# 2 in the IHRA Points

Well, the IHRA season is over. We finished #2 in the points chase and couldn't be happier. We were not able to attend the race in edmonton canada, and well, if we did we would've finished #1, but that's hind sight. We had a career best year. Here is a run down. I ran my first 4 second run, qualified #1, was last man standing several times, ran top MPH of the whole event in grand bend Canada, went to 3 straight final rounds and WON twice! To top it off, we finished #2 in the points behind my friend Terry Haddock. Let me tell you about rockingham. We entered the race tied for 3rd place with Paul Lee. Paul is one of the best out there. Rain cancelled the first qual. run so we were down to 2 runs on Sat. It was very cold, had great air, but the track temp was a little cool. Most of the cars shook the tires or smoked them and we were one of them. I had to pedal the car and it ran 5.84 @ 291. mph. We were qual. #5 after the first session. Going into the last session, Terry and I were last on the qual. run order because we were the fastest in our respected lanes in the first session. It seemed like each car that ran in front of me was bumping me down the list and low and behold I was not qualified for the 8 car field when it was my turn to run. I was very nervous, the track had cooled down a ton, and the pressure was on. Richard and Dad told me to be on my toes and be ready for anything. The car left very hard and the dreaded tire shake caught me. My foot slapped the throttle before my brain told it to. We ran a 5.15 and were last man standing, meaning we won the 5 bonus points for being the fastest winning car in qual. We ending up qual. #4. Fate was in out hands. We ended up running paul lee in the first round and who ever won would at least finish 3rd. Well, we won! I knew we had 3rd sewn up and now looking for 2nd. Matt Hagan had a great year. He has won 3 times and has had a very fast car. Fate was dealt once again between Matt and Terry. 1st and 2nd in the points chase. Terry won the round and the championship. Matt made a good effort, but the engine let go and his car put oil on the track which resulted in a points deduction. We were getting ready to race the semi's and Mike Perry came over and told me about the points matt lost which moved me to 2nd in the points. We made enough clean runs that I could have oiled the track twice and we still would not have been penalized. So the points was set. Terry First, I was 2nd, Matt 3rd, Paul 4th and Steve 5th. What a weekend. Now the word is IHRA may not have Nitro F/C's next year. IHRA has been bought out by Feld Entertainment. I guess something bad has left IHRA in financial trouble and they don't have funding for one of it's most popular classes. Please, email anyone at Feld Entertainment and let them know how much you love Nitro F/C's and we need a place to race next year. See you all soon, Andy