Reed & Hix Are IHRA Nitro Stars

HEBRON, Ohio — Shawn Reed and Dan Hix scored thrilling victories Sunday in the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series at Darana Raceway – Hebron.

The winners of the two featured classes took home the special IHRA Ironman trophies and $50,000 checks.

Reed, a legendary multi-time boat racing champion, had more than a Sunday cruise on the track. He rocketed down the Ohio drag strip in 3.819 seconds at 327.75 mph to beat Larry Dixon in a strong Top Fuel final. Dixon trailed with a 3.855-second pass at 319.83 mph.

“It’s pretty cool,” Reed said of winning his first Ironman trophy. “That win was pretty epic for us. We won Bradenton [PRO Superstar Shootout] at the beginning of the year, and it’s been a long road, testing some parts, crashing the car in Seattle, so it’s a good job to Rob Wendlyn and the guys to get us down that right lane with a pretty good number too.”

Hix won Funny Car in a hotly contested final against Del Worsham, who had won the most recent race in Milan, Michigan, and where Hix was the runner-up. They were running neck-and-neck when Worsham’s car broke loose, and he made an incredible save to keep from crashing the car.

The winning time for Hix was 4.329 seconds at 295.86 mph, in a car that has a single Magneto and a small fuel pump. Worsham’s near crash at the end of the track moved his numbers to 4.535 seconds at 196.42 mph.

“It’s unbelievable – I didn’t think I actually got the win,” Hix said. “He [Worsham] shut it off at the finish line, and I just went ripping by there. It wasn’t until they were waving me over to do the fun interviews that it started to set in.”

Hix referred to his time in this new-to-him Funny Car as a Cinderella story. It was only his second time out in the car, first in Milan, MI, and then this weekend. He also thanked his team, Rich Jr. and Rich Sr. McPhillips and Dom Lagana for their help.

“Yesterday was my dad’s birthday, so I was happy to get the win for him today,” Hix added.

Rickie Smith, the IHRA Hall of Fame driver, overcame Tim Molnar’s advantage on a holeshot to win the Pro Nitrous final. Smith had a smooth run and finished with a 3.616-second elapsed time at 213.57 mph to beat Molnar, who had a hiccup mid-track and finished in 7.334 seconds.

“It was a good final round. I tune that car too, and I knew he was good on the tree,” Smith said, who last won an Ironman in Pro Mod in 1997. “I had a good light, and it was a really awesome day.”

Chris Powers captured his second straight Mountain Motor Pro Stock victory. His Chevy had a winning time of 4.059 seconds at 176.47 mph. Jordan Ensslin was close behind in his Mustang, going 175.78 mph on a 4.080-second run.

“The round before we broke the tranny, so we had to get the motor fixed, and the shifter was loose when I went to do the burnout,” Powers shared. “It was already a stressful moment, but I just relaxed and knew I had to do a good job because Ensslin can cut a good light.”

Craig Sullivan won Pro Mod when final-round opponent “Disco Dean” Karns didn’t get going at the start because a bolt fell out of the rear transmission mount in his pink Cadillac. It left Sullivan to post a 3.750 mph run at 205.01 mph for the win, who last won an Ironman trophy in Top Dragster.

“We had some people step in and help us,” Sullivan said, “we swung four-link every round trying to find home.

“Dean and I bracket raced before. Dean had his antics, but we just went up there and mimicked what we did before. The car actually got a little faster in the middle, and it went fast enough to drive it forward. I didn’t see him to collect myself, so that’s why the slow elapsed time was there. But I got back in it, and that was the fastest mile per hour we’ve had at an IHRA track,” Sullivan added.

Brandon Pesz came through with the Outlaw Pro Modified victory and will go down in the history books as the first-ever winner of the class within the IHRA. Pesz was credited with a 3.616-second pass at 213.57 mph as final-round opponent Billy Banaka also had trouble at the start.

“[The first win] is something that they can never take away, being the first No. 1 qualifier and winner in Outlaw Pro Mod, and on top of all that, I’ve got low ET and top mile per hour – I checked all of the boxes that you can. It doesn’t happen very often, but I’m going to take it,” Pesz said.

Tracy Kile picked up the win in Top Fuel Harley over Hall of Fame rider Jay Turner. Kile powered to a 5.419-second pass at 204.45 mph to outdistance Turner, who finished in 5.747 seconds at 151.77 mph.

Top Dragster saw Frank Brank score the win as Dennis Meade was -.009 too quick at the start. With the race in hand, Brank slowed down to a 4.971-second run at 104.77 mph. Meade went ahead and powered down track in 4.423 seconds at 156.79 mph.

Ricky Adkins picked up the Top Sportsman final win in his 1961 truck. He had a .010 reaction time and then finished in 4.781 seconds and 143.54 mph. Bill Yates had the better time and speed at 4.260 seconds and 169.30 mph, but couldn’t overcome Adkins’ quick start.

Gary Williams emerged with the win in Hot Rod. His red GMC Sonoma pickup had the winning time of 10.917 seconds at 131.58 mph. Runner-up Tim Shuck broke out on a 10.90 Index at 10.872 seconds and 128.50 mph.

Steve Theodor drove his Corvette to the Super Rod victory with a 9.917-second run at 162.22 mph. Runner-up Jim Kreitzer at 9.877 seconds and 165.08 was under the 9.90 Index.

Pat Debottis had the winning effort of 8.909 seconds at 186.03 mph in the Quick Rod final. Kenny Farrell lost at the tree when he left -.017 too early.

It was the classic Camaro versus Mustang final in Super Stock. Score it for the Bowtie Brigade as Aaron Russell popped an impressive wheelie at the start and then finished in 10.110 seconds and 117.19 mph. Rodney Worrell had a fast Ford at 151.41 mph, but triggered the red light.

Dawson Pauley picked up the national-event win in Stock, taking his Chevy station wagon on a 12.713-second run at 99.27 mph. Mike Finton had a 10.217-second run at 128.06 mph in his red Dodge, but red-lighted at the start.