Rupert Continues IHRA Roll

California’s Jason Rupert continued his amazing season roll within the IHRA as that sanction body touched down at fabled Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.

Rupert won a race for the ages in the finals of IHRA’s nostalgia Nitro Funny Car class, as the driver of the Bays & Rupert “Black Plague” ’69 Camaro bested three-time IHRA Nitro Funny Car champion Peter Gallen by four thousandths of a second at the line.

Destined to meet in the finals from the very start, Rupert and Gallen, two longtime, dominant figures in their class representing each side of the country, both proved significantly ahead of their peers. The pair qualified first and second on Saturday and made easy work of their competitors on Sunday, ending in one of the closest races of the entire 2014 racing season.

With an Ironman on the line between two former world champions in the nostalgia flopper class, Gallen got off the line first with a .081 reaction time to Rupert’s .130, but Rupert flexed his muscle on the top end and powered past the driver of the “Poverty Stricken” ’77 Vega with a 5.684-second pass at 253.18 mph, besting Gallen’s 5.737, 242.50 by four thousandths at the line.

“I saw him out of the window and then he started to disappear on me. At that point, all I could do was look up at the scoreboard and hope I have enough room,” Rupert said. “I am used to driving modern Funny Cars and you sit so far back in those that if you see someone out your side window, then they are way ahead. With these cars, it is a bit different. I only saw his front quarter panel so I thought I better rev this thing up and hope the track is long enough.

“When I crossed the finish line I had no idea who had just won. Luckily we had the full 1,320 feet!”

Not only was the pass good enough for the win, but it also handed Rupert a brand new IHRA Nitro Funny Car elapsed time world record.

Rupert’s 5.698-second pass during qualifying on Saturday was good enough to back up Sunday’s record run and place him first on the ladder, .01 better than Gallen. From there it was only a matter of time until the pair met in the finals.

Rupert bested Mike Halstead and Mark Sanders on his way to the championship round, posting laps of 5.843 and 5.736 as his bracket-like weekend paved the way for his third win in four races.

“I have so much respect for these guys out here that is it is truly humbling to have the success that we have been having,” Rupert said. “I can only speak for myself, but I was a little nervous going into the final as I am with most of my runs. We were both probably nervous to run one another, I knew there was a lot of people watching, but it turned out to be a great race.

“We are on top right now, but you never know how long that is going to last.”

Nitro Funny Car Eliminations Summary:

Round 1 – Jason Rupert, 5.843, 247.70 def. Mike Halstead, 6.086, 241.07; Mark Sanders, 6.106, 243.41 def. Mike McIntire Jr., 6.558, 228.81; Peter Gallen, 5.925, 237.30 def. Jake Crimmins, 12.018, 68.74; Mike Smith, 6.034, 228.73 def. Tim Boychuk, 9.550, 93.13

Semis – Rupert, 5.736, 249.07 def. Sanders, 6.200, 219.90; Gallen, 5.740, 235.60 def. Smith, 6.117, 181.64

Final – Rupert, 5.684, 253.18 def. Gallen, 5.737, 242.50

Nitro Funny Car Final Qualifying Summary:

1. Jason Rupert 5.698, 249.16; 2. Peter Gallen 5.708, 244.03; 3. Tim Boychuk 5.797, 241.54; 4. Mark Sanders 5.839, 245.72; 5. Mike McIntire Jr. 5.892, 231.24; 6. Mike Smith 6.047, 228.50; 7. Jake Crimmins 6.290, 229.94; 8. Mike Halstead 6.380, 178.92; 9. Bruce Litton 11.276, 65.04; 10. John Hale (broke)

Posted by: Larry Crum