NORWALK, Ohio (November 8, 2013) – Only four drivers in the entire International Hot Rod Association visited more than six finals in 2013.
But only one of those drivers, Donalsonville, Louisiana's Jimmy Hidalgo Jr., came away a world champion.
Hidalgo
was one of the winningest drivers in IHRA competition this season,
visiting seven finals on the Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour with
three wins campaigning cars in both the Stock and Super Stock
categories.
Jimmy Hidalgo Jr.
Thanks
to that consistently, Hidalgo qualified for the Summit Racing Equipment
Tournament of Champions in both classes. And at the Summit World Finals
at Memphis International Raceway, Hidalgo drove his most consistent
and successful car to the world championship in Super Stock, claiming
his very first title in IHRA competition.
"It
sounds pretty darn good to hear the words world champion. That is what
we came here to do and amazingly we got it done," Hidalgo said. "I had
two shots at it and while I was hoping for two, it is a real blessing
to get one of them."
And
the really amazing part is that his car, a beautiful black with flames
2002 Pontiac Firebird, had never been in Super Stock competition prior
to this season.
"The
Firebird has been really good all year," Hidalgo said. "The cool thing
is we built it as a Stocker at the end of 2006 and we just put a Super
Stock motor in it at the beginning of this year. This is the first year
I have run Super Stock with it and obviously that turned out pretty
well."
Jimmy Hidalgo Jr.
On
championship Sunday at Memphis, Hidalgo navigated a very talented field
of Super Stock racers ending with a showdown with class veteran Mark
Nowicki. Producing his own success story in 2013 with three wins,
Gaylord, Michigan's Nowicki gave Hidalgo a race in the final.
With
the coveted No. 1 in Super Stock on the line, Hidalgo beat Nowicki off
the line with a .017 reaction time to Nowicki's .024 and ran a
tremendous 9.820 second elapsed time on a 9.81 dial at 130.59 miles
per hour, just holding off Nowicki who had a 9.609 on a 9.60 at 138.14
mph. The margin of victory at the line – just .006 seconds.
"The
wind had picked up a little bit going into the final so I was a little
concerned that that might slow the cars up, but other than that we were
prepared," Hidalgo said. "I felt really good after my semifinal run. I
hit the tree good and at that point I was really comfortable and
confident. I just went up there and repeated again. The car ran what I
thought it would run and we came away with a win."
Hidalgo's
wild afternoon included wins over Marvin Dunahoo, Jim Reynolds and Tony
Cowell on his way to the final, with one of those rounds giving him a
particular scare. In his second round run against Reynolds, his
opponent went red but finished out the pass only to lose control and tap
the wall right in front of Hidalgo. Both drivers were uninjured in the
incident, but it left Hidalgo a little on edge.
"When
he went red I saw my win light come on so it was just a time trial at
that point for me," Hidalgo said. "When I got to the finish line I shut
the car off, looked down for a split second and when I looked back up
he was coming across right in front of me. All I could do was get on the
breaks, move to the center and watch where he ended up. Thankfully, he
pretty much stayed where he hit the wall and we were able to drive
away."
Super Stock Final – Mark Nowicki vs. Jimmy Hidalgo Jr.
Hidalgo's
adventures continued in round one with two uncharacteristically later
lights followed by two runs off the numbers. Thankfully for Hidalgo,
Cowell broke out, preventing a potential pitfall in his afternoon. By
the semifinals Hidalgo got the tree back, producing a .011 reaction time
in a win against Dunahoo, propelling him into the championship matchup.
In
the runner-up spot, Nowicki, representing Division 3, had wins over
Pete D'Agnolo and Nick Chiles on his way to the finals. It was a
relatively easy afternoon for the Michigan native as D'Agnolo couldn't
make the call and Chiles went red in the semis, both sandwiched between
a second round bye.
With
the win Hidalgo caps an impressive year that saw him produce seven
finals and two TOC spots. And while he didn't double up, falling short
in round two of Stock, it was still a year to remember for the
Division 4 favorite.
