IHRA: 63rd Annual World Series in the books

The long-awaited, star-studded 63rd Annual World Series of Drag Racing, presented by Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau is in the books, and featured plenty of entertainment, both on and off the track.

It was the first time Memphis International Raceway hosted the event, which had previously been held at Cordova International Raceway in Illinois.

Part of the on-track action: Two new track records were set during the side-by-side Funny Car match race between Tim Wilkerson and Del Worsham (in photo). Wilkerson set the elapsed time record in the 1,000 foot run at 4.05 seconds, and Worsham set the track speed record at 316mph. The ET record was previously held by Ashley Force and the speed record was previously held by Melanie Troxel.

Besides Funny Car, fans got to see match races in the Top Fuel, Pro Modifieds and Pro Stock cars, which haven't appeared in Memphis since 2009. Saturday night, Erica Enders ran a 6.674 at 206 mph to take the Pro Stock win over Jeg Coughlin, Jr. In Top Fuel, it was Clay Millican running a 3.91 at 296mph beat Bruce Litton, and in a second Funny Car race, Jim Campbell took the victory over Daniel Wilkerson. In the AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car pairing, it was current IHRA champ Jason Rupert running a 5.692 at a top speed of 255.19 to take the win over Mark Sanders on the full quarter-mile.

Off the track, there were autograph sessions with "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney and Larry Dixon, and there were question-and-answer sessions with Clay Millican, Tim Wilkerson, Erica Enders, Jeg Coughlin, Jr., Del Worsham, Bruce Litton, and Muldowney.

The event also hosted Top Fuel racer Doug Herbert's Put On the Brakes free defensive driving school over the weekend, and donated $2,016 to the program. Memphis International Raceway also inducted their inaugural class of nine racing legends into the Memphis International Raceway Hall of Fame. Inductees were Shirley Muldowney, Clay Millican, James "Augie" McCallie, Mike Dunn, Don Garlits, Larry Coleman, Larry Reyes, Bill Taylor, and Roland Leong.

All eyes will again be on Memphis International Raceway October 20-23 for the IHRA Summit World Finals.