Summit Pro-Am Tour wraps up season, next up Tournament of Champions
NORWALK, Ohio (September 9, 2011) – Following a thrilling finish to the Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am tour season this past weekend in South Carolina and Texas, dozens of drivers have emerged as champions including one driver who continued his reign of terror in the sportsman ranks by winning divisional championships in two different classes.
Defending Super Rod World Champion Cameron Manuel once again had a tremendous year to win his way back into the Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions in October in not one, but two different classes. Manuel won the Top Dragster crown over Michael Ferraro in the Heat Wave Division and repeated as Super Rod champion over Bo Upton. Manuel also added a pair of TOC qualifying victories in both classes to his resume along with a runner-up finish in the Moser Axle-Mania Sportsman Showdown at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in August.
Overall Manuel has set himself up nicely for a repeat bid next month at the Summit Racing Equipment World Finals presented by RacingJunk.com at Virginia Motorsports Park.
“Once again we saw another great year of racing from our great competitors on the Summit Pro-Am Tour,” said IHRA VP of Race Operations Skooter Peaco. “Every year the bar is set even higher in the divisional ranks and we saw that once again this year. Congratulations to all of our divisional champions and we certainly look forward to seeing them next month in Virginia.”
Manuel was one of over 40 drivers to claim a divisional championship in 2011 during a season which began in early February at Immokalee Regional Raceway in south Florida and ended with a bevy of activity at Darlington Dragway in South Carolina and San Antonio Raceway in Texas.
Beginning with the Patriots Division, drivers that claimed a divisional title included Calvin Butler in Top Sportsman, Wesley Washington Jr. in Top Dragster, Anthony Bertozzi in Super Stock, Lisa Bolton in Stock, John Dustin in Quick Rod, Craig Porter in Super Rod and Greg Fowler in Hot Rod.
In the Heat Wave Division Rick McDonough won Top Sportsman, Manuel won Top Dragster and Super Rod, Michael Crumpler won Super Stock, B.J. Bianchi won Stock, Allen Lowery won Quick Rod and Steve Dweck won Hot Rod.
The North Stars Division saw Michael Sowards in Top Sportsman, Todd Strefling in Top Dragster, Aaron Allison in Super Stock, Clint Blezien in Stock, Jeremy Mason in Quick Rod, David Moore in Super Rod and Ricky Roe in Hot Rod all walk away champions.
In the southern half of the country the highly-competitive Renegades Division saw championships won by Kamron Wright in Top Sportsman, Julian Scott Ball in Top Dragster, David Latino in Super Stock, Jacob Pitt in Stock, Clayton Nance in Quick Rod, Charlie Stewart in Super Rod and Ty Casey in Hot Rod.
New to the Summit Pro-Am tour in 2011 was the Border Bandits division consisting of racers in the western United States and Canada. The inaugural season saw lots of great racing with the inaugural champions consisting of Randy Modersohn in Top Sportsman, Natasha Cherchuk in Top Dragster, Jared Erichsen in Super Stock, Norman Lapointe in Stock, Mike Pople in Quick Rod, Casey Edward Plaizier in Super Rod and Tony Osredkar in Hot Rod.
Wrapping up the 2011 championship lineup was the most competitive division on the Summit Pro-Am tour, the Raiders Division consisting of racers from the Carolina region. Champions in the extremely popular division were Mike White in Top Sportsman, David Barr in Top Dragster, Robert Draughon in Super Stock, Terry Taylor in Stock, Steve Corker in Quick Rod, Donald Webb in Super Rod and Matthew Robinson in Hot Rod.
All of the division champions, plus the drivers finishing in second and third in the division, have earned a spot in the Summit Racing Tournament of Champions next month in Virginia. They will be joined by all national event and special event winners in a unique battle for the world championship next month at the richest sportsman weekend in IHRA history.
Also earning divisional championships this season were the competitors in the Junior Dragster ranks. Among the champions were Kenneth Stott in Masters, Blake Hickman in Advanced and Hayden Labert in Beginner with the Raiders Division and Christopher Snyder in Master, Jackson Core in Advanced and Lacy Brown in Beginning with the Renegades Division.
Congratulations to all 2011 Summit Pro-Am champions!
