The IHRA Nitro Jam Southern Nationals Presented By Crower at Bradenton Motorsports Park – featured a record setting victory for Ohio’s Mike McIntire Jr.

McIntire won the AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car Presented By Aeromotive final over Baton Rouge winner Tim Boychuk. In the process, he also broke IHRA Nitro Funny Car top speed and elapsed time records. One record he broke was his own, set during his run to victory in the 2015 season-opener in Tucson in February.

What made McIntire’s victory even more significant was that his father, Mike Sr., was there to witness it. Mike Jr. and the team skipped the Baton Rouge Mardi Gras Nationals when it was discovered his father required open-heart surgery.

“About a week before Baton Rouge, we found out my father needed quadruple bypass surgery,” McIntire explained. “He was admitted to the hospital and two days later was undergoing open-heart surgery on the Monday before the event so that pretty much was it. We did not even consider going (to Baton Rouge) without him. He’s the team owner. He’s the whole reason why any of us are out there doing this. So there was no way we were going without him.”

On his march to victory lane, McIntire defeated Steve Nichols in the first round and trailered defending Funny Car champion Jason Rupert in the semi-final. McIntire faced Canada’s Tim Boychuk in the final after the Baton Rouge winner dispatched Mark Sanders and John Hale. McIntire’s “MacAttack” Camaro outran Boychuk’s “Hawaiian” Firebird to the finish line at 5.662 seconds and 260.49 miles per hour – setting new records in the Nitro Funny Car category in the process.

“It’s unbelievable,” McIntire admitted. “It’s a surreal feeling. You always come out trying to win, but to win it the way we did it this weekend…it was crazy. A lot of hard work and we overcame a lot of things to get here. This is for my dad. We worked our tails off this week to get this win for him. Dad’s doing great. We got him a little too excited this weekend. But I think it was good therapy overall.”

AMSOIL NITRO FUNNY CAR PRESENTED BY AEROMOTIVE – (Eliminator Summary)

First round:

Tim Boychuk defeated Mark Sanders, 5.715 sec./245.49 mph to 5.944 sec./244.10 mph.

John Hale defeated Paul Romine, 5.766 sec./237.40 mph to 6.072 sec./245.29 mph.

Mike McIntire Jr. defeated Steve Nichols, 5.709 sec./255.10 mph to 5.964 sec./237.34 mph.

Jason Rupert defeated Bruce Litton, 5.783 sec./246.44 mph to 8.372 sec./110.75 mph.

Second round:

Boychuk defeated Hale, 5.822 sec./244.56 mph to 8.941 sec./95.11 mph.

McIntire Jr. defeated Rupert, 5.683 sec./260.56 mph to 5.708 sec./252.80 mph.

Final:

McIntire defeated Boychuk, 5.662 sec./260.49 mph (both are new IHRA records) to 5.814 sec./237.46 mph.

AMSOIL NITRO FUNNY CAR PRESENTED BY AEROMOTIVE (Final Qualifying Summary)

1.Tim Boychuk (Edmonton, Alberta) 1977 Trans-Am “Hawaiian” 5.756 sec./238.03 mph.
2. Mike McIntire (Mentor, Ohio) 1970 Camaro “McAttack” 5.766 sec./243.04 mph.
3. Jason Rupert (Yorba Linda, California) 1969 Camaro “Black Plague” 5.831 sec./245.83 mph.
4. Paul Romine (Fishers, Indiana) 1979 Mustang “Man O’ War” 5.870 sec./218.07 mph.
5. John Hale (Addison, Texas) 1969 Camaro “One Bad Texan” 6.042 sec./237.52 mph.
6. Bruce Litton (Indianapolis, Indiana) 1974 Vega “U.S. Male” 6.061 sec./232.67 mph.
7. Steve Nichols (Newark, Delaware) 1970 Camaro 6.190 sec./232.67 mph.
8. Mark Sanders (Maple Valley, Washington) 1970 Mustang “Mr. Explosive” 6.228 sec./230.17 mph.

(Canada’s Tim Boychuck (center) showed with Roland Leong and Twig Ziegler – qualified #1 and went to the championship final round)

Posted by John Bisci

Photos by:  Chris Simmons