Rain Halts Spirited Palm Beach Nitro Jam

Fans can only ponder what could have been after Mother Nature prematurely KO’d the IHRA Nitro Jam event held at Palm Beach International Raceway.

The event was called of on Saturday due to persistent heavy rain but not before some ferocious qualifying action held on Friday.

Jason Rupert’s major season storyline continued as the Yorba Linda, California native drove the Bays and Rupert “Black Plague” Camaro to the top of the charts in Nitro Funny Car in an extremely tight field. Rupert’s 5.836 at 246.30 was just enough to hold John “Bodie” Smith in the “Jungle Jim” Camaro at bay with a 5.845 at 243.50. “Mr. Explosive” Mark Sanders made it a three-pack of drivers in the 5.80s with a 5.859 at 250.09.

Canada’s Tim Boychuk qualified fourth with a 5.937, followed by Mike McIntire Jr., Ronnie Young, Mike Smith and Wayne Mellinger. Young provided one of Friday’s scarier moments when the “Blue Max” nostalgia machine went up in flames just shy of the finish line and drove into the catch fencing at the top end. Young walked away from the accident.

Perhaps of even more interest, the list of drivers that didn’t qualify for Saturday’s scheduled elite 8-car field provided their own surprises. Bruce Litton, John Hale and Mike Halstead all failed to qualify in the nostalgia field.

Final Nitro FC Qualifying:

1. Jason Rupert, 5.836, 246.30; 2. John Smith, 5.845, 243.50; 3. Mark Sanders, 5.859, 250.09; 4. Tim Boychuk, 5.937, 243.63; 5. Mike McIntire Jr., 5.987, 235.80; 6. Ronnie Young, 6.008, 234.29; 7. Mike Smith, 6.015, 224.85; 8. Wayne Mellinger, 6.071, 202.06; 9. Bruce Litton, 6.109, 243.94; 10. John Hale, 6.175, 209.39; 11. Mike Halstead, 6.254, 231.08

Posted by: Larry Crum