CONTENTS SPRING 2019 To the unsung heroes. There’s a woman who’s pulling her hair out trying to make sure the points are correct. She’s surrounded by round sheets, bye run logs, competition reports and winners lists. Her commitment to accuracy and timely reporting have her stressed about keeping her whit’s about her while she inputs the numbers. There’s a man who’s worried about his grass drying enough to park on before the weekend. He’s bought every sump pump in the county to clear his pits of standing water and has moved on to trying a combination of lawn mowers and rollers to try and get the ground back to solid after an unseasonably wet spring. His feet have been wet for days as he tries his best to open for the first time in the season while 300 of his potential customers pretend to be meteorologists through social media. Elsewhere, there’s a man who’s been through 3 lightning strikes so far this season. Not a big deal for the concrete and asphalt and earth, but a big deal for anything that can turn into an electrical ground. His brand- spankin’ new timing system makes a great one. From the shiny new copper wire to the sensors and infrareds. He’s been with a multimeter in hand and balancing a phone on his shoulder while he adds parts to the order one by one. He’s not changing out thirty-cent fuses here, he’s swapping out expensive components by the armload. There’s someone taking the hours and sweat equity to stand behind a scraper with a blow torch in front of them to assure a good weekend. The rain and wind have caused a lot of dirt to move about the facility, causing the possibility of the rubber peeling after there is some heat in it. There are callused hands and singed boot laces, a smoking barrel of flaming rubber and the sweet smell of burning VHT in the air. They care. Most of them anyway. Although there seems to be a fascination with making them out to be scandalous thieves, collecting bags of money at the gate and funding a posh retirement account. The track owners/operators and countless others, are the unsung heroes of the IHRA. They are the link in the drag racing industry that simply can’t be replaced. It’s not a 9-5. It’s not a job that you leave at the office at the end of the day. It stays with you, buried in the back of your mind, ready to cause stress and inner turmoil about making the right decisions and operating in the right capacity. There’s a payback. To some it’s just a job, possibly a career. Some have grown up around racing and do it to stay close to what they love. Some, gluttons for punishment. Some are simply just lunatics. They are there by choice, so there’s no praise needed. All that’s asked is that once, when something goes right, or there’s a great day behind you, offer and handshake and a “thank you.” Publication Ignite2X Managing Editor Ryan Perezluha Photography BME Photography Advertising Sales Dana Landry Art/Creative Ignite2X IRGSE President & CEO Lou Partenza Vice President Skooter Peaco Director of New Business & Industry Relations Dana Landry Director of Public Relations Ryan Perezluha Corporate Marketing Manager Mason Sheen Director of Creative Marketing Stacey Killmaier Membership Coordinator Tamie Defranzo Senior Director of Competition and Racing Operations Mike Baker Divisional Directors Josh Peake, Jon O’Neal & Frank Kohutek The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) is owned and operated by IRG Sports + Entertainment™, a TPG Specialty Lending company. The IHRA promotes professional and sportsman racing for drivers of all levels. The IHRA sanctions nearly 100 motorsport facilities in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Bahama’s and welcomes 80,000 racers annually to their IHRA- sanctioned facilities. The IHRA oversees multiple Sportsman racing programs including the Summit Racing Equipment SuperSeries and the Sportsman Spectacular. AT THE STARTING LINE Jon O’Neal Letter 3 2  Jon O’Neal Letter 4  Summit Racing Equipment Beat-a-Price Guarantee 6  Q&A with Skooter Peaco IHRA Vice President 8  New Sportsman Class Debuts for IHRA Summit SuperSeries 10  Dart’s Carts Different Options for IHRA Racers 22  MPT Industries High-Quality Products 24  Richmond Dragway ”Who’s Your Driver?” Program 26  Round Prizes IHRA Summit Sportsman Spectacular Events 28  Fayetteville Dragway Track Spotlight 30  Roger Robertson Racer Profile 8 20 30 ihramotorsports IHRA ihramotorsports 28 12  Farmington Dragway IHRA Summit Sportsman Spectacular Recap 14  State Capitol Raceway IHRA Summit Sportsman Spectacular Recap 16 Dragway 42  IHRA Summit Sportsman Spectacular Recap 18  Darlington Dragway IHRA Summit Sportsman Spectacular Recap 20  Leigh Hubbard Racer Profile