The IHRA Ironman Classic program is offered to all IHRA member tracks. Prior to this program, a Sportsman racer could only win an Ironman if they traveled to an IHRA Summit Team Finals, Sportsman Spectacular or World Finals. This program gives local tracks a chance to create extra excitement in their bracket program and offer competitors a chance to win the prestigious Ironman.

It’s a busy few weeks at the facility with a major stock car race on the oval Thursday night and the drag strip set to host the Gertrude’s Ice Cream Summer Nationals on Saturday. The event features Jet Dragsters, 7-Second Door Slammers and Fireworks. Costs for the Summer Nationals are $20 with kids 12-under admitted free.

Major NASCAR stars including Ty Majeski, winner of the most recent Truck Series race at Indianapolis, are frequent visitors to the speedway. The drag strip has produced its own elite racers including A.J. Leung, who was the IHRA Summit SuperSeries Junior Dragster World Champion last season.

Come out and support your local racers and this great track when the IHRA Ironman Classic takes place. Click here to check out the Wisconsin International Raceway webpage.

More than the money, O’Connell was happy to dedicate the win to his mom, Margaene, who died recently. Hooten was the Box winner over John Coyle in the final round. Chevy Wolfe defeated Dave McVicker in the Sportsman final. 

Lexie Klinger rounded out the list of Saturday winners with the final-round victory over Cassidy Becker.

Saturday’s main event was preceded by a $1,500-to-win Gamblers race on Friday night. Ricky Pena won in the final round over Nichole Medeisis.

There was a full day of IHRA Summit SuperSeries points racing on Sunday. Zach Manaseri was the Box winner with Justin Ford his final-round opponent. Tim Flynn took the No Box victory with John Hixon runner-up. It set up another runoff where Manaseri was victorious against Flynn.

Paul O’Keefe reigned supreme in Sportsman with Stephen Mroz challenging him in the final. Cooper Hamelen took the Junior Dragster final against Ava Valencia to fill out the weekend winners.

Check out the US41 Dragstrip Facebook page here as it has one of the best racing surfaces in the country. More IHRA Ironman Classic races are coming up this Saturday, July 27 at River Road Raceway and August 3 at Wisconsin International Raceway.

They can gain entry to the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals presented by Strange Engineering by winning Saturday’s main event in conjunction with entering at least two other IHRA races (an IHRA-member track Summit SuperSeries team race or Sportsman Spectacular) before the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals.  Current IHRA membership is required. 

Mashburn’s Collision Center is sponsoring the Super Pro (Box) and No Box classes. The Super Pro class features $5,000-to-win with a $100 entry fee. It’s a $2,500 winner’s purse based on 50-plus cars for No Box with a single entry for $70 and $100 double entry.

The Motorcycle class will compete for $1,000-to-win with a $40 entry fee. The Sportsman class also features a $1,000 payout with a $40 entry fee. These are based on 30-plus bikes for Motorcycle class and 30-plus cars for Sportsman. Finally, the Junior Dragsters have a $1,000-to-win race with a $50 entry fee.

Click here to check out the Ethridge Motorsports Park Facebook page for this and more exciting events coming up.

Drivers in Top (Box), Mod (No Box), Sportsman, Motorcycle and Junior Dragster classes competed for the prestigious IHRA Ironman trophies and the very popular oversized championship checks. IHRA members also captured limited-edition Sportsman Spectacular commemorative medals and gained entry into the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals presented by Strange Engineering.

Brewer drove his black Ford Cobra Mustang to the win in the Top (Box) class. Justin Greaver powered his dragster to the runner-up finish.

(Top Winner — Mark Brewer)

(Top Runner-Up — Justin Greaver)

Cireddu raced a blue Chevrolet Camaro to the Mod (No Box) victory. Michael Underwood was the other driver to make it to the final round.

(Mod Winner — Brian Cireddu)

It was a brown station wagon driven by Scheckelhoff that reached the winner’s circle in the Sportsman class. Jeremy Murray was his opponent in the championship round.

(Sportsman Winner — Nick Scheckelhoff)

Jim Hensell rode his jet black Motorcycle to the win in that class. Paul Samora was his final-round opponent.

(Motorcycle Winner — Jim Hensell)

Ryan Roberts emerged victorious in the Junior Dragster class. The second-place award went to Anthony Markinkovich. 

(Junior Dragster Winner — Ryan Roberts)

(Junior Dragster Runner-Up — Anthony Markinkovich)

Another IHRA Sportsman Spectacular presented by Moser is scheduled for this weekend at Ethridge Motorsports Park.