Courtesy of Shayna Keller, IRGSE Director of Corporate Communications
ORLANDO – The AMSOIL Nitro Nationals season opening qualifying session was fierce among all of the professional classes. Full fields and only eight spots for eliminations saw teams pushing it to the limits.
The AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car locked up their eight-car field and sent three drivers home. Defending 2015 IHRA World Champion Jason Rupert qualified in the first position with a 5.631 at 257.97 mph pass in the first round. Mark Sanders placed in the second position with a 5.655 at 258.27 mph. Followed by Mike McIntire Jr., Shawn Bowen, Paul Romine, John Hale, Bruce Litton and Tim Boychuk. Richard Hartman, Chris Bennett and Steve Nichols did not qualify for tomorrow’s elimination rounds.
JR Carr held the top spot throughout the three rounds of qualifying in the Pro Stock class. Carr is the last winner of an IHRA Drag Racing Series event as he won the final race in 2015 at the World Finals in Memphis. He ran a 6.234 at 225.26 mph against second-place qualifier, Trevor Eman at Orlando Speed World Dragway. Eman’s best pass was a 6.234 at 223.69 mph. Rounding out the Pro Stock qualifying results is John Konigshofer, Cary Goforth, John Montecalvo, Larry O’Brien and John Pluchino. John DeFlorian had motor problems in the first round and is not able to move on to eliminations.
The Pro Mod class witnessed a new elapsed time record when Billy Harper ran a 5.875 at 241.32 mph on his final qualifying run. Harper announced that he is running the full IHRA season in his 2000 Dodge Viper this season. Jerico Balduf qualified in the second position with a 5.928 at 232.47 mph. The remaining line-up includes: Kevin Fiscis, Billy Glidden, Adam Flamholc, Ruben Tetsoshvili, Bill Lutz and Larry Higginbottham. 2015 IHRA Pro Mod World Champion Dina Parise did not qualify along with Clint Satterfield.
Finally, the Nitro Motorcycle class saw 2015 IHRA World Champion Jay Turner return to the IHRA season with a new motorcycle and the top spot for the AMSOIL Nitro Nationals. Turner put down a 6.263 at 227.46 mph in the first round of qualifying. Rickey House placed his Harley in the second position running a 6.309 at 215.07 mph. The final six spots went to Randal Andras, Bob Malloy, Tii Tharpe, Mike Beland, Frank Capone and Jake Stordeur. Rob Brown and Tracy Kile did not advance into the elimination rounds.
Tomorrow will include three rounds of eliminations for the AMSOIL Nitro Nationals at Orlando Speed World Dragway and sportsman racing throughout the day. Time trails for the sportsman racers starts at 9 a.m. ET and pre-race ceremonies for the IHRA Drag Racing Series eliminations is at noon. Tickets are available at the gate and online. Each ticket includes free pit access to the see the action up close and meet your favorite driver.
For more information, please visit IHRADRS.com, Raceosw.com/dragway, or call (407) 568-5522.
Friday Round 1 Qualifying Results
Orlando, Florida – Round 1 qualifying results from the AMSOIL Nitro Nationals at Orlando Speed World Dragway.
AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car – 1. J Rupert 5.631, 257.97; 2. M Mcintire Jr. 5.716, 257.53; 3. P Romine 5.820, 243.94; 4. B Litton 5.862, 238.81; 5. T Boychuk 6.084, 243.90; 6. R Hartman 6.913, 150.80; 7. C Bennett 7.765, 130.18; 8. S Nichols 13.755, 64.33; 9. M Sanders 13.804, 58.57; 10. S Bowen 14.864, 58.57; 11. J Hale DNQ
Pro Stock – 1. J. Carr 6.234, 225.26; 2. T. Eman 6.234, 223.69; 3. C. Goforth 6.268, 225.03; 4. J Konigshofer 6.356, 225.00; 5. J Montecalvo 7.201, 119.96; 6. J Pluchino 12.496, 68.57; 7. L O’Brien 18.978, 65.34 8. J DeFlorian DNQ
Nitro Motorcycle – 1. J Turner 6.263, 227.46; 2. B Malloy 6.337, 202.79; 3. R House 6.339, 222.18; 4. R Andras 6.357; 198.73, 5. M Beland 6.994, 193. 05; 6. J Stordeur 7.974, 119.05; 7. R Brown 8.129, 161.87; 8. F Capone 31.637, 20.88
Pro Modified – 1. B Harper 5.875, 241.32; 2. J Balduf 5.928, 232.47; 3. R Tetsoshvili 5.967, 218. 23; 4. B Lutz 6.068, 230.41; 5. B Glidden 6.072, 189.58; 6. A Flamholic 6.095, 194.32; 7. K Fiscis 6.496, 167.09; 8. L Higginbottham 6.730, 209. 49; 9. C Satterfield 7.652, 182.06; 10. D Parise 10.444, 97.59
Saturday Round 2 Qualifying Results
Orlando, Florida – Round 2 qualifying results from the AMSOIL Nitro Nationals at Orlando Speed World Dragway.
AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car – 1. J Rupert 5.631, 257.97; 2. M Sanders 5.655, 258.27; 3. M McIntire Jr. 5.703, 260.61; 4. P Romine 5.820, 243.94; 5. J Hale 5.821, 252.28; 6. B Litton 5.852, 246.62; 7. T Boychuk 6.055, 220.98; 8. R Hartman 6.162, 247.93; 9. C Bennett 7.765, 130.18, 10. S Bowen 8.958, 102.17; 11. S Nichols 9.636, 91.21.
Pro Stock – 1. J Carr 6.234, 225.26; 2. T Eman 6.234, 223.69; 3. J Konigshofer 6.250, 225.26; 4. C Goforth 6.268, 225.03; 5. J Montecalvo 6.302, 222.91; 6. J Pluchino 9.114, 101.93; 7. L O’Brien 14.142, 87.78 8. J DeFlorian DNQ
Pro Modified – 1. B Harper 5.875, 241.32; 2. J Balduf 5.928, 232.47; 3. K Fiscis 5.952, 245.85; 4. B Glidden 5.959, 229.00; 5. A Flamholc 5.966, 240.47; 6. R Tetsoshvili 5.967, 218. 23; 7. B Lutz 6.068, 230.41; 8. L Higginbottham 6.730, 209. 49; 9. C Satterfield 7.652, 182.06; 10. D Parise 10.444, 97.59
Nitro Motorcycle – 1. J Turner 6.263, 227.46; 2.R Andras 6.332, 222.03; 3. B Malloy 6.337, 202.79; 4. R House 6.339, 222.18; 5. T Tharpe 6.457, 208.55; 7. J Stordeur 7.974, 119.05; 8. R Brown 8.129, 161.87 9. F Capone 9.048, 103.40
Saturday Round 3 Qualifying Results
Orlando, Florida – Round 3 qualifying results from the AMSOIL Nitro Nationals at Orlando Speed World Dragway.
AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car – 1. J Rupert 5.631, 257.97; 2. M Sanders 5.655, 258.27; 3. M McIntire Jr. 5.703, 260.61; 4. S Bowen 5.713, 256.26, 5. P Romine 5.820, 243.94; 6. J Hale 5.821, 252.28; 7. B Litton 5.852, 246.62; 8. T Boychuk 6.055, 220.98; 9. R Hartman 6.162, 247.93; 10. C Bennett 7.765, 130.18; 11. S Nichols 9.636, 91.21.
Pro Stock – 1. J Carr 6.234, 225.26; 2. T Eman 6.234, 223.69; 3. J Konigshofer 6.250, 225.26; 4. C Goforth 6.268, 225.03; 5. J Montecalvo 6.289, 221.67; 6. L O’Brien 6.359, 219.94 7. J Plunchino 9.114, 101.93 8. J DeFlorian DNQ
Pro Modified – 1. B Harper 5.875, 241.32; 2. J Balduf 5.928, 232.47; 3. K Fiscis 5.952, 245.85; 4. B Glidden 5.959, 229.00; 5. A Flamholc 5.966, 240.47; 6. R Tetsoshvili 5.967, 218.23; 7. B Lutz 6.068, 230.41; 8. L Higginbottham 6.730, 209. 49; 9. D Parise 7.110, 173. 67; 10. C Satterfield 7.495, 191. 13.
Nitro Motorcycle – 1. J Turner 6.263, 227.46; 2. R House 6.309, 215.07; 3. R Andras 6.332, 222.03; 4. B Malloy 6.337, 202.79; 5. T Tharpe 6.457, 208.55; 6. M Beland 6.994 193.05, 7. F Capone 7.467, 160.42; 8. J Stordeur 7.974, 119.05; 9. R Brown 8.129, 161.87; 10. T Kile DNQ
