HEBRON, Ohio — Gary Pritchett won his second Top Fuel race of the season, and Del Worsham got back to form with his Funny Car victory at the IHRA Spring Nationals on Saturday at Darana Raceway, Hebron.
Both of those Nitro class winners captured a $50,000 big check along with a special IHRA Ironman trophy with the races broadcast on Speed Sport 1.
Pritchett rocketed down the drag strip with a 3.063-second pass at 285.53 mph in the final. Cameron Ferre was better at the tree, but had trouble getting down the track in the final round. Pritchett beat Scott Palmer, winner of the last IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series race at Virginia, in the quarterfinals and then former FIA European champion Lex Joon in the semifinal round.
Worsham, the No. 1 qualifier for the event, turned in his usual consistent performance in his Toyota Camry. He went 3.321 at 267.06 mph in the final, along with a .032 reaction time. That was good enough to overcome John Bodie Smith, who posted numbers of 3.594 seconds and 249.45 mph. Worsham’s ladder included wins over Jody Austin in the quarters and Terry Haddock in the semis.
Bubba Stanton won on a holeshot, .044 to .183, over Randy Weatherford in the Outlaw Pro Mod final. Otherwise, their runs were really close with a 3.522 at 216.03 mph for Stanton, and a 3.530 at 216.94 mph for Weatherford.
Matt Giangrande had a much better start, .018 to .125, in Mountain Motor Pro Stock with a 4.078-second pass at 177.17 mph. Runner-up Jerry Tucker posted a 4.043-second run at 178.71 mph.
Jordan Peterson had an incredible .002 light in Nitro Harley to go with his 4.325 seconds at 151.11 mph. It allowed him to fend off GT Tonglet, who posted a 4.259 at 182.33 mph after a .088 start.
Joey Severance capped off a fine weekend in Top Alcohol Dragster with a win over Jamie Noonan in the final. Severance’s packed included a .020 reaction time along with a 3.481-second pass at 222.99 mph. Noonan, who had a slower start at .068, went down the strip in 3.498 seconds at 229.12 mph.
A rare miscue by Phil Esz led to Tony Bogolo’s win in the Top Alcohol Funny Car final. Esz triggered the red light by -.059 seconds. Bogolo went on for a 3.729-second victory at 201.88 mph.
It was all-Jason final in Pro Mod. Jason Harris got the win as Jason Lee was -.095 at the start. Harris got down the track smoothest with his 3.686-second pass at 200.27 mph.
Taylor Diestch went 4.903 seconds at 147.44 mph in the IHRA Factory Pro Stock final. Runner-up Tony Scott, who went 4.954 seconds at 143.63 mph, had a win streak broken after three straight victories in the class.
Fuel Altered featured Ryan Hill going 3.526 seconds at 224.55 mph in the final. That smooth run was key as Paul Miller struggled after the two had nearly identical reaction times. It was a breakthrough for Hill, who was runner-up in the first two races.
David Marshall won the Snowmobile race with his 4.586-second pass at 147.83 mph over Anthony Mini, who ran a 4.715 at 156.58 mph. Marshall also had the .095 to .158 advantage at the tree.
Steve Comella won the John Holt Hemi Showdown when his final round opponent James Daniels was just -.003 too quick at the start.
