IHRA: Weekend of upsets at IHRA President’s Cup

Perfect weather, a smooth, newly-paved racing surface and a bunch of profoundly motivated racers made for a compelling, surprise-filled IHRA President's Cup at Maryland International Raceway Saturday, as points standings in several classes were jumbled when all was said and done.

Given the competitiveness of the IHRA Drag Racing Series, upsets aren't unusual, but this is still remarkable: Of the No. 1 qualifiers in the AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car, Pro Modified, Pro Stock and Nitro Motorcycle classes, only one made it past the first round of eliminations.

Billy Harper, Pro Modified points leader who had a blistering qualifying run of 5.832 seconds at 243.15 mph, lost an engine before the first elimination run.

Defending series champion Jason Rupert, after a record-setting qualification run, was very late to the starting line for his Funny Car matchup against Steve Nichols, who was unable to qualify at all, and only made it into eliminations after another driver broke and couldn't answer the bell. Rupert got the hole shot on Nichols, but a wobbly run of 7.675 at 125.23mph was nowhere enough to beat Nichols' 5.924 at 222.03mph.

And Nitro Motorcycle racer Tracy Kile threw away a stellar 6.253-second, 230.33 mph qualifying run on a first-round loss to Jason Pridemore's Gunslinger Harley-Davidson, leaving only Cary Goforth, top qualifier in Pro Stock, to not only make it to the finals, but to make it past round one. Goforth's AMSOIL-sponsored car went up against the Aruba-backed entry of Trevor Eman, and win or lose Goforth would take the points lead because – in another oddball event – the points leader from the first two races, John Konigshofer, didn't even qualify.

When the "win" light turned on at the end of the quarter-mile, it was Goforth for the win, though Eman definitely went down swinging – he brushed the wall on the driver's side and still didn't lift until he knew Goforth's 2014 Chevrolet Camaro had it won with a run of 6.27 at 224.55mph, to Eman's 8.468 at 88.02mph.

In the AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car class, third-fastest qualifier Tim Boychuk's Happy Hour battled the second-fastest qualifier, Mike McIntire, Jr.'s "McAttack", to a blink-of-the-eye finish, with Boychuk's 5.71, 256.41mph run in his 1969 Camaro besting McIntyre's 5.72 at 254.09mph.

In Nitro Motorcycle, Tii Tharpe went up against local favorite Bob Malloy of Elkton, Maryland, who made the quickest class run in IHRA history with a quarterfinals run of 6.204 seconds. Malloy backed up that record run with a pass of 6.259 at 212.73mph aboard his 2014 Buell, against Tharpe's 6.395 at 216.83mph.

In Pro Stock, the field consisted of IHRA regulars as well as a big contingent of racers with the Northeast Pro Modified Association, and in the end, it was two of their racers who lined up for the final. Kevin McCurdy took the win with a 6.036 run at 236.30mph, over Mike McAdams' 12.643 at 55.75mph.

IHRA fans won't have to wait long for the next race: The MOPAR Canadian Nationals Presented by Williams Racing at Grand Bend Motorplex in Ontario is scheduled for next weekend, June 24-26. For information, log onto www.grandbendmotorplex.ca.