IHRA: Texas tough

It was not a particularly warm Texas reception at first for the IHRA and The Good Vibrations Texas Nationals Fueled by Sunoco at San Antonio Raceway – a steady crosswind of about 24 mph, with gusts over 30 mph, caused the three-day show to be condensed into a very busy two days.

On Friday, the wind became downright dangerous for the Sportsman cars trying to qualify, so IHRA officials had no choice but to stop the event. Later, the wind died down enough to allow the IHRA Drag Series Pro cars and motorcycles to make one-eighth-mile practice runs down the strip, but running the full quarter-mile – where the track wasn't protected by the long grandstands on the left side of the lanes – was still deemed too dangerous.

So all the Pro action was run in near-ideal weather on Saturday, with Sportsman classes taking to the track on Saturday, and on Sunday, they had the track to themselves.

There was no shortage of excitement on Saturday, and there was a shuffle in the Pro points standings from race one at Orlando Speed World.

Past champions Cary Goforth, Pro Stock; Jason Rupert, AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car; and Jay Turner, Nitro Motorcycle sit second in the point standings leaving San Antonio Raceway.

There was a new ET record by Pro Modified driver Billy Harper, and IHRA champions Jay Turner and Jason Rupert returning to the winner's circle for the first time this season. The shake-up out on the track resulted in new point leaders in Pro Modified, Billy Harper, and Pro Stock, John Konigshofer. The other two classes remained the same at the top of the standings.

Here's the current rundown:

AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car
1. Shawn Bowen 206
2. Jason Rupert 190
3. Mike McIntire Jr. 169
4. Mark Sanders 127
5. Tim Boychuk 118

Pro Stock
1. John Konigshofer 170
2. Cary Goforth 167
3. Trevor Eman 150
4. J.R. Carr 126
5. Larry O'Brien 120

Pro Modified
1. Billy Harper 229
2. Ruben Tetsoshvili 166
3. Adam Flamholc 164
4. Jerico Balduf 149
5. Bill Lutz 126

Nitro Motorcycle
1. Randal Andras 185
2. Jay Turner 166
3. Rickey House 164
4. Jake Stordeur 161
5. Tii Tharpe 107

The IHRA Drag Racing Series takes a two-month break from on-track action and will return for race number three at Maryland International Raceway June 17 – 18. The President's Cup Nationals Fueled by Sunoco will feature AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro Modified and Nitro Motorcycle along with sportsman racing.