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Over
400 sportsman racers made the trip
to Maryland International Raceway
for their second annual Summit
Sportsman Spectacular. With $5,000
to win in each of the IHRA Sportsman
classes along with a $5,000 to win
Top ET race, a $2,000 to win Mod ET
race, and a $500 to win race for
Junior Dragster, some of the best
racers in the country made the trek
to Budds Creek. The pits were filled
with World Champions in all classes.
Spotty showers and pop-up
thunderstorms plagued the weekend’s
on-track time. Several times, racers
were turned around in the staging
lanes to head back to the pits as
another shower or storm hit the
track. But with the full force of
the MIR track crew along with the
assistance of IHRA officials, racing
was nearly completed in all classes.
As is the case every year for the
IHRA events at MIR, local racers
take their shot to stand out on a
national stage. Against such tough
competition, it is difficult to make
it through the rounds, but every
once in a while a local racer wins
big. This year several regular MIR
racers were making deep runs into
eliminations.
The
local big winner this year is Jake
Milstead from Lexington Park, MD in
the 8.90 index class called Quick
Rod. Milstead, who has only raced in
a handful of Quick Rod races in the
past, was able to wade his way
through the rounds to pick up his
first Ironman Trophy. It started off
with a 1st round win over another
local racer, Jason Parker. Then in
second round, Jake picked up the win
over North Carolina runner and Quick
Rod regular, Wally Roberts. In third
round, Milstead faced off with last
year’s Sportsman Spectacular winner,
John Dustin. The driver’s were
separated by just .006 on the tree,
but Jake was able to pick up the
tough double breakout win against
the always tough racer from
Rockville, MD. Before 4th round
could begin, a pretty severe
thunderstorm moved through drenching
the track, putting a hold on racing.
Once the rains subsided, MIR and
IHRA officials tirelessly worked to
dry the track and even as spotty
drizzles continued to make things
difficult on them, they persevered
and got the track dry several hours
later. With just a small window of
dry track time available before the
next storm came, racing picked back
feverous pace.
With
the storm and the several hour long
break between runs, the weather
changed considerably heading into
4th round, making it tough on all
the drivers to get dialed in. In
round 4, Milstead faced off with
another local racer, Mike Harbaugh
from Gaithersburg, MD. Milstead got
the advantage on the tree, and at
the stripe, jumped on the brakes at
the finish line, picking up the win
by feeding Harbaugh the stripe, who
was breaking out big time beside
him. In the semi-finals, Jake once
again found himself against another
local racer, Chad Traylor, who
attends most of the big money races
held at MIR. This race turned out to
be the easiest of the day for
Milstead when Chad turned it -.004
red handing Jake a free pass to the
finals. In the finals, Milstead met
up with 2009 Quick Rod World
Champion, Bo Upton from South
Carolina. Jake, who had consistently
hit the tree in the .020’s all day,
knew he had to be on his game
against one of the best Quick Rod
racers in the country. Jake stepped
up in the finals, posting his best
reaction time of the weekend with a
.009 against Upton’s .022. At the
stripe Milstead was able to squeeze
up the finish line just about
perfect taking just .011, running an
8.904 to take down Upton, who
dropped to a dead-on 8.902 on the
8.90 index. With the win, Milstead
picked up his first Ironman Trophy
and spot in the IHRA Tournament of
Champions race held in Memphis, TN
in October. The TOC is a one race
shootout of the year’s best racers
in all classes to determine the
World Champion in each class.
Milstead wasn’t the only local racer
to make an impact at the event. Top
Dragster was the only IHRA class
that was unable to finish their race
before the final rains came in. In
5th round, 5 cars remained, 4 of
which are former World Champions.
The only guy without a world
championship under his belt left in
eliminations was local racer Wesley
Washington Jr. Wesley, who has two
MIR track championships is the
current Raider ET Series Champion
and is a former top 10 finisher in
Top Dragster, is clearly no slouch
on the race track. In round 5,
Washington was able to get past
former Quick Rod World Champ, Brett
Nesbitt from NC. Another local racer
and former track champ, Tommy Cable,
took down former Super Rod World
Champ, Cameron Manuel. Multi-time
World Champ Steve Furr moved on with
a bye. In the semi’s Furr faced off
with Washington. While Wesley got
the jump on the tree, he took just a
little too much stripe and broke out
by just .001 handing Furr a spot in
the finals where he would face Cable
for the Top Dragster Ironman.
Unfortunately, the rains came as the
driver’s were suiting up and the
decision was made to call the race
for the weekend. Furr and Cable will
complete this race at the IHRA
Pro-Am event at MIR, August 24-26.
Maybe Cable can make it two locals
headed to the TOC in Memphis.
In Hot
Rod, the 10.90 index class, a couple
of locals made their presence felt.
Dave Meador from Waldorf, MD, was
the number 1 qualifier. His day
ended earlier than he hoped but
former MIR Junior Dragster driver
Casey Cole made a deep run into
eliminations. Casey, who debuted his
’87 Camaro earlier this year, has
battled mechanical issues much of
the year, working out the new car
gremlins. But things appeared to be
figured out for the driver out of
Lexington Park, MD. In the first
pair of the semi-finals, James
Williamson from New Bern, NC got
past a red-lighting Nick Womack,
also from NC. As Williamson went
down the track, his Mustang trailed
smoke most of the way, indicating
significant mechanical issues. Cole
watched this from the water box, and
after track officials cleaned some
oil left on the track by Williamson,
it became apparent the winner of the
second semi-final matchup was likely
to have a bye in the final. That
realization just amplified the
pressure on Cole and his opponent
Doug Wood from Massillon, OH. Wood,
a long time Hot Rod runner, was able
to get the advantage on the tree
with a .025 light. Casey missed the
tree a little, and had to break out
taking the stripe, handing the round
win to Wood. As expected Williamson
was unable to make the call for the
final and Wood soloed to the Hot Rod
title and TOC berth.
Congratulations to all the winners
from the weekend. With the weather
it was a long tough weekend of
racing for all involved. The IHRA
Sportsman racers will return to
Budds Creek in just over a month for
IHRA Summit Pro-Am event August
24-26. The Pro-Am features two races
in each of the IHRA Sportsman
classes over the course of the
weekend. The 34th Annual Jet Wars
will be run in conjunction with the
Pro-Am featuring a $5,000 to win Top
ET race.
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