International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) officials announced today the cancellation of the IHRA World Nationals event and the Summit Pro-Am Tour scheduled at Dragway 42 due to construction delays. The IHRA Drag Racing Series will host their championship event at US 131 Motorsports in Martin, Michigan August 12 – 13, 2016.
Dragway 42 located in West Salem, Ohio was scheduled to be the last event of the 2016 IHRA Drag Racing Series season on September 23 – 24. Unforeseen construction delays have prevented the management at Dragway 42 to complete the rebuilding of the facility to host the IHRA events. The IHRA will look to host a national event at the quarter-mile dragstrip again in 2017 as well as sportsman events. “Dragway 42 is a big part of the IHRA family and we will continue to monitor their progress in hopes of placing a national event there in 2017,” stated Mike Dunn, IHRA President. “I know that Ron and his crew have worked very hard to try and get everything prepared but it has become apparent that it will not be ready for the scheduled September date so we needed to make a decision to accommodate our racers, fans and sponsors.” The IHRA Drag Racing Series “season ending” racer point fund will remain the same despite the elimination of the season-end World Nationals. In addition, the Summit Pro-Am Tour events scheduled for Dragway 42 will not be rescheduled. To assist Division 3 competitors in fulfilling their “in division” points claims, both events scheduled at Empire Dragway August 19-21 will count as “in division” events for those racers claiming Division 3 points in the Summit Pro-Am Tour. The focus now shifts to the remaining two IHRA Drag Racing Series events at Edmonton, Alberta based Castrol Raceway (July 15 – 17) and Martin, Michigan based US 131 Motorsports (August 12 – 13) as well as preparation for the 2017 season. For more information about IHRA Motorsports or to purchase tickets, please visit www.us131msp.com.
