SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -

THIS DOMINATION IS FOR DAD - This one was for Dad.

IHRA Funny Car racer Mike McIntire beat Baton Rouge winner Tim Boychuk in the final round. Boychuk won the race McIntire couldn't participate in.

McIntire was unable to participate in Baton Rouge's Mardis Gras Nationals because his father Mike Sr., had to undergo open-heart surgery.

On Saturday in Bradenton, McIntire made up for lost as he broke IHRA Nitro Funny Car top speed and elapsed time records. One record he broke was his own, set during his run to victory in the 2015 season—opener in Tucson in February.

“About a week before Baton Rouge, we found out my father needed quadruple bypass surgery,” McIntire explained. “He was admitted to the hospital and two days later was undergoing open-heart surgery on the Monday before the event so that pretty much was it. We did not even consider going (to Baton Rouge) without him. He’s the team owner. He’s the whole reason why any of us are out there doing this. So there was no way we were going without him.”

McIntire's road to the winner's circle included victories over Steve Nichols and Jason Rupert. McIntire used a  5.662 seconds and 260.49 miles per hour to score the victory.

“It’s unbelievable,” McIntire admitted. “It’s a surreal feeling. You always come out trying to win, but to win it the way we did it this weekend…it was crazy. A lot of hard work and we overcame a lot of things to get here. This is for my dad. We worked our tails off this week to get this win for him. Dad’s doing great. We got him a little too excited this weekend. But I think it was good therapy overall.”

CAT'S IN THE CRADLE - Twenty-five years ago, the IHRA unveiled their experiment turned professional division when Pro Modified graduated from the Top Sportsman ranks. This weekend the class returned in a move for the Norwalk, Ohio-based sanctioning body to return to its roots.

Isaias Rojas, a second-generation racer from  San Juan, Puerto Rico, scored the first win of the Crower Pro Mod.

“I’m very happy. We loved IHRA for years.  My dad ran in the IHRA Pro Mods back in 2000. Now I have the victory here. We struggled in the first round of qualifying. We went about six months without testing, and we have never been to this track.”

Rojas and his Mech-Tech crew had smooth sailing with as their 2006 Cobalt rocketed to No. 1 on the qualifying grid. Rojas then eliminated Dina Parise, Ken Fiscus before beating Floridian Jimmy Keen in the final.

 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - A past champion was back in his New York groove, albeit all the way down in Bradenton, Fla.

Former IHRA series champion John Montecalvo won the U.S. Bounty Hunters Pro Stock class over Trevor Eman of Aruba.

“It’s been a long time since we raced here in IHRA. Last time we raced his was in 2009 and we won the world championship then,” said Montecalvo. “Man, I’m tellin’ ya – I’m feelin’ pretty good. This is a great organization. They really hired some good people over here. I am impressed with the way the (IHRA) operation runs.

“This field was the cream of the crop,” continued Montecalvo, referring to the fact the Baton Rouge winner, Kevin Bealko, was unable to qualify for the eight-car field. “It’s all tough competitors. It’s only a couple hundredths of a second between us.”

Montecalvo's latest victory came at the expense of John DeFlorian Jr., Cale Aronson before beating Eman in the finals.

ELAINE AND THE JETS - Elaine Larsen scored another win in the Jet Dragster class. Larsen won the first round of eliminations when opponent Marisha Falk fouled on the starting line. Larsen faced Shea Holbrook in the final and ran 275 miles per hour to collect the IHRA IronMan trophy.

“This is amazing,” Larsen exclaimed. “It was a great night for Miller Welding. We took home the win. Now we’ll see if I can do it again next week in West Palm Beach.”

The AMSOIL Best Appearing Car Award went to Carl Weisinger. Frank Beal won the AMSOIL Best Engineered Award.

Due to local curfews, the Summit Racing Pro-Am Tour portion of the event for sportsman racers was postponed until Sunday morning.

SATURDAY'S FIELD SET - Qualifying has concluded and the field is set for Saturday evening's eliminations at the IHRA Nitro Jam Southern Nationals Presented By Crower at Bradenton (Florida) Motorsports Park.

No. 1 Qualifiers: Tim Boychuk (AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car Presented By Aeromotive), John Montecalvo (U.S. Bounty Hunters Pro Stock), “Tak” Shigematsu (Nitro Harley) Isaias Rojas (Crower Pro Mod) and “Kate” Moller (Jet Dragsters).

Heartbreak struck more than one big name at the track. Kevin Bealko, winner of the U.S. Bounty Hunters Pro Stock final at the IHRA Nitro Jam event in Baton Rouge last month, failed to qualify. His final time trial of the meet was his best (6.664 sec./197.45 mph) but he was bumped from the field, as was Dean Goforth and New Yorker John Pluchino. Dina Parise qualified for the eight-car Crower Pro Mod field but did not run the final qualifying session after suffering mechanical woes on her brand-new supercharged Cadillac. She was to meet No. 1 Qualifier Isaias Rojas in the first round. Rickey House and Lyle Newton failed to qualify in the Nitro Harley class.

Final eliminations are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

THIRD ROUND OF IHRA NITRO JAM SOUTHERN NATIONALS QUALIFYING

CROWER PRO MOD

1.       Isaias Rojas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 2006 Cobalt 5.968 sec./237.02 mph.
2.       Jimmy Keen (Parrish, Florida) 1963 Corvette 5.993 sec./237.02 mph
3.       Chuck Mohn (Fountainville, Pennsylvania) 1969 Camaro 6.005 sec./29.53 mph.
4.       Kevin Fiscus (Jacksonville, Florida) 2012 Mustang 6.035 sec./239.74 mph
5.       Ruben Tetsoshvili (Wesley Chapel, Florida) 6.120 sec./241.54 mph
6.       Jerico Balduf (New Smyrna Beach, Florida) 1941 Willys 6.206 sec/220.53 mph.
7.       Bill Lutz (Canal Winchester, Ohio) Camaro 6.733 sec./185.22 mph
8.       Dina Parise (New Freedom, Pennsylvania) 2013 Cadillac 10.043 sec./78.73 mph.

AMSOIL NITRO FUNNY CAR PRESENTED BY AEROMOTIVE

1.       Tim Boychuk (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) 1977 Trans-Am “Hawaiian” 5.756 sec./283.03 mph.
2.       Mike McIntire (Mentor, Ohio) 1970 Camaro “McAttack” 5.766 sec./243.04 mph.
3.       Jason Rupert (Yorba Linda, California) 1969 Camaro “Black Plague” 5.831 sec./245.83 mph.
4.       Paul Romine (Fishers, Indiana) 1979 Mustang “Man O’ War” 5.870 sec./218.07 mph.
5.       John Hale (Addison, Texas) 1969 Camaro “One Bad Texan” 6.042 sec./237.52 mph.
6.       Bruce Litton (Indianapolis, Indiana) 1974 Vega “U.S. Male” 6.061 sec./232.67 mph.
7.       Steve Nichols (Newark, Delaware) 1970 Camaro 6.190 sec./232.67 mph.
8.       Mark Sanders (Maple Valley, Washington) 1970 Mustang “Mr. Explosive” 6.228 sec./230.17 mph.

U.S. BOUNTY HUNTERS PRO STOCK

1.       John Montecalvo (Speonk, New York) 2013 Camaro 6.288 sec./222.82 mph.
2.       J.R. Carr (Pasco, Washington) 2015 Camaro 6.302 sec./223.32 mph
3.       Trevor Eman (Pos Chiquito, Aruba) 2011 Mustang 6.338 sec./2212 mph.
4.       Cary Goforth (Holdenville, Oklahoma) 2013 Camaro 6.349 sec./222.05 mph.
5.       Cale Aronson (Chillicothe, Missouri) 2010 Mustang 6.379 sec./221.62 mph.
6.       Matt Bertsch (Tecumseh, Michigan) 2007 Mustang 6.390 sec./220.37 mph.
7.       John Konigshofer (Otterville, Ontario, Canada) 2013 Mustang 16.435 sec/85.32 mph.
8.       John DeFlorian Jr. (Arnold, Missouri) 2015 Camaro 8.534 sec./151.48 mph.

Did not qualify:
John Pluchino (Commack, New York) 2006 Escort 6.488 sec./183.59 mph.
Kevin Bealko (Bridgeport, West Virginia) 2013 Camaro 6.664 sec./197.45 mph.
Dean Goforth (Holdenville, Oklahoma) 2014 Camaro 11.723 sec./97.28 mph.

 

NITRO HARLEY

1.       Takeshi Shigematsu (Ehime, Japan) 6.393 sec./216.76 mph.
2.       Larry “Drums” Brancaccio (Nutley, New Jersey) 6.400 sec./221.67 mph.
3.       Randal Andras (Amelia, Louisiana) 6.633 sec./216.86 mph.
4.       Tracy Kile (Asheville, North Carolina) 6.721 sec./213.57 mph.
5.       Bob Molloy (Elmton, Maryland) 6.726 sec./193.12 mph.
6.       Jim Fagan (Valley City, Ohio) 6.951 sec./205.90 mph.
7.       Jay Turner (Julian, North Carolina) 7.623 sec./124.36 mph.
8.       Alvin Kobernusz (Manly, Iowa) 8.057 sec./139.59 mph.

Did not qualify:
Rickey House (Humble, Texas 8.366 sec./192.67 mph.
Lyle Newton (Naniamo, British Columbia, Canada) 8.388 sec./123.62 mph.

 

JET DRAGSTER

1.       Katarina Moller (Osprey, Florida) 5.727 sec./284.45 mph.
2.       Elaine Larsen (West Melbourne, Florida) 6.027 sec./272.56 mph.
3.       Shea Holbrook (Groveland, Florida) 6.102 sec./260.19 mph.
4.       Marisha Falk (Port Orange, Florida) 6.103 sec./275.48 mph.

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - A HOT DAY IN THE SUNSHINE STATE

THE LEADERS ARE ... - Friday's qualifying has concluded for this weekend's IHRA Nitro Jam Southern Nationals Presented By Crower at Bradenton (Florida) Motorsports Park.

Tim Boychuk, winner of the previous IHRA Nitro Jam event in Baton Rouge, retained his No. 1 Qualifier status in AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car Presented By Aeromotive qualifying. New Yorker John Montecalvo did likewise in the U.S. Bounty Hunters Pro Stock class.

Japan's Takeshi Shigematsu turned in a run of 6.393 sec./216.76 mph leaped from fourth to first in Nitro Harley qualifying. Puerto Rico's Isaias Rojas, winner of last year's Latin-American Sport Compacts Pro Mod event in Pennsylvania moved from fifth to first.  

 

SECOND ROUND OF IHRA NITRO JAM SOUTHERN NATIONALS QUALIFYING

 

CROWER PRO MOD

1.       Isaias Rojas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 2006 Cobalt 5.968 sec./237.02 mph.
2.       Jimmy Keen (Parrish, Florida) 1963 Corvette 5.993 sec./237.02 mph.
3.       Chuck Mohn (Fountainville, Pennsylvania) 1969 Camaro 6.005 sec./229.53 mph.
4.       Kevin Fiscus (Jacksonville, Florida) 2012 Mustang 6.035 sec./239.74 mph.
5.       Jerico Balduf (New Smyrna Beach, Florida) 1941 Willys 6.272 sec./197.80 mph.
6.       Ruben Tetsoshvilt (Wesley Chapel, Florida) 6.396 sec./217.18 mph.
7.       Bill Lutz (Canal Winchester, Ohio) Camaro 6.784 sec./172.77 mph.
8.       Dina Parise (New Freedom, Pennsylvania) 2013 Cadillac 10.043 sec./78.73 mph.

AMSOIL NITRO FUNNY CAR PRESENTED BY AEROMOTIVE

1.       Tim Boychuk (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) 1977 Trans-Am "Hawaiian" 5.756 sec./283.03 mph.
2.       Mike McIntire (Mentor, Ohio) 1970 Camaro "McAttack" 5.766 sec./243.04 mph.
3.       Jason Rupert (Yorba Linda, California) 1969 Camaro "Black Plague" 5.831 sec./245.83 mph.
4.       Paul Romine (Fishers, Indiana) 1979 Mustang "Man O' War" 5.870 sec./218.07 mph.
5.       John Hale (Addison, Texas) 1969 Camaro "One Bad Texan" 6.042 sec./237.52 mph.
6.       Bruce Litton (Indianapolis, Indiana) 1974 Vega "U.S. Male" 6.061 sec./232.67 mph.
7.       Steve Nichols (Newark, Delaware) 1970 Camaro 6.190 sec./232.67 mph.
8.       Mark Sanders (Maple Valley, Washington) 1970 Mustang "Mr. Explosive" 6.228 sec./230.17 mph.

U.S. BOUNTY HUNTERS PRO STOCK

1.       John Montecalvo (Speonk, New York) 2013 Camaro 6.288 sec./222.82 mph.
2.       J.R. Carr (Pasco, Washington) 2015 Camaro 6.302 sec./223.32 mph.
3.       Trevor Eman (Pos Chiquito, Aruba) 2011 Mustang 6.338 sec./221.02 mph.
4.       Cary Goforth (Holdenville, Oklahoma) 2013 Camaro 6.349 sec./222.05 mph.
5.       Cale Aronson (Chillicothe, Missouri) 2010 Mustang 6.379 sec./221.62 mph.
6.       Matt Bertsch (Tecumseh, Michigan) 2007 Mustang 6.390 sec./220.37 mph.
7.       John Pluchino (Commack, New York) 2006 Escort 6.488 sec./183.59 mph.
8.       John DeFlorian Jr. (Arnold, Missouri) 2015 Camaro 8.534 sec./151.48 mph.

Not qualified:

Dean Goforth (Holdenville, Oklahoma) 2014 Camaro 11.723 sec./97.28 mph.
John Konigshofer (Otterville, Ontario, Canada) 2013 Mustang 16.435 sec./85.32 mph.
Kevin Bealko (Bridgeport, West Virginia) 2013 Camaro 17.653 sec./49.73 mph.

NITRO HARLEY

1.       Takeshi Shigematsu (Ehime, Japan) 6.393 sec./216.76 mph.
2.       Larry "Drums" Brancaccio (Nutley, New Jersey) 6.400 sec./221.67 mph.
3.       Randal Andras (Amelia, Louisiana) 6.692 sec./179.96 mph.
4.       Bob Molloy (Elmton, Maryland) 6.726 sec./193.12 mph.
5.       Tracy Kile (Asheville, North Carolina) 6.807 sec./208.33 mph.
6.       Jim Fagan (Valley City, Ohio) 6.951 sec./205.90 mph.
7.       Jay Turner (Julian, North Carolina) 7.623 sec./124.36 mph.
8.       Lyle Newton (Naniamo, British Columbia, Canada) 8.388 sec./123.62 mph.

Not qualified:

Rickey House (Humble, Texas) 8.935 sec./159.32 mph.
Alvin Kobernusz (Manly, Iowa) 13.484 sec./70.19 mph.

 

 

THE SILENCE OF THE BIG - Drag racing legend Don Garlits is in Bradenton this weekend, testing his Swamp Rat 37 dragster.

Garlits, the 83-year old drag racing legend, has come out of driving retirement in an attempt to crack the 200-mile per hour barrier with an electric powered dragster. He's currently the quickest behind the wheel of the near-silent dragsters at a 7.53 elapsed time and fastest at 184 miles per hour.

Garlits opened today's test with a 118 mph pass. According to Garlits, the more runs he makes with the car, the stronger the batteries get. The dragster is powered by six GE electric motors and is rated at 1,500 kilowatts (nearly 2,000 horsepower). He got as fast as the 170 mph range before calling it a day.

BACK IN THE NOSTALGIA GROOVE - John Hale has been busy lately with his primary racing occupation as driver of Jim Dunn's NHRA Mello Yello Series Funny.

This weekend represents Hale's free time and an opportunity to compete with his One Bad Texan nostalgia fuel Fuel Funny Car. This weekend represents Hale's third IHRA Nitro Jam of 2015 and the 15th of his career.

"IHRA puts on a good event and I'm excited to be back at Bradenton," Hale said. "We hurt the motor in round one of eliminations last year and lost. I hope this year we can go out and put on a good show for everyone."

Hales most recent nostalgia race was at the 2015 March Meet in Bakersfield, CA., where he qualified No. 14.

"We learned a lot in Bakersfield with this new body and the tuneup for it." Hale said. 

NOT HARD TO FIND THEM - Mountain Motor Pro Stock racers Team Aruba has a new T&E Hauler and it has been transformed into a beautiful rolling billboard. The goal of the Aruban native team is to promote their island paradise home.

Likewise the Aruba.com Mustang depicts palm trees and clear ocean water.

“Our old trailers always had sticker wraps with tropical colors to match the island theme we try to promote,” said driver Trevor Eman. “We recently made a new design for this new trailer and the end result is simply stunning. The reason we wrap the trailer, and why it is so important for us to do, is because when we do this and travel on the roads, we are traveling with the 'world's largest mobile billboard promoting Aruba.

“Our trailer is so eye-catching that in the past we would drive down the road and get the attention of other travelers, who then get on their phone to look up Aruba and Team Aruba on Facebook and message us right away. That is the type of stuff we try to accomplish since Aruba is primarily dependent on tourism. The more we can promote Aruba the better.”

THE EARLY LEADERS ARE ... - - Today's first session leaders were ...

CROWER PRO MOD
1.       Jimmy Keen (Parrish, Florida) 1963 Corvette 5.93 sec./237.02 mph.
2.       Chuck Mohn (Fountainville, Pennsylvania) 1969 Camaro 6.080 sec./222.60 mph.
3.       Kevin Fiscus (Jacksonville, Florida) 2012 Mustang 6.248 mph/235.78 mph.
4.       Jerico Balduf (New Smyrna Beach, Florida) 1941 Willys 7.960 sec./119.44 mph.
5.       Isaias Rojas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 2006 Cobalt 10.007 sec./84.56 mph.
6.       Dina Parise (New Freedom, Pennsylvania) 2013 Cadillac 10.043 sec./78.73 mph.
7.       Ruben Tetsoshvilt (Wesley Chapel, Florida) 1970 ½ Camaro 10.665 sec./81.61 mph.

AMSOIL NITRO FUNNY CAR PRESENTED BY AEROMOTIVE

1.       Tim Boychuk (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) 1977 Trans-Am "Hawaiian" 5.756 sec./283.03 mph.
2.       Mike McIntire (Mentor, Ohio) 1970 Camaro "McAttack" 5.766 sec./243.04 mph.
3.       Jason Rupert (Yorba Linda, California) 1969 Camaro "Black Plague" 5.831 sc./245.83 mph.
4.       Paul Romine (Fishers, Indiana) 1979 Mustang "Man O' War" 5.870 sec./218.07 mph
5.       Steve Nichols (Newark, Delaware) 1970 Camaro 6.190 sec./232.67 mph
6.       Bruce Litton (Indianapolis, Indiana) 1974 Vega "U.S. Male" 6.262 ec./195..48 mph.
7.       Mark Sanders (Maple Valley, Washington) 1970 Mustang "Mr. Explosive" 6.278 sec./20.31 mph.
8.       John Hale (Addison, Texas) 1969 Camaro "One Bad Texan"  16.195 sec./48.47 mph

U.S. BOUNTY HUNTERS PRO STOCK
1.       John Montecalvo (Sponk, New York) 2013 Camaro 6.303 sec./223.76 mph.
2.       Cale Aronson (Chillicothe, Missouri) 2010 Mustang 6.379 sec./221.62mph.
3.       J.R. Carr (Pasco, Washington) 2015 Camaro 6.387 sec./211.41 mph
4.       Matt Bertsch (Tecumseh, Michigan) 2007 Mustang 6.390 sec./220.7 mph.
5.       John Pluchino (Commack, New York) 2006 Escort 6.556 sec./171.78 mph
6.       Cary Goforth (Holdenville, Oklahoma) 2013 Camaro 8.960 sec./130.15mph
7.       John DeFlorian Jr. (Arnold, Missouri) 2015 Camaro 10.805 sec./89.22 ph.
8.       Trevor Eman (Pos Chiquito, Aruba) 2011 Mustang 11.130 sec./89.71 mph
Not qualified
John Konigshofer (Otterville, Ontario, Canada) 2013 Mustang 19.818 sec./60.28 mph.
Kevin Bealko (Bridgeport, West Virginia) 2013 Camaro 29.038 sec./23.98 mph

NITRO HARLEY

1.       Bob Molloy (Elmton, Maryland) 6.779 sec./201.65 mph.
2.       Tracy Kile (Asheville, North Carolina) 6.807 sec./28.33 mph.
3.       Larry "Drums" Brancaccio (Nutley, New Jersey) 7.117 sec./19.37 mph.
4.       Takeshi Shigematsu (Ehime, Japan) 7.426 sec./131.82 mph
5.       Jay Turner (Julian, North Carolina) 7.623 sec./124.36 ph.
6.       Randal Andras (Amelia, Louisiana) 8.502 sec./119.71 mph..       
7.       Rickey House (Humble, Texas) 12.619 sec./74.02 mph.
8.       Alvin Kobernusz (Manly, Iowa) 13.484 sec./70.19 mph

Not qualified:
Lyle Newton (Naniamo, British Columbia, Canada) 14.742 sec./74.78 mph.

JET DRAGSTER

1.       Katarina Moller (Osprey, Florida) 5.727 sec./284.45 mph.
2.       Elaine Larsen (West Melbourne, Florida) 6.027 sec./272.56 mph.
3.       Shea Holbrook (Groveland, Florida) 6.102 sec./260.19 mph.
4.       Marisha Falk (Port Orange, Florida) 6.103 sec./275.48 mph.

WELCOME BACK - IHRA Funny Car racer Mike McIntire, who won the season-opener in Tucson, is back in competition after missing the last event in Baton Rouge, La.

"About a week before Baton Rouge, we found out my father needed quadruple bypass surgery," McIntire explained. "He was admitted to the hospital and two days later was undergoing open-heart surgery on the Monday before the event so that pretty much was it. We did not even consider going (to Baton Rouge) without him. He's the team owner. He's the whole reason why any of us are out there doing this. So there was no way we were going without him.

 "He's doing well now. It's going to be a long road to recovery but he's doing okay."

McIntire said his father will be at both this weekend's event and next weekend in West Palm Beach, Fla.

McIntire dropped to third in the point standings by missing Baton Rouge. He wants to win the 2015 championship.

"Honestly, we're gunning for that," McIntire said. "We want it real bad. I don't think it (missing Baton Rouge) takes us out of the championship hunt at all."