Adam Cranmer photo)

IHRA Nitro Jam at West Palm Beach, Fla.

Nitro carnage and rainout plague IHRA race at PBIR

Photos by Adam Cranmer and Steve Gruenwald

The IHRA Nitro Jam series rolled into the West Palme Beach, Fla., racetrack owned by IRG Sports + Entertainment on May 2-3 for its fourth national event in less than three months.

The IHRA crew was able to get the full Friday night qualifying sessions done despite occasional rain, fires, oil downs, clean ups, and off track excursions from the AA/FC contingent.

The nitro Funny Car teams and cars may be showing some fatigue due to the intense early season schedule that will see the pro’s race five events in just 13 weeks. That number includes the IHRA race at Rockingham at the end of May. It is the most number of national events the IHRA has ever run so early in the season. 

(Adam Cranmer photo)

Texas Funny Car racers John Hale and Ronny Young both continued to suffer from engine explosions with Hale damaging at least one. Young experienced a massive fire when the supercharger exploded in the eyes and the fire then traveled to the fuel tank which then also exploded. Young was having some problems getting out of his burning car that ended up in the sand still burning, but fellow drivers Wayne Mellinger and Mike Halstead who were in the other lane helped Young get out of the car at the top end.

But the damage didn’t stop there. Reportedly F/C points leader James Rupert in the Bays and Rupert Camaro damaged an engine qualifying and  decided not to run again on Friday. IHRA veteran Top Fuel racer Bruce Litton now in a AA/FC, found a crack frame tube on his “U.S. Male” car.

All of these racers probably weren’t terribly disappointed by the IHRA management’s decision to call the event complete after it started raining again early Saturday.

SoCal’s Jason Rupert continued his domination by qualifying on the pole for his fourth straight race with a Friday clocking of 5.836 at 246.30 just ahead of John "Bodie" Smith in Henry Gutierrez’s "Jungle Jim" Camaro that posted a 5.845 at 243.50. "Mr. Explosive" Mark Sanders was the only other driver in the 5.80s, running a 5.859/250.09 that was good for Top Speed.   

Tim Boychuk, Mike McIntire Jr., Ronny Young, Mike Smith and Wayne Mellinger made up the rest of the eight-car field.  Not qualified were Bruce Litton, John Hale and Mike Halstead.