6 – SPIDERMAN CRASHES – For a split second, Larry McBride found himself thinking about Elmer Trett.
McBride, the Top Fuel Motorcycle legend, was thrown from his bike during IHRA competition at Darana Raceway, and as he slid down the track at more than 200 mph, his mind went back nearly 30 years to the man who helped shape his career.
Trett was McBride’s mentor. McBride was waiting to run at the 1996 U.S. Nationals when Trett suffered the crash that claimed his life.
“I’m going to tell you right now it went through my head,” McBride said. “It was almost identical, other than his was his right hand, not his left hand [that came off the handlebars]. And, yes, I thought of it, yes.
“It was almost the same scenario. I just thank God that I’m okay. But, yeah, he rides with me every time. Elmer, I don’t ever race without his shirt, so he was with me.”
What made the moment even more sobering was that McBride had discussed mortality and faith less than 24 hours before the accident.
“Life is dangerous, as you know,” McBride said. “We’ve lost some great people. I’m a firm believer. We all got a number. We just don’t know when God’s wanting to bring us home.”
After the crash, those words carried a different feeling.
“That’s what killed Elmer,” McBride said. “We all got a number and we just don’t know when it is. Trust me, I thought about all that stuff when I was in the ambulance, too.”
McBride said the motorcycle appeared to be making a normal run before something went wrong near the finish line.
“Everything about the run was good, except right there at the end,” McBride said. “So we got to go back and re-evaluate and look, and hopefully we’ll come up with some kind of answer.”
Even after reviewing the incident, he remains uncertain about the cause: “I don’t know what in the world went wrong, exactly.”
As frightening as the crash looked, McBride said his first concern wasn’t the motorcycle.
“The first thing I was thinking about was my wife and kids, getting up so they’d know I’m okay because I knew they were watching it on TV,” McBride said.
The accident also did nothing to change his outlook on racing.
“Is what we do dangerous? Yeah, but getting in a car and driving down the road is also dangerous,” McBride said. “So do we quit doing that? No, you got to keep going.”
It’s his faith that remains the foundation of that perspective.
“It plays a big part in it,” McBride said. “Faith is everything. And if you don’t believe, if you’re not a believer, then I don’t think you’re going to make it. I think you’re going to be an unhappy person.”
7 – SALINAS FAMILY MAKES DRAG RACING HISTORY – The first father-daughter Top Fuel race in major sanctioned drag racing history went exactly how Jasmine Salinas hoped it would. She beat her dad.
Jasmine defeated Mike Salinas in the opening round of the IHRA Triple Crown event at Darana Raceway, using a .024 reaction time and a 3.774-second run to advance while Mike’s dragster lost traction shortly after the launch.
The matchup had been anticipated since Scrappers Racing announced Mike’s return to competition after nearly two years away from the driver’s seat. It also marked the first time the father and daughter had raced each other in Top Fuel competition.
Neither driver arrived expecting any favors.
“I’ve never been one to let my daughters win,” Mike Salinas said before eliminations. “And they’ve never let me win, either. That’s not how life works, and it’s not how racing works.”
Jasmine made it clear she shared the same mindset.
“Trust me when I say that while I’m excited to have my dad coming back to competition, I’m even more excited to beat him for the first time,” Jasmine said.
When the pair rolled to the starting line Saturday, the family relationship took a back seat to competition. Jasmine left first, Mike struck the tires, and the historic matchup was over almost as quickly as it began.
For Jasmine, the victory carried significance beyond advancing in eliminations.
“I definitely had to work for that one because he did not go easy on me,” Jasmine said. “I think some people were asking, ‘Are you going to go easy on him? Is he going to go easy on you?’ But he’s never once ever let me win anything in my life.”
The competitive nature runs deep in the Salinas family.
When asked if Mike would beat her badly at checkers as a child and then gloat, Jasmine laughed.
“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” she said. “The amount of times I cried and he would be like, ‘Well, that’s life.'”
Mike’s first-round loss didn’t dampen his appreciation for the moment.
“For us, it wasn’t about that,” Mike said. “It didn’t even matter. We all both want to win, but you got to look at it. How many people get to do what I just did? Very few.”
He also left convinced his daughter is becoming a serious Top Fuel contender.
“I think she’s going to be a force to reckon with down the road here,” Mike said. “Good driver, and she’s just very humble. I love that about her.”
8 – CREASY’S WOES CONTINUE – It appeared after his Funny Car record run of 3.962, 319.15 mph in the second qualifying session that Dale Creasy Jr., a two-time winner in 2026, had exorcised the demons that infested his Funny Car and forced him into a DNQ the last time IHRA visited Columbus.
Instead the same old issues that plagued him weeks ago reared its ugly head again. Creasy left first against Joe Haas, but by the 330-foot mark found himself occupying the same lane as Haas.
9 – IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR – Factory Pro Stock featured a family rivalry as Taylor Dietsch turned the tables on his father, Jason.
One year after Jason defeated Taylor in the Hebron final, Taylor returned the favor. His 4.865-second run at 148.66 mph was enough after mechanical issues slowed Jason’s Mustang to an 8.018-second pass.
10 – ON TAP – The IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series returns to action July 9-11 at Darana Dragway, in Milan, Mich., where the next Triple Crown event will be held. The last Triple Crown race is scheduled Sept. 10-13 at Maple Grove Raceway.
