IHRA champions in the news
Michael Beard, Tim Butler parade championship cars at marquee events
NORWALK, Ohio (January 22, 2013)
– Since winning big at the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of
Champions back in October, many of the IHRA's newly crowned World
Champions have been busy promoting themselves and fitting snugly into
their new roles as ambassadors for the sport.
From
industry trade shows to sold-out monster truck arenas, IHRA's new class
of champions certainly haven't been sitting idle this offseason. Just
ask Super Stock World Champion Michael Beard and Top ET World Champion
Tim Butler.
Michael Beard's Duck Tape sponsored Volare was on display at the IMIS show in December
MICHAEL BEARD
Three-time IHRA World Champion Michael Beard is certainly no stranger to the spotlight.
When
he isn't racing nearly every warm, dry weekend of the year, Beard is
probably thinking about racing, or dreaming about racing or at the very
least, preparing to think about racing.
But
when Beard was asked to represent the IHRA by putting his car on
display at the Hall of Champions at the International Motorsports
Industry Show in Indianapolis this past December, even he was taken
aback by the honor.
"The
IMIS show at Indy was a great opportunity. My car was in the same row
as Antron Brown and I got to congratulate him on his Top Fuel title,"
Beard said. "By being there all week I met a lot of drivers and had
plenty of time to peruse the entire show floor. I even had some
important conversations with some of the great supporters in our
industry."
Beard
had his Duck Tape-sponsored Volare on display at the Hall of Champions
alongside championship winning racecars from nearly every motorsports
discipline. From dirt tracks to NASCAR to the IHRA, it was quite an
exciting time for the recently relocated racer now calling Ohio home.
And to cap his incredible weekend, Beard even had an opportunity to
speak at the National Speed Sport News panel discussion alongside other
representatives from the sport.
"It
was a great experience and something I won't soon forget," Beard said.
"Now it is back to thinking about racing. My dad always reminded me that
this is a 'what have you done for me lately' sport, so it is more of
just plowing ahead and trying to improve both yourself and the car in
2013."
Tim Butler's new Summit dragster was on display at Raymond James Stadium over the weekend
TIM BUTLER
The
last place on earth you would expect to see Tim Butler is behind the
wheel of something on dirt at, of all things, a monster truck show.
But
that is exactly where Butler found himself this past weekend at Raymond
James Stadium in Tampa, Florida as Butler debuted his newly acquired
American Race Cars dragster backed by Summit Racing Equipment and
powered by a Trick Flow Specialties Chevrolet big block engine he won at
the Summit Racing Equipment World Finals by winning the Top class World
Championship.
Butler,
from nearby Sarasota, Florida, brought his Summit SuperSeries prize
dragster to the Tampa Monster Jam to promote the Bradenton Nitro Jam
taking place at Bradenton Motorsports Park the weekend of April 19-20.
Butler's dragster was featured during the Monster Jam Pit Party outside
the stadium and later was rolled into the stadium and fired up during
prerace festivities. Butler was even interviewed in front of the tens of
thousands of race fans in attendance where he had an opportunity to
talk about his big win, the upcoming Nitro Jam and the great people at
Summit Racing Equipment.
"What
a great show and tremendous exposure for the IHRA, the Nitro Jam at
Bradenton Motorsports Park and, of course, all of the sponsors on the
Summit dragster," Butler said. "We were parked next to Grave Digger and
the line for autographs literally wrapped around us. We talked to the
fans, handed out hero cards and talked about the upcoming Nitro Jam at
Bradenton which was really cool.
"Then
we pushed the Summit dragster out into the infield of Raymond James
Stadium for opening ceremonies. On command from the official we fired
the motor and revved it several times. The crowd absolutely loved it."
