IHRA members Young, Bigham and Dalton Markham all punched their tickets to the World Finals. Young won the Box final on a holeshot with a .003 reaction time to best final-round opponent Ken Hebert who had a solid .031 start. She posted a 4.781-second run at 141.68 mph on a 4.77 dial-in. Hebert finished in 4.862 seconds at 132 mph on a 4.83 dial-in.
(Box Winner — Denise Young)
(Box Runner-Up — Ken Hebert)
Another great start helped determine the No Box final with Ault getting off the line at .009 to a .113 reaction time for Robert Hindman. Ault made a pass of 6.786 seconds at 99.48 mph, while Hindman powered down the track in 6.164 seconds at 97.39 mph.
(No Box Winner — Alfred Ault)
(No Box Runner-Up — Robert Hindman)
Bigham, the 2021 IHRA Summit SuperSeries Sportsman World Champion, was the winner as final-round Chester Lay broke out. Both drivers had .075 reaction times, while Bigham’s winning run included a 7.784 elapsed time at 81.37 mph against a 7.55 dial-in. Lay finished in 11.702 seconds at 60.28 mph with an 11.75 dial.
(Sportsman Winner — David Bigham)
(Sportsman Runner-Up — Chester Lay)
There were strong contingent of racers in all the classes including Sportsman and Motorcycle. There was an All-Markham Motorcycle final. Dalton Markham was the winner on the Bikes, going down the strip in 6.346 seconds at 70.25 mph against a 5.47 dial-in with a .015 reaction time. His father, John Markham, red-lighted by going just -.001 too quick at the start.
(Motorcycle Winner — Dalton Markham)
Caeson Markham, John's younger son, added to the family’s big haul with his Junior Dragster victory. Caeson had a .018 start to get the holeshot over Gage Blair with a .063 reaction time. Markham’s efforts included a 7.952-second run at 81.02 mph against a 7.92 dial-in. Blair posted an 8.006 elapsed time at 77.63 mph to go along with a 7.92 dial-in.
(Junior Dragster Winner — Caeson Markham)
(Junior Dragster Runner-Up — Gage Blair)
Special thanks to Red Line Motorsports Media for providing photos for this event. Photos can be found and purchased at the following link: https://redlinemotorsportsmedia.smugmug.com/IHRA-Sportsman-Spectactular-KNOXVILLE
The IHRA Sportsman Spectacular presented by Moser Engineering returns April 27 with events at Beacon Dragway and South Carolina Motorplex.
