Record car count makes for great racing 

Words and photos by Larry Crum/IHRA

When it comes to big races, no one does it better than Steve Furr.

Furr, the defending Super Rod World Champion from Harrisburg, N.C., traveled to Maryland International Raceway over the weekend for the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular presented by AMSOIL and battled his way through one of the toughest fields of the year en route to winning the Super Rod title and reaching the finals in Top Dragster as over 400 cars – a record for this event – came to play in the IHRA’s biggest sportsman race of the year.

Furr won the Super Rod Ironman over Mike Daymude and reached the finals in Top Dragster against Tommy Cable, but heavy rains moved in just as the pair were set to fire leaving the only undecided race of the weekend to be made up at a later date. The rest of the winners from the $5,000 to win Summit Sportsman Spectacular at MIR were Donny Urban (TS), Pete D’Agnolo (SS), Joe Santangelo (ST), Jake Milstead (QR) and Doug Wood (HR).

Easily the most successful weekend belonged to the Division 9 regular and two-time world champion as Furr punched his ticket to the Summit Tournament of Champions later this year and stands to possibly collect over $10,000 when all is said and done if he manages the double.

Dodging spotty showers throughout the weekend, Furr began the weekend in the unexpected position of nearly last on the qualifying charts sitting in 25th place Saturday night. Six rounds and 24 hours later Furr sat in victory lane with his first Sportsman Spectacular victory of his career and a spot in the 2012 Tournament of Champions as he tries to repeat as champion in the Super Rod class.