courtesy IHRA and Drag Race Central.

Sunday eliminations

MILAN, Mich. --

(March 25, 2008) - Five times Paul Lee had advanced to an IHRA Knoll Gas Nitro Jam final round. Five times he had come away empty-handed. All that changed at Milan Dragway when Lee defeated Dan Wilkerson to claim the Ironman at the IHRA Motor City Nationals.
"This feels great, I'm very happy and excited but at the same time this is a relief," Lee said after his 4.956/305.49 pass toppled Wilkerson. "You want to win so badly and you keep going to final rounds. I would go rounds and go rounds, but that final one kept eluding me for some reason. You need luck to win one of these things, and today we just had the luck."

In the semifinal against Matt Hagan, Lee's luck carried him through. He smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle and lifted out of the run. Hagan was well ahead at half-track, but his car went into tire shake, forcing him to pitch left and cross the center line. Lee, meanwhile, got back into the run and coasted down the track to take the win light.

Luck had nothing to do with Bruce Litton's win in the Top Fuel class. The Indianapolis-based defending world champion consistently clocked passes in the 4.60's to march through the field to the event championship. Scott Palmer could not get his car fired for the final round against Litton, but the defending champ zipped down the groove with a strong 4.678/287.66 pass to claim the win.

"You hate to win like that and always want to put on a show for the fans, but we'll take it,' Litton said. "My crew worked so hard to put a good car under me and I was pretty confident heading into the final."

Litton made a slight change prior to the Motor City Nationals. Prior to packing his 2007 Hadman Dragster into the hauler, Litton's team put the 500ci TFX engine that carried them to the '07 title back in the vehicle.

"It was like slipping on a broken-in pair of blue jeans," Litton said of his old motor. "That engine has been so reliable and we decided to make the change for this race. I guess it was the right call."

Kenny Lang's Crew Chief Al Billes has been making plenty of right calls as well. Lang (Grande Pointe, Manitoba) won his second consecutive Ironman, backing up his win in Rockingham with a victory at the Motor City Nationals. Lang stopped Mike Castellana's nitrous-powered '68 Firebird in the final.

"Al's a great Crew Chief and my team works so hard," Lang said. "I put a lot of pressure on myself to not make any mistakes because they always give me a flawless car and if we lose it usually is because of something I did. I don't want to let the team down."

Lang assumed the Pro Modified points lead with his win in Milan.

"We do this to have fun, but it's always fun to win," Lang said. "I have a great Tim McAmis chassis I am very comfortable with and Al is giving me plenty of power. Our goal was to be in the points chase all season and we're right where we want to be."

Dr. Tom Carter, a dentist from Cuero, Tex., did something no one else has been able to do this season.knock off Laurie Cannister in Alcohol Funny Car competition. Carter defeated Cannister in the final round at Milan Dragway to stop her eight-round winning streak. When Carter moved into the Alcohol Funny Car ranks in the 2006 season it was Cannister and her husband Dale who helped tune his car. At the Motor City Nationals he won the battle with his former teammates and close friends.

"Actually, it doesn't matter to me who is in the other lane when I stage the car," Carter said. "I'm trying to go fast and win no matter who I'm racing. But Laurie and Dale are great people and they're having an incredible season. This is going to be an outstanding points race all year long."

Carter, who set an IHRA national speed record with a 249.30 mph pass in the first round against Tony Bogolo, clocked a 5.802/248.43 pass in the final to top Cannister's 5.842/242.98 package.

Jeff Dobbins (Wilmington, N.C.) had a dominant weekend in Milan, finishing at the top of the qualifying sheet, making a career-best 6.294 pass during qualifying and blowing through four elimination rounds to win the Pro Stock Ironman. Dobbins defeated Pete Berner in the final round in a race he felt fortunate to win.

"I have no idea why, but we lost power towards the end of the track," Dobbins said. "Pete was charging hard and it seemed like the finish line would never get there. But we got it done. This was a great weekend."

Dobbins took the title with a hole-shot victory, clocking a 6.369/219.86 pass with a .031 reaction time to knock off Berner's .082-induced 6.333/220.73.

"That's me doing my job," Dobbins said of his hole-shot win. "Pete is a great driver and has a really strong-running car. I knew I had to be good at the starting line and was able to hold him off at the end."

The next stop on the IHRA Nitro Jam circuit is Maryland International Raceway for the Torco President's Cup Nationals June 13-15.

Final qualifying

MILAN, Mich. --

(March 24, 2008) - Dan Wilkerson (Springfield, Ill.) has made quite a splash in his Nitro Funny Car debut. The son of current NHRA Nitro Funny Car points leader Tim Wilkerson set a provisional IHRA world record during Friday's qualifying session with a 4.831 pass at 316.01 mph. Despite failing to back up the record, Wilkerson held on to the #1 qualifying spot heading into Sunday's elimination rounds.
Wilkerson had no idea he had the provisional record in his pocket when he made his Saturday qualifying hits. His Levi, Ray & Shoup '07 Impala, the same car his father drives in NHRA competition, went into tire shake at about the 100-foot mark in his Saturday qualifying pass.

"No, I did not know that to tell you the truth," he said about the provisional world record. "We were planning on running in the low 80's on that run so I was a little surprised when I went into tire shake. That would be cool tomorrow if we could back that thing up. That would make an excellent weekend.not a bad debut."

To back up his provisional record Wilkerson will have to run a 4.879 during Sunday's elimination rounds.

Scott Palmer (Marionville, MO) posted a 4.597 at 317.49 mph during the Friday evening qualifying session, a number that stood up against all comers Saturday to give him his first career #1 qualifying spot. Palmer will square off against Bobby Lagana Jr. (Scarsdale, N.Y.) in the first round of eliminations Sunday.

"We have a pretty consistent car and it's working," Palmer said. "The crew guys are doing great and we're at least confident the car will do its part tomorrow as long as we get it bolted together right. The car is repeating. It's just like a bracket car as long as we get it bolted together right."

Current points leader Spencer Massey (Fort Worth, Tex.) ended up fourth on the qualifying sheet. The 25-year-old Top Fuel rookie will look to remain undefeated in IHRA competition this season Sunday, starting with a first-round tussle with Chris Karamesines (Chicago, Ill.).

Kenny Lang (Grande Pointe, Manitoba) and Scott Cannon Jr. (Lyman, S.C.) put on a show for the capacity crowd at Milan Dragway. The duo was the final pair of cars down the track in the Saturday evening Pro Modified qualifying session and they combined to claim both Milan Dragway track records.Lang grabbing the ET record with a 5.958 and Cannon claiming the speed record with a 240.77 pass. The pair finished 1-2 on the qualifying sheet as well, with Lang claiming his first #1 qualifying spot of the season.

"The car is going down the track right now, it's just awesome and consistent," Lang said. "This car is really hot right now. I have a great Tim McAmis chassis, excellent horsepower from Al Billes and a really good crew. You need all those components to have a contending car and that's what we think we have."

Jeff Dobbins (Wilmington, N.C.) was the only Torco Pro Stocker to dip into the sub-6.30 range when he claimed the #1 qualifying position with a 6.294 pass at 222.40 mph Saturday evening. That pass broke his own track ET record and put Dobbins and his '06 Escort on top of the qualifying sheet for the first time this season. He also became the fifth member of the Jerry Haas Race Cars 6.20's Club, an exclusive club honoring the first eight Pro Stock drivers to break the 6.30 barrier in sanctioned IHRA competition.

"It was a great run.we've been waiting for that for quite a while," Dobbins said of his sizzling Saturday evening pass. "It was just a perfect run. The car was smooth, I got through all the gears; we were just tickled to get that one."

The Torco Pro Stock field in Milan was historically tough. In fact, it marked the first time in IHRA history the bump spot fell below the 6.40 mark. Trevor Eman, from Pos Chiquito, Aruba, ended up on the bump spot with a 6.391/220.58 pass. The previous quickest bump spot was a 6.401 at the 2007 President's Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md.

Dobbins will be ready for Sunday's elimination rounds.

"We're looking forward to tomorrow and this was our first #1 qualifier in quite a while," Brand said. "We're looking forward to starting on top of the pack."

Dale Brand made a strong statement during Saturday evening's qualifying session, clocking a 5.654/245.90 pass to jump past Paul Noakes and claim the #1 qualifying position in the Alcohol Funny Car class.

"We love Milan, Michigan," Brand said. "This track and the people here have always treated us very good. It's an awesome racing facility and we're glad to be here. The weather is going to be beautiful and we're looking forward to a great race day tomorrow."

Brand will square off with Larry Dobbs, the #5 qualifier, in the first round of eliminations Sunday.

The IHRA Motor City Nationals presented by GM Performance Division and Heritage Newspapers will conclude with final eliminations Sunday, May 25. The first session of professional eliminations will start at 11:00am, a session that will include Pro Stock and Pro Modified. Final eliminations for the rest of the classes will begin at noon with finals scheduled to kick off at 4:30pm.