Snowbirds from Canada make IHRA races a destination

James Cowie admits it: Yes, he and his family and friends contributed to the Florida economy during February. Not the conventional way of, say, booking themselves into a beachfront hotel or a Disney World resort, but by following the 2017 IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship.

Cowie said there were five Canadian racers making the long trip south this year. "It's something we try to do every year, but we had to take last year off," Cowie said.

They began with the championship's season opener at Immokalee Regional Raceway, then a week later, at Palm Beach International Raceway. They'll race at some NHRA events as they head back home, but they plan to catch the IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship event at the historic Darlington Dragway in South Carolina on March 24-26.

Unfortunately, that might be it for Cowie's 2017 IHRA season – "We live right in the middle of New Brunswick, north of Maine," he said. What about the IHRA-affiliated Grand Bend Dragway in Ontario? Great track, Cowie said, "but it's 1,200 miles away." There are seven IHRA tracks in Canada, but none in New Brunswick.

Cowie campaigns two cars – a 2000 Undercover he bought new in 2000, assembled on a Monday, and raced on Tuesday (pictured, top). The other ride that carries his Lobo logo is a 2004 Chevrolet Corvette roadster (above) Both cars are fast – Cowie raced his Quick Rod Corvette Saturday at Palm Beach International Raceway, taken out in round four of eliminations by eventual winner Corey Manuel, a former Quick Rod world champion.

The buzz in the pits and paddock, Cowie said, over the IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship and the fact that all the elimination rounds are televised live on ESPN3 "is all positive. It sounds like things are moving in the right direction."

For both Cowie and his Canadian compadres, that direction is north: Next up in the Summit Championship is at the legendary State Capitol Speedway near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, March 3-5.