BIG IHRA SPORTSMAN WEEKEND
The sportsman national concept was developed to give sportsman racers the chance to chase national championships in a way that is easier on the wallet. Four racers were able to take full advantage at IHRA’s season opening weekend at Immokalee Regional Raceway.
Drivers had three chances to win at the weekend event, two Division 2 Summit Pro-Am events were held Friday and Saturday before Sunday’s Sportsman National. Peter Biondo, Tony Gray, Steve Corker and Scott Richardson each visited the Winner’s Circle twice, Biondo in Stock, Gray in Super Rod, Corker in Top Sportsman and Richardson in Top Dragster. Richardson also won the Super Stock Ironman Sunday while Corker won the Quick Rod class Friday.
“It was a bonus just doing anything good down here,” NHRA heavy hitter Peter Biondo, a New Yorker who headed to Immokalee to give IHRA shot, said of Immokalee. “Just to get out of that cold weather up in New York was worth it. Needless to say I had a blast racing with IHRA. It was a great atmosphere, the officials were extremely nice and it was action-packed from Thursday morning to Sunday night. After I beat Anthony Bertozzi in the third round they even brought me some ice cream as a bonus for beating the World Champion.”
Scott Richardson is another NHRA hitter who made the trip to sunny Immokalee.
“IHRA put on a great race,” he said. “I love Florida and this is one of my favorite race tracks. Ralph (Hester) does a great job…I wish I lived down here. I’ll be back here next year and, hopefully, I’ll be hitting more IHRA races this season. In fact, I things go right I’m planning to come to San Antonio.”
It should be mentioned that over the course of the weekend, two Pro-Am events, one Sportsman National, Ralph Hester's Stock Suspension Combo Race, Saturday Gambler's Races and testing Thursday, not one drop of oil hit the track.
Top Sportsman
Steve Corker is, to put it mildly, on a bit of a roll. The Clayton, N.C. driver put his ’02 Cavalier into all three Top Sportsman finals in Immokalee, while also winning the Friday Quick Rod Ironman. Sunday, in the Sportsman National, Corker used a .011 package to dispatch Larry Langley in the first round. He then used a .022 package to defeat Ed Stuart in the second round, barely nipping his opposition by a slim .0090 seconds…or just 22 inches.
Corker then defeated Gilmer Hinshaw in the third round by running dead-on his 5.28 dial, posting a 5.280. He would then receive a bye run into the final round against Rick McDonough. In the final McDonough drilled the tree, posting a .002 reaction time. He was unable to hit his number, however, carding a 5.131 on a 5.09 dial at 131.31 mph. Corker, in the other lane, clocked a 5.288 on his 5.28 dial at 129.80 mph with a .016 reaction time.
“This is awesome,” Corker said. “The track worked so well, Ralph Hester and his crew do such a good job here. We actually weren’t going to come to this race but at the last minute decided to come on down. The track was great and the cars just backed the numbers up. Both cars both days…we didn’t have any flawed runs. I’m speechless, I really don’t know what to say. God is good, no doubt about it.”
Top Dragster and Super Stock
Richardson also defeated Randy Folk to claim the Sunday Super Stock Ironman.
In the Top Dragster second round he drove past Mark Young in a very close race. He dialed 4.60 and ran a 4.604 with a .019 reaction time at 143.68 mph. Young dialed 4.95 and ran a 4.959 at 135.14 mph with a .018 reaction time.
Richardson then defeated Dave Hoxie, who broke out, before knocking off Ricky Adkins in the semifinal when Adkins missed the tree. He then got a bye run in to the final against Edmond Richardson.
In the run for the money Edmond Richardson red-lit by nine thousandths of a second to hand the victory to Scott Richardson.
“I had a good weekend,” Richardson said. “I came down here in a regular car, but some guys down here had some cars and they let me drive them. I was fortunate and had a little luck.”
In the first round of the Super Stock competition Richardson was able to drive his S-10 past IHRA legend Bob Marshall in the first round. Marshall broke out, running a 5.812 on his 5.82 dial with a .036 reaction time while Richardson, in the other lane, posted a 6.494 on his 6.48 dial with a .014 reaction time.
In the second round Richardson defeated Dennis Steward. Steward’s .125 package, a 6.575 on his 6.45 dial with a pedestrian .042 reaction time, was far off Richardson’s .065 package, 6.49 dial, 6.555 with a .021 reaction time.
Richardson would then win a double-breakout battle with Anthony Bertozzi in the third round to advance to face Bradenton, Fl. resident Randy Folk in an all S-10 final round after a bye in the semifinals.
Richardson dialed in at a 6.47 and ran a 6.486 at 100.90 mph with a .020 reaction time. Folk dialed a 6.25 and ran a 6.271 at 105.61 mph with a .029 reaction time.
Stock
“That was some real tough racing today, I had to go through a tough field,” Biondo said. “It doesn’t get any tougher than what I had to go through today. I’ll be back next winter, I had a great time and the way IHRA packs two or three races into one weekend just makes it so much more worthwhile to come. You’ll definitely see me again.”
Biondo did have to run the gauntlet of some of the toughest racers in history. He topped Ricky Clark in the first round with a razor thin margin of victory of .0070 of a second. Then came the race everyone at Immokalee Regional Raceway stopped to watch, Biondo against Edmond Richardson in a battle of two of the greatest sportsman racers in history. Richardson had a slight advantage at the stripe, .010 to .017 for Biondo, but he took too much stripe and broke out.
Biondo’s reward for defeating Richardson? A third round match-up against defending Stock world champion Anthony Bertozzi. Bertozzi, like Richardson, took too much stripe while Biondo posted a .016 package to move on. Dick Kincaid red-lit against Biondo in the semifinal before Richardson was able to defeat 2005 Stock World Champion Craig Marshall in a double-breakout final.
Quick Rod
Elmsdale, N.J. resident Jim Morrison shut the doors on his competition (how many times has that joke been made) to claim the Quick Rod Ironman at the Sunday Sportsman National in Immokalee.
On the 5.70 Quick Rod index Morrison drove past Troy Williams Jr. in the first round in a very close race. Morrison clocked a 5.701 with a .015 reaction time to top Williams’ 5.709 with a .017 reaction time.
He then slipped past Nick Folk in a double-breakout match-up. Morrison left in .015 and carded a 5.692 to narrowly defeat Folk’s .010 induced 5.683. Morrison then defeated Tony Helms in a race that was all but over at the tree. His .011 reaction time gave him plenty of room when Helms posted a .030 at the tree. His 5.738 was enough to get by Helms’ 5.731.
Morrison then had a semifinal bye run before Jeff Edmonds red-lit against him in the final round.
“We tried all weekend and when we got to the final race we finally did good,” Morrison said. “The triple weekend was perfect…absolutely perfect. I would have liked to have won more but you can only win so many. At least we won one. The weather was great down here, I imagine it’s about 10 above with snow on the ground back home in Nova Scotia. I come down here to race every year because Ralph Hester has the best track going. I will be back for sure. I have to thank a couple of guys here. In the semifinals I broke a wheel in the staging lanes, Troy Williams and Dave Connolly helped me fix it. That’s how I got to the final.”
Super Rod
Tony Gray, Moore, Ok., got a handle on his ’27 Ford Roadster Saturday night. He ended up with two Ironmen after he won the Super Rod title Saturday at the Pro-Am and the Sunday Sportsman Nationals championship in Immokalee.
With all due respect to Meatloaf, Gray was thrilled with the weekend’s events.
“It was a great weekend and the only thing that would have been better would have been to win three races,” Gray said. “But two out of three isn’t bad. I have to have three, though, so I’ll be coming back next year to see what I can do. If you get three shots I think you should be able to win three, but I’ll take two any day of the week.”
Steve Furr broke out against Gray in the first round before he took a second-round bye run. John Taylor then also broke out while Gray, in the other lane, posted a .026 package. He then beat Tony Thompson by 12 inches in the semifinal before nipping Wayne Bogle by just two inches, .029 package to .030, in the run for the Ironman.
Hot Rod
Oakland Park, Fla. driver Lee Neal was able to win the Sportsman National Hot Rod Ironman when he drove his ’67 Nova past Seminole, Florida’s Mike DeSio in the final round. It was Neal’s first career national event victory and game, fittingly, at his home track.
“This was my first win and I couldn’t ask for anything better than for it to come at Immokalee Regional Raceway,” Neal said. “Ralph Hester and IHRA put on a great race this weekend and I can’t say enough about them. I think the three races in one weekend is a great deal. Racers can save a lot of travel money by racing three times in one weekend. You pay three entry fees then you save on everything else. I really like it and I’ll be here to defend my title next year.”
