A rain delay didn’t slow the action at Darana Dragway – Milan, as elimination rounds for the IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series Pro-Am wrapped up Sunday with memorable performances across multiple professional categories. From Lex Joon’s historic Top Fuel victory to Del Worsham’s long-awaited Funny Car win, the day delivered drama, emotion, and big money finishes — all broadcast live on IHRA.TV.
Lex Joon, widely regarded as Europe’s most successful drag racer, scored his first U.S. Top Fuel victory with a hard-fought win over Mitch King. Joon posted a 3.964-second pass despite banging the blower at the stripe, while King struck the tires and coasted to a 4.236. Joon also turned heads with a sharp .052 reaction time and a semifinal win over Columbus winner Scott Palmer.
“Thank the Good Lord who helped us out today,” said Joon. “Thank you IHRA — this is unbelievable. We will be back for more. My crew was also unbelievable today to get the win.”
Del Worsham, the 1992 IHRA World Champion, powered to a 4.085-second victory at 315.35 mph in the Funny Car final, defeating Dan Hix who ran into trouble after a solid launch. Worsham’s last IHRA win came in 1995, making this return to victory lane all the more special.
“This feels amazing,” Worsham said. “I haven’t had one of these Ironman trophies in 30 years. I was kind of bummed we didn’t win the last race, so anything other than a win wasn’t going to be enough.”
Chris Powers delivered an emotional win in Mountain Motor Pro Stock, grabbing an Ironman on a holeshot with a .005 reaction time to Dillon Voss’s .022. Powers clocked a 4.172 at 171.62 mph to Voss’s 4.175 at an identical speed. He dedicated the win to the late Sonny Leonard, whose Sonny’s Racing Engines still power his Chevrolet Camaro.
“We’ve won in NHRA and PDRA, but this Ironman means a lot. I can’t thank the folks at Sonny’s enough. This one’s for Sonny,” Powers said.
In Pro Modified, Kurt Steding edged out Wes Distefano by just .008 seconds in a thrilling final. Despite Distefano’s starting line advantage (.010 to .028), Steding’s 3.864-second pass at 204.64 mph held off Distefano’s quicker-but-losing 3.711 at 202.89 mph. It marked Steding’s first Ironman and a $50,000 payday.
“Wes is deadly on the tree, so I had to stay cool. You’ll see us back for that $125,000 race in two weeks,” said Steding, referring to the upcoming August 8–9 showdown.
Will Smith picked up his first national-event win in Top Alcohol Dragster, posting a 5.398 at 269.14 mph after Rich McPhillips Jr. smoked the tires at the hit. Smith was sharp on the tree with a .015 light to McPhillips’ .043.
In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Phil Esz overcame a .017 starting line deficit to defeat Tony Bogolo with a 5.551 at 261.02 mph to Bogolo’s 5.666 at 256.12. It was Esz’s first career national-event victory.
Tim Molnar denied Tony Wilson back-to-back Pro Nitrous wins, using a 3.760 at 203.62 and a .023 reaction time to top Wilson’s 4.280 at 143.63.
Closing out the day, Jay Turner, a Hall of Fame motorcycle racer, collected his 18th IHRA national-event win in Top Fuel Harley, running 6.365 at 134.81 mph to defeat Jordan Peterson, who had a slight starting line edge but ran a slower 6.533 in a tire-smoking final.
The IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series continues with a $125,000 Pro Mod race back at Milan Dragway on August 8–9.
This story was originally published on July 28, 2025. 
