Virginia Motorsports Park to host third Summit Tournament of Champions Oct. 14-16
NORWALK, Ohio (September 20, 2011) – With the third annual Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions just a few weeks away, drivers are making final preparations and gearing up for the final race of the 2011 season with a shot at over $10,000 to the winner and the title of IHRA World Champion at stake.
This year's class of TOC qualifiers totals 180 drivers, with seven spots still available at the last-chance Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular the day before the big go all at the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals presented by RacingJunk.com October 14-16 at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Among the 180 drivers currently qualified for the field, 19 drivers are former world champions combining for 43 IHRA world championships spanning 25 years from 1986 Stock champion Terry Taylor to 2010 champions Scott Ball and Cameron Manuel. Among that group is also the winningest sportsman driver in IHRA history, 16-time champion Anthony Bertozzi.
The 2011 Summit Tournament of Champions will also feature a diverse group of racers from 21 states and five Canadian provinces. North Carolina has the most representatives with 27 drivers, followed by Texas with 25, Florida with 18, Alberta, Canada with 16 and Ohio with 15 qualified drivers. Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Kentucky, South Carolina, Louisiana, British Columbia, Illinois, Utah, West Virginia, Oklahoma, New York and Indiana are among the states with multiple drivers in this year's TOC.
To qualify for the Tournament of Champions, drivers in Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Super Stock, Stock, Quick Rod, Super Rod and Hot Rod have to finish in the top three in their Summit Pro-Am division, win a Nitro Jam national event or divisional Tournament of Champions qualifier or win one of IHRA's special events held throughout the year such as the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular held in July and again in October.
Of the 180 competitors currently qualified, 15 have qualified in more than one class. Those drivers include Richard Alford, Aaron Allison, Steve Corker, Mark Faul, Nick Folk, Jason Hoff, David Latino, Cameron Manuel, Craig Marshall, Clayton Nance, Brett Nesbitt, Tommy Phillips, Scott Richardson, Bo Upton and Donald Webb. No surprise, out of that group eight are former IHRA champions.
Perhaps the most impressive resume entering the 2011 edition of the Summit Tournament of Champions belongs to 2011 Super Rod champion Cameron Manuel. Manuel, of Winston Salem, N.C., qualified for the TOC in Top Dragster and Super Rod, winning the Division 2 championship in both classes. He also compiled an IHRA-leading six Pro-Am victories in seven finals between the two classes and had a high-paying runner-up finish in the Moser Axle-Mania Sportsman Showdown last month at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park.
Other strong resumes in 2011 belong to Division 1 champ Anthony Bertozzi of Ashland, Va. who compiled four Pro-Am finals and two wins and a big victory at the Summit Sportsman Spectacular in July, Division 4 Super Stock champion David Latino of Donaldsonville, La. who had five Pro-Am wins in six finals this season and added a national event victory at San Antonio in Stock to advance in two classes and Division 9 Super Rod champion Donald Webb of Four Oaks, N.C. who advanced in Super Rod and Hot Rod off the strength of three Pro-Am wins in seven finals
Check back with IHRA.com throughout the coming weeks as the IHRA breaks down each class in advance of the biggest sportsman weekend in IHRA history with over $200,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs at the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment World Finals presented by RacingJunk.com October 14-16 at Virginia Motorsports Park.
