MILAN, Mich. — Randy Weatherford was No. 1 in qualifying and stayed on top throughout eliminations to capture the $125,000 IHRA Outlaw Pro Mod Nationals victory Saturday at Darana Dragway – Milan.
Weatherford received a bye in the first round of eliminations and advanced to the final with wins over Bubba Greene, Kurt Steding, and Robin Roberts. The race was broadcast live on IHRA.TV and SPEED SPORT 1.
Kallee Mills, the No. 7 qualifier, was Weatherford’s opponent in the final round. Mills beat Kyle Canion in the opening round, and then scored wins over Robert Davis, Jason Harris, and Ken Quartuccio to set up an all-Chevy battle for the big prize.
Weatherford got the better start, .024 to .038 over Mills, and then posted a winning run of 3.601 seconds and 210.38 mph. Mills was within 003 on the elapsed time at 3.604 seconds and 207.47 mph. Although excited about the big payday, Weatherford was even more thrilled to capture a prestigious IHRA Ironman trophy.
“I want this right here. When you win one, this is life. No one can take it away from you,” Weatherford said while clutching his Ironman trophy.
Asked how he planned to celebrate his big victory, Weatherford responded, “Go win another race. That’s the only way to celebrate, to win another one (Ironman).”
Dillon Voss captured his own Ironman and the Mountain MotorPro Stock title as final-round opponent John Montecalvo timed himself out at the starting tree. Voss, driver of the yellow Chevrolet Cobalt, won over Kurt Neighbor and No. 1 qualifier Dwayne Rice to reach the final. He had a 4.843-second run at 172.88 mph to go along with a .016 reaction time for his winning pass.
“I was confident. We’ve been to six final rounds, and we finally got one done,” Voss said. “My brother, my dad, my uncle work their tails off every week at the shop to make sure this car runs the way it does. Although I didn’t want to win against Monte that way, it’s a good feeling. Man, we did it.”
Justin Sowders drove his orange Chevrolet Camaro to a close win over Mike Badia’s Oldsmobile Cutlass in the Top Sportsman final. Sowders went 4.255 seconds at 163.82 mph on a 4.23 dial-in time. Badia went 4.431seconds at 159.86 mph against a 4.38 dial. Badia had the better start .015 to.025 at the tree.
Howard Michael won Saturday’s 64-car IHRA Top Bulb Shootout with a .008 light combined with a 4.744-second run at 143.91 mph. Final-round opponent Frankie McCullough gave quite an effort with .014 reaction time and a 4.749 elapsed time at 144.79 mph, which put him under his dial-in time by just-.001 second.
It was a special trifecta for Michael, who celebrated his birthday, his anniversary, and his first-ever IHRA Ironman victory.
“This is the first one I’ve ever had,” Michael said about the Ironman. “My wife is going nuts right now, but this is for her and all her hard work. We’ve been racing 36 years and it’s great to see my wife jumping up and down.”
More great IHRA action is coming soon with the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series coming Sept. 3-6 to Darana Raceway – Hebron in Hebron, Ohio.
