Lex Joon and Del Worsham took home victories Sunday in the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series at Darana Dragway after rain postponed eliminations from Saturday. Both drivers earned $50,000 winner’s purses and Ironman trophies.
Joon, a former FIA Top Fuel champion, secured his first U.S. win despite blowing the blower at the finish line. He ran 3.964 seconds to defeat Mitch King, who struck the tires and finished in 4.236 seconds.
“Thank the Good Lord who helped us out today,” Joon said. “Thank you IHRA. This is unbelievable what they did. We will be back for more. My crew was also unbelievable today to get the win.”
Joon advanced to the final after beating season-opening Columbus winner Scott Palmer in the semifinal. He left the line with a .052 reaction time in the final.
Worsham, the 1992 IHRA World Champion, drove to a 4.085-second pass at 315.35 mph to defeat Dan Hix in the Funny Car final. Hix left even at the start but slowed to a 4.496-second run at 84.40 mph.
“This feels amazing. I was kind of bummed we didn’t win the last race so anything other than a win wasn’t going to be enough,” Worsham said. “I haven’t had one of these (Ironman trophies) in 30 years, September 1995, my last IHRA win, so this is really special to me.”
Chris Powers won Mountain Motor Pro Stock on a holeshot with a .005 light, edging Dillon Voss by three thousandths. Powers ran 4.172 seconds at 171.62 mph in his Chevrolet Camaro to Voss’ 4.175 at 171.62 mph.
“I’m stoked. This is the only thing left we tried to get for Sonny, but IHRA quit running it years ago,” Powers said. “We’ve won championships in PDRA, races in NHRA, but now we’ve got an Ironman. I can’t thank the folks at Sonny’s Racing Engines enough.”
In Pro Mod, Kurt Steding edged Wes Distefano by .008 for his first Ironman and $50,000 payout. Steding ran 3.864 seconds at 204.64 mph, while Distefano posted a 3.711 at 202.89 mph after gaining the starting-line advantage.
“Wes is good on the tree and I watched him win a lot of 632 races on tree, so I knew I had to bring it,” Steding said. “You will see us at the $125,000 race coming up in two weeks.”
Will Smith earned his first national-event win in Top Alcohol Dragster with a 5.398-second pass at 269.14 mph. Rich McPhillips Jr. smoked the tires at the hit, giving Smith a decisive victory.
Phil Esz scored his first win in Top Alcohol Funny Car, running 5.551 seconds at 261.02 mph to get past Tony Bogolo, who was .017 quicker off the line but slowed to 5.666 at 256.12 mph.
Tim Molnar won Pro Nitrous with a 3.76-second pass at 203.62 mph, holding off defending winner Tony Wilson. Molnar left first with a .023 reaction time to Wilson’s .036.
Hall of Fame rider Jay Turner closed out the event with a Top Fuel Harley win over Jordan Peterson. Peterson left first but Turner ran 6.365 seconds at 134.81 mph for his 18th IHRA national-event victory.
