IHRA: Williams closes the deal at PBIR

Above: Troy Williams Jr. in Top Dragster

Just like the week before at Immokalee Regional Raceway, ideal Florida weather greeted more than 200 drag racers at Palm Beach International Raceway on Friday and Saturday, for the second round of the new IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship, the series that runs over 15 weekends in 2017, crowing champions in seven Sportsman divisions and Junior Dragster.

The National Championship will be determined using points claims from the best seven of the first 10 events the racer attends. Champions in seven of the eight classes will get $15,000, while the Junior Dragster champ gets $2,000.

PBIR is where former world champion Troy Williams Jr. of Bradenton, Florida (in photo) closed the deal in Top Dragster on Saturday, where he squared off against Tracy Cochran of Flintstone, Georgia. Williams won with a 4.680 at 137.51mph with a .006 reaction time and a 4.61 dial-in. Cochran ran a 4.389 at 156.70mph with a .116 reaction time and a 4.38 dial-in.

At Immokalee, Mark Horton of Callahan, Florida beat Williams last Saturday, and Sunday, Jim Shaw of Davie, Florida, beat Williams. This time, in Top Dragster, at least, Williams wouldn't be denied.

We mention "in Top Dragster," because Williams also races a very fast Chevrolet Nova in Hot Rod, where he swept the weekend in Immokalee, beating Jason Oteri from Springfield, Tennessee, on Saturday, and Robert Ward of Sanford, Florida, on Sunday.

But Saturday at Palm Beach, Williams went out in the second round, pointing out how tough the competition is in the Summit Sportsman National Championship. James McPherson, from Chalmette, Louisiana, took a hole-shot win in Hot Rod over PBIR regular Scott Phillips of West Palm Beach, Florida. McPherson turned a 7.042 at 109.08mph with a .004 reaction time, to Phillips' 7.017-second run at 111.50mph, but his .068 reaction time gave McPherson the win.

In Top Sportsman, John Taylor and Carl Birney, both of Naples, Florida, had red-light starts, but Taylor took the win with a 4.754-second run at 146.91mph, a -.006 reaction time and 4.74 dial-in. Birney ran 4.906-seconds at 141.02mph with a -.002 reaction time and a 4.94 dial-in.

In Quick Rod, neither driver in the Saturday final round made the final the previous Saturday and Sunday, former world champion Corey Manuel of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, would take the hole-shot win over Frank Altilio of Apopka, Florida. Manuel tripped the lights at 5.735 seconds at 127.03mph with a .009 reaction time. Altilio posted a 5.727-second pass at 136.73mph with a .021 reaction time.

In Super Rod, it was again Manuel, pulling double duty with another hole-shot win over David Marcus Jr. (pictured), of Sarasota, Florida. Manuel made a 6.437-second run at 112.93mph and a .006 reaction time, while Marcus posted a 6.417-second pass at 126.06mph and a .047 reaction time.

In Super Stock, Chet Fincke of Ashburn, Virginia, won over Tyler Bohannon of Louisville, Kentucky, when Bohannon left the starting line before the green light. Fincke's 7.124-second pass at 94.05mph with a.002 reaction time and a 7.15 dial-in was good enough to get the win over Bohannon's 6.411-second run at 87.45mph with a reaction time of .010 seconds and a 6.16 dial-in.

In Stock, Myron Piatek of Holly Hill, Florida, and Gary Russell of East Sparta, Ohio, squared off, with Piatek, a former world champion, taking the win with a 7.215-second pass at 85.34mph, a .044 reaction time and a 7.14 dial-in. Russell posted a quicker 7.053-second run at 82.30mph with a -.024 reaction time and 6.72 dial-in. Russell's red-light gave the win to Piatek.

And in Junior Dragster, Morgan Carroll of Olar, South Carolina took on Gage Burch of Palmetto, Florida. Carroll came out on top with an 8.110-second run at 79.58mph with a .037 reaction time and an 8.09 dial-in. Current IHRA World Champion Burch posted a 7.936-second pass at 74.27mph, a .081 reaction and a 7.90 dial-in.

Sunday's event at Palm Beach International Raceway was, unfortunately, unable to take place when the starting-line Christmas tree suffered a catastrophic failure, and parts could not be located to repair it. "Not a good day," said Mike Dunn, former Top Fuel and Funny Car driver and current president of the IHRA.

Racer entry fees were refunded, and officials are currently exploring multiple options to determine what can be done with the event that would be in the best interests of the competitors. Additional information will be provided when available.

Next up in the IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship: March 3-5 at State Capitol Raceway near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Like the first two weekends of the Championship, the races will be live streamed on ESPN3, at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday the 4th, and at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday the 5th.