Former Quick Rod World Champion Ron Folk earned an opportunity to repeat that performance at the
season ending IHRA tournament of champions, where a select field of qualified competitors will vie
for the season championship in a one-race showdown. Folk earned a bid in the elite shootout by
advancing through five rounds of competition at last weekend's Mopar IHRA Canadian Nationals at the
Grand Bend Motorplex, winning the Quick Rod category at the wheel of his Folk Race Cars dragster.
At the runoff in Rockingham Folk will join his son, defending Stock World Champion Nick Folk, who
has already earned a seed in the Stock category.
"Like just about everyone, I'm not really sold on the Tournament of Champions format. I guess with
it being the first year for the program, everyone is a little skeptical," said Ron Folk. "But I
will say that I'm certainly excited to have qualified and know that I'll be a part of it."
Folk earned his victory with a final round title over former IHRA top ten finisher Kathy Fisher. In
the final, Fisher laid down a respectable .031 reaction time and dead-on 8.905, only to be trumped
by Folk's near perfect .002 reaction and 8.912 elapsed time. The .002 reaction was Folk's best of
eliminations, but he was stellar throughout competition, averaging a .009 light (save for his
pressure-free .024 reaction on the semi-final bye run). In the late rounds, Folk knocked off Gary
Fleenor and Lisa Bingham to earn the bye run with three cars remaining.
The victory in Canada was the first of the 2009 campaign for Ron Folk, the patriarch of the Folk
Racing family. Nick Folk, a two-time IHRA World Champion, has carried the torch for the team much
of the 2009 season. Nick earned his bid into the IHRA Tournament of Champions with a Stock title at
the season opening event in Immokalee, and backed that up with another Stock crown at their
hometown event, the Sportsman Nationals in Byron, IL. Nick also picked up an NHRA national event
title in the Super Comp category in St. Louis back in May. Nick's older brother, and fellow IHRA
World Champion Brian Folk also earned a victory at the Byron IHRA event, collecting a Top Dragster
win in the opening Pro-Am competition of the weekend.
While the Folk's have already earned two automatic bids into the tournament of champions, they hope
to earn multiple additional seeds into the event. All national and sportsman national event winners
earn an automatic slot in the runoff, as do the top three finishers in each division for each
category of competition. Brian Folk currently sits in the fourth position in Division 5 Top
Dragster standings, while Ron is clinging to the third spot in Division 5 Super Rod. Brian and Nick
each have a shot of getting into the program in Super Rod and Super Stock, respectively, as both
currently reside in the eighth position in division standings. In Stock, where Nick has already
earned a berth in the shootout, he is the runaway points leader in Division 5, holding nearly a 200
point advantage.
The Folk Racing team is assisted by several marketing partners whom they credit for much of their
continued success. Those partners include Auto Meter, K&N Filters, ATD Transmissions, Hoosier
Racing Tires, Dart Machinery, Spin Werkes Wheels, Glasstek, JE Pistons, Holley Performance Group,
Hillcraft.com, Shafiroff Racing Engines, VP Race Fuels, Nitroplate, Goza Racing Products, Moroso,
Mr. Gasket Performance Group, J.W. Performance, B&M Performance, JEGS, Moser Engineering, Shogun,
Manley, J&J Engine Diapers, Wegner Performance Engines, Digital Delay, ISC Racers Tape,
ThisIsBracketRacing.com, Autolite, and Folk Race Cars. For more information on the team and the
services available from Folk Race Cars, visit online at http://www.FolkRaceCars.com
