The IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series returned to Darana Raceway outside Columbus for its fourth stop of the season, and the event ended much like the opener in July. Weather delays and mechanical issues pushed Saturday’s program into the evening, and cooler temperatures eventually forced officials to move the completion of professional and Pro-Am rounds to Sunday morning.
The Top Alcohol categories did finish on Saturday night, producing familiar winners in both dragster and funny car. Veteran racer Jeff Chatterson captured the Top Alcohol Dragster trophy, while Phil Esz earned his second straight Ironman in Top Alcohol Funny Car. Other Saturday victors included Jason Diestsch in Factory Stock Showdown and John Jacklitch Jr. in Outlaw Sled.
Chatterson’s victory came in dramatic fashion as he edged Jared Dreher with a 5.437-second run at 262.85 mph. It was his second IHRA national event win, coming nearly three decades after his first. The Canadian driver previously won Modified Eliminator at the 1996 IHRA Empire Nationals outside Rochester, N.Y.
“Well, I mean, we struggled the first two qualifiers, we had issues but we managed to straighten them out,” Chatterson said. “Then the first round, the car actually ran pretty good and we took it back, tweaked it a little bit. I actually thought it was going to run faster, but it didn’t. I saw Jared the whole way down and I thought, ‘Oh.’ And then I must’ve just got him right in the lights because it was like my green light came on. I’m like, ‘Holy smokes, I actually won.’”
For Chatterson, the trophy was a reminder of the longevity of his career and the role his family has played in it. “The first one was in Modified Eliminator back in, I think it was ’96,” he said. “That’s when we won Modified. Yeah. And it was a lot of fun back then. It’s a lot of fun now. I mean, doing it with my family and I was doing it with my family back then and, yeah, my son and my wife. Yeah. It’s all family oriented. Our crew guys now are bringing on their kids. So yeah, it’s a lot of fun.”
While many racers celebrate a win with large parties, Chatterson said his team planned a quieter evening. “Tonight, we’re going to celebrate probably by packing everything up and heading home,” he said. “I mean, we’re not going to head home tonight, but we’ll have a few … actually, because one of our sponsors is Vodka Friday, so we’ll probably have a few vodkas and a couple beers, and then we’ll pack up and head home tomorrow.”
In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Esz continued his winning streak with a 5.422-second pass at 265.33 mph, also defeating Dreher. The victory marked his second consecutive IHRA event title, reinforcing his status as one of the series’ leading contenders.
“We struggled yesterday with an ignition problem and we didn’t know really what was wrong and we replaced a bunch of stuff on the thing this morning and it fixed it,” Esz said. “We don’t know exactly what we’ve put on it to fix it, but it’s been running good. And we just kept getting faster and faster. The air, the track, just kept coming and coming and we felt we had more in it, but we just kind of kept it safe.”
Sunday’s schedule will now include the conclusion of professional eliminations, highlighted by a Top Fuel matchup between Larry Dixon Jr. and Shawn Reed. In Nitro Funny Car, Del Worsham will square off with Dan Hix. Several other classes remain in the semifinals, setting up a full day of racing to close out the weekend at Darana Raceway.
