Courtesy Drag Illustrated   Images Geoff Sculley

Former IHRA champion Del Worsham finished off a dominant season in Funny Car in Saturday’s IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series event at Darana Motorsports Park – Dunn in Dunn, North Carolina.

Kyle Satenstein scored his first win in the Top Fuel ranks as winners of both the nitro classes earned $50,000 winners’ purses and prestigious IHRA Ironman trophies. 

Other winners included: Chris Powers in Mountain Motor Pro Stock, Randy Weatherford in Outlaw Pro Mod, Cam Clark in Pro Nitrous, Ethan Steding in Pro Mod, Ryan Peery in Top Fuel Harley, Tom Fox Jr. in Top Alcohol Dragster, Phil Esz in Top Alcohol Funny Car and Paul Miller in Fuel Altereds.

Worsham made it to the final round in all five IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series races this season. He beat John Smith in the quarterfinals, Jacob McNeal in the semifinals and Bobby Bode in the final.

Bode lost traction, which handed the win to the consistent Worsham, whose winning numbers were 3.319 seconds and 265.27 mph. 

Satenstein got past Bernie Plourd in the quarterfinals and Cameron Ferre in the semifinals. He then beat No. 1 qualifier Lex Joon in the final. Satenstein had a 3.137-second pass at 273.83 mph to outdistance Joon at 3.473 seconds and 187.83 mph.

Powers, who won earlier this season at Darana Dragway – Milan in Milan, Michigan, had the same exact elapsed time at 4.068 seconds as final-round opponent Jordan Ensslin. Their speed was nearly identical as Ensllin’s 176.65 mph was three-tenths faster than that of Powers. The difference was Powers’ slightly better .051 to .061 start.

Weatherford, far lane, got the better light in the finals and it counted as he won with  slower time over Taylor’s Vette

Weatherford capped off a memorable season in Outlaw Pro Mod. He won the $125,000 IHRA Outlaw Pro Mod Nationals in August and finished with his first national-event win Saturday. He got the holeshot .026 to .075 over Frankie Taylor. Weatherford ran a 3.566 at 211 mph, while Taylor was at 3.651 and 202.09 mph.

Pro Mods saw Steding, who made his debut in the class this weekend, take the win over Kevin McCurdy. Steding was a little better at the tree and down the track. He had a 3.568-second pass at 209.49 mph. McCurdy went 3.687 seconds at 200.35 mph. That was after Steding had the .063 to .073 advantage at the start.

Clark, far lane, took the hole shot victory over Virginia racer Wood, who was a tad quicker but later.

Clark edged Dane Wood in an incredibly close Pro Nitrous final settled by just .001 seconds. Clark had a .046 to .054 reaction time, but his 3.698 seconds at 202.73 mph wasn’t as quick as Wood, who powered down the track in 3.691 seconds at 201.46 mph.

Perry, near lane, is off and gone for the Top Fuel Harley win over the troubled run of Chris Smith 

Peery became the first back-to-back IHRA Top Fuel Harley winner since Jay Turner in 2016. Peery set a new national record, going 4.088 seconds at 207.56 mph. Chris Smith, the No. 1 qualifier, had mechanical issues and finished in 6.406 seconds at 89.35 mph.

No. 1 qualifier Tom Fox Jr. capped off a dominant weekend in Top Alcohol Dragster. He took advantage of a red light by his final-round opponent, Shane Conway. Fox recorded a winning pass at 3.563 seconds and 214.14 mph.

Phil Esz, who was the No. 1 qualifier for the fourth time this year, and Tony Bogolo matched up in the final round of Top Alcohol Funny Car for a second straight race. Esz, who ran a 3.629 at 210.80 mph, won again to capture his fourth win of the season when Bogolo fouled at the start. 

In Outlaw Snowmobile, Mini found himself in the winner’s circle. Mini, who qualified third, bested Courtney Moeller in the final round with a 4.403 at 162.37 to a 4.801 at 145.02. Mini worked his way through Travis Neyssen, Mitchell Moeller and Rob Lowe to reach the final round.

Miller won the Fuel Altered final with a 3.725-second pass at 205.54 mph. Pete Dove was runner-up for a second straight event after issues halfway down the track.

PRO AM RESULTS

Scott Duggins in Top Dragster and Donnie Gibbs Jr. in Top Sportsman headlined the list of winners at the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series Pro-Am races Saturday at Darana Motorsports Park – Dunn.

Duggins got the advantage at the tree .014 to .039 over Bruce Holland in the Top Dragster final. It proved to be the difference as Duggins went 4.324 seconds at 157.21 mph on a 4.31 dial-in. Holland was just plus-four on his 4.35 dial-in with a speed of 156.61 mph.

Gibbs, far lane, was deadly in the Top Sportsman finals pushing his competition, Daviedowski to break out.

Gibbs was spectacular in the Top Sportsman final. He had a 4.552 elapsed time at 154.99 mph against a 4.55 dial with a .020 reaction time. Runner-up Al Daviedowski was under his 4.33 dial with a 4.324-second pass at 161.90 with a .057 reaction time.

Anthony Mini denied Courtney Moeller a repeat win in the Outlaw Snowmobile class. He got the reaction time advantage and then sped to 4.403 seconds at 162.37 mph. Moeller finished in 4.801 seconds at 145.02 mph.

Freer, near lane, won a double breakout Super Rod final over Delaware racer Keith Mayers

A pair of roadsters were in the Super Rod final. Lauren Freer was the winner as she was closer to the 6.40 Index in a race that she and Keith Mayers both broke out. Mayers had the better start, .019 to .038 and then went 6.377 seconds at 116.66 mph. Freer had 6.389 seconds and 142.18 mph as her final numbers.

Todd Barton cruised to the win in Quick Rod as final-round opponent Rick Schneider fouled by a heartbreaking -.001 second. Schneider was right on with a 5.701-second run at 138.19 mph on the 5.70 Index. With the race in hand, Barton eased down the track in 8.669 seconds.

Reginald Lytch posted a 7.007 elapsed time at 111.18 mph on the 7.00 Index in the Hot Rod final. He drove his Chevy Nova to the win as Neil Hobbs went under at 6.996 seconds and 107.42 mph. Hobbs had a .014 to .035 advantage at the start.

In Super Stock, Russell Ghent drove his Chevy Camaro to the winner’s circle after a 6.248-second run on his 6.24 dial-in. Mark Nowicki broke out by just -.003 on his 6.01 dial-in time. Ghent also had a .020 to .051 better reaction time.

Steve Foley was dead-on his 6.12 dial-in time to beat Ricky Pennington in the Stock final. It was just a .002 margin of victory for the Chevy Camaro driver. Pennington had a .034 to .036 advantage at the start and was 6.844 against a 6.84 dial-in.

Tony Scott was the best in Factory Stock with his winning run of 4.903 seconds and 146.66 mph. Taylor Dietsch was runner-up at 4.925 seconds and 141.71 mph. Scott was slightly quicker, .019 to .025, at the tree.

The featured Stick Shift class that was added to the weekend crowned Chad Wisecarver as the inaugural winner. Wisecarver went down the strip in his Chevy Cobalt in 6.148 seconds at 109.85 mph on a 6.14 dial-in. He’d already won as the final-round opponent, Jeff Smith, left too early.