IHRA: Records fall at IHRA President’s Cup

It took until the last run of the night – just shy of midnight ET – for Jason Rupert to make his final pass of the day's action at the IHRA President's Cup at Maryland International Raceway, but the Rupert & Littlefield Chevrolet Camaro's 5.635-second, 255.39mph run set a new track record for quickest run in the AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car class.

It also put Rupert, the winner at the last race, the Good Vibrations Texas Nationals at San Antonio Raceway in April, at the top of the qualifiers for Saturday night's eliminations.

A close second was the McAttack Chevrolet Camaro, which ran 5.686 at a slightly faster top speed of 258.71mph, which was a track-record top speed for the class. Why so fast? Combine a smooth new surface and relatively cool evening temperatures– and you can expect more records to fall Saturday night.

In Pro Stock, Cary Goforth's 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ran a 6.249 at 223.80mph, putting him just ahead of J.R. Carr's 2015 Camaro's run of 6.287 at 223.32mph.

Nitro Motorcycle was a comparably close affair, with a surprising run by Tracy Kile of 6.253 at a blistering 230.33 mph. Defending series champ Jay Turner was second with a run of 6.260 at 224.70mph.

A huge field of Pro Modifieds included both IHRA regulars and the tough Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association cars, and it was NEOPMA driver Dwayne Wolfe who set the fastest time of 5.870 seconds. His top speed of 242.84 mph was eclipsed by the second-fastest qualifier, IHRA points leader Billy Harper, who had a slightly slower time of 5.873, but a slightly higher top speed of 243.15mph.

There's another qualifying session Saturday afternoon, before Pro eliminations begin at 5 p.m. ET. For information on the track, log on to RaceMDIR.com, and for more information on the IHRA, go to IHRA.com.