Ike Maier Atlanta final report

Ike Maier qualifies and competes in major NHRA drag racing at Atlanta

ATLANTA, GA – After obtaining his NHRA Top Fuel license only months ago, Canadian Ike Maier qualified and competed in the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals, held over the weekend at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia.

Maier qualified in his second-ever NHRA Top Fuel event, and was eliminated by NHRA champion Tony Schumacher in the first round.

The Top Fuel Dragster class is the quickest and fastest in all of drag racing, featuring 8000-horsepower cars which travel from zero to over 325 mph in under four seconds.

“It was a lot of hard work, but it all came together pretty quickly,” said Maier, who is from Tottenham, Ontario, just north of Toronto. “I stayed pretty calm, but it was a busy and exciting weekend.”

Ike Maier

Photo by: Ted Rossino

Maier qualified the Paton Racing Top Fuel Dragster in 12th spot in the 16-car field, with a 3.931-second, 307.44-mph posting. Leading the qualifying in the class at Atlanta, the sixth event in the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Race Series, was Spencer Massey with a 3.825, 323.19 attempt.

Schumacher qualified with the number five spot, and took out Maier in the first round with a 3.852, 319.69 run against Maier’s 3.992, 258.57, but Maier felt he could have done better if the rear end in his car had not suffered mechanical woes, forcing him to shut down sooner.

“We came to an abrupt stop,” he said about the rear end failure in the car. “But up to that we were neck and neck. We gave them a run for their money and kept them honest.”

Schumacher went to the final and was eliminated by number seven qualifier Antron Brown.

Maier was at Atlanta to race his Pro Modified Corvette as well, but was unsuccessful at qualifying. The Atlanta event was the second venue where he has driven both the Top Fueler and the Pro Mod.

Maier said he was pleased with his past few days in the Top Fuel car.

“I did my thing,” he said. “I had a good weekend.”

Maier was very appreciative to his sponsors, the crew and the exceptional guidance from Crew chief James “Jimbo” Ermalovich, he positively could not have done it without their valuable support.

Next stop for Maier will be the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals June 23-26 at Norwalk, Ohio.

The Top Fuel entry is headed up by Barry Paton of Paton Racing which has employed Todd Paton behind the wheel of the Top Fueler, as well as Alberta’s Tim Boychuck in both the NHRA and the IHRA.

In the past few years Maier has raced competitively in the Pro Modified class with his 1963 Corvette in the PMRA, the IHRA, and the NHRA, and will compete in selected NHRA national events in both classes for 2011.

source: ike maier racing