EDMONTON, Alberta — The rain-plagued Rocky Mountain Nationals for the IHRA Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series came to a conclusion Monday morning at Castrol Raceway.
After rain washed out most of qualifying and delayed Sunday’s eliminations until late in the evening before it rained again, Kevin Jones (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Carl Spiering (Pro Modified), Laurie Cannister (Alcohol Funny Car) and Bob Bertsch (Pro Stock) earned national-event victories.
Cannister made her triumphant run before the rain returned on Sunday night, driving her Kalbones Grill’n Sauce-sponsored 1999 Camaro to a winning mark of 5.906 seconds at 241.37 miles per hour over Paul Noakes, who carded a pass of 5.950, 238.43 in a runner-up effort.
It was Cannister’s fourth win in five races, and her second in a row over Noakes.
Bertsch, who was the only Pro Stock racer in the field, also secured his Ironman trophy on Sunday evening.
Jones faced off against Bobby Lagana, Jr. and when both drivers lost traction, Jones recovered first to chart a 5.271-second pass at 280.84 mph to Lagana’s 6.301 at 182.90 mph.
The Funny Car final was downright strange. Hagan matched up with Grant Downing. The pair left together, but Hagan blew a supercharger early on.
The body flipped off backward, sliding down the track upside down as Hagan’s naked chassis slowly coasted down the track, the chutes out, barely making it to the finish line. Meanwhile, Downing’s car kept drifting left and took out the 1,000-foot timing reflector, which disqualified him and handed the victory to Hagan.
Finally, in Pro Modified, Spiering pushed his 1963 Corvette to a final round 6.55 e.t. at 214.25 miles per hour to defeat Thomas Patterson, who produced a 6.848-second run at 192.36 mph.