IHRA recognizes best of 2012 at IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals
NORWALK, Ohio (October 19, 2012)
– While they may not have accomplished their ultimate goal of winning a
world championship in 2012, Steve Furr and Jacob Elrod still walked
away from the racing season with quite the resume culminating with two
of the biggest awards in the International Hot Rod Association at the
recently completed IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals.
Furr,
of Harrisburg, N.C., was named IHRA's Sportsman of the Year for 2012 –
essentially IHRA's hall of fame award – and Jacob Elrod of Harrod, Ohio
was named the Sportsman Driver of the Year at the recent IHRA Awards
Celebration held at Memphis International Raceway following the
completion of the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals.
Steve Furr was named IHRA Sportsman of the Year for his contributions to IHRA drag racing
Furr,
a four-time World Champion in Super Rod and two-time IHRA Driver of the
Year, was named Sportsman of the Year for his dedication and
contribution to the sport. Away from the track Furr is considered one of
the truly nice guys in the sport, always willing to lend a helping
hand.
Furr
is also a great driver on the track behind the wheel of his '68 Camaro.
Furr won world championships in 2011, 2006, 2004 and 1996 and is a
constant in the Summit Pro-Am championship chase. Furr had another great
season this year, finishing sixth in the final Super Rod rankings with a
Pro-Am championship in Division 2 and several big wins to his credit
including the Summit Sportsman Spectacular at Maryland International
Raceway.
"This
season didn't exactly end the way we wanted it to, but it was still a
very good season," Furr said. "This award definitely surprised me. I
have won the driver of the year award before, but never this award. I
know a lot of people that have won this award in the past and there are
some awfully good racers on that list and to add my name as a winner of
this award, I am very honored by that."
Awarded
since 1998, the Sportsman of the Year is awarded to drivers that show
true class away from the track in addition to having success on the
track.
"I
really want to thank my wife Denise, my son Nicholas, my daughter
Sarah, my crew guy Kenny Myers and all of my sponsors," Furr said. "My
wife and kids put up with me being gone all of the time and constantly
racing and working on cars and for that I am very thankful for them
being there for me."
Jacob Elrod had seven wins and two divisional championships in 2012
While
Furr had what anyone would consider a great season, someone who took
that to a whole new level with a year unlike any other was Jacob Elrod,
the 2012 recipient of the Sportsman Driver of the Year award.
Elrod
made drag racing history in July when he won three races in three
different classes all in one day – a first in the sport – when he won
Quick Rod, Hot Rod and Top ET at the Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals at the
Grand Bend Motorplex. And as it turns out, that accomplishment was only
the tip of the iceberg.
Elrod's
Grand Bend success vaulted him into a summer unlike any other as the
Ohio native went on to collect seven victories on the Summit Pro-Am Tour
in nine finals in four different classes. Elrod also captured two
divisional championships by winning the Top Dragster and Super Rod
crowns in the North Stars division. Thanks to all those wins Elrod
actually qualified for the Tournament of Champions in an unprecedented
four separate classes, but the rules of the TOC state that a driver may
only compete in two classes at the World Finals.
Once
there Elrod drove his 2002 Corvette to a seventh place finish in Super
Rod at the World Finals and an unfortunate second round exit in Top
Dragster. Still, despite the fact that he didn't add a championship to
his season, it was definitely a year to remember for Elrod and his
famous racing family.
"This
year we have been stupid lucky. This is the one year where I was good
when I needed to be and lucky when I needed to be so really everything
just fell into place," Elrod said. "I have had so many people come up
and congratulate me, and not just regular people, but really, really
good racers that I respect and look up to. To have them come up and say
'man you are doing a good job' is really humbling.
"And
while we didn't win the championship, after the year we have had, I am
certainly not going to walk away from this thing with a sour face. How
could I after a year like this."
Elrod was the unanimous winner of the award given out to the top overall driver from the racing season.
