IHRA World Nationals Victory for Brian Folk in Camaro Roadster

Sportsman drag racer Brian Folk has a racing resume that goes back two decades. He started the 2007 season with seven IHRA national event wins and nine NHRA national events. He has five IHRA division titles and numerous big dollar bracket races. At the end of 2007, he added the one thing that was missing to his resume, a World Championship.

Undefeated Camaro Roadster
Folk Racing's Camaro Roadster
His nemesis in 2007 was defending Super Rod champion Steve Furr. In September, Folk’s luck began to change at Osceola Dragway in Indiana. He destroyed his engine in his Super Rod Cavalier and brought in an untried Camaro Roadster.

Victory with Camaro Roadster at Osceola Pro-Am
Undefeated Camaro Roadster
“We built the Camaro from the ground up at our Folk Race Cars shop,” said Folk. “We had been running our Cavalier since 1990 and when the engine blew we decided to finish out the rest of the year in the so-called “Rat Rod.”

The first race in the Rat Rod began one of the most phenomenal runs in IHRA Sportsman Class history. Folk drove the Camaro to back-to-back victories at Osceola, giving him the opportunity to challenge Furr for the World Championship.

Folk took the Rat Rod to Milan, Michigan for his third Super Rod victory in two weeks at the IHRA Suzuki Motor City Nationals in Milan Dragway in Michigan. Folk passed Furr by a single round and the Super Rod championship was up for grabs.

At the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham, North Carolina, Folk had never won an event, but Furr dominated at the facility over the last several seasons. Both racers won their first and second round matches.

In round three Furr came up just short against Peabody Harrell. “I knew that when Steve Furr came up short I was just one win light away from the World Championship,” said Folk. “I raced against former IHRA World Champion Steve Corker, and I was able to move on to knock out James Sessoms in the final round to claim the IHRA World Nationals victory.”

Folk uses K&N Engineering products. “The K&N oil filters are our biggest asset,” he said. “The dirt stays out of our engines and we get the filtration we need to help us get to the championship.”

Folk plans to paint the undefeated Rat Rod before the season starts up again in February at the IHRA opener in Florida. “We’re thinking about red and white stripes,” he said. “It will look good on the car. No one saw this win coming, it’s amazing to be the 2007 IHRA Super Rod World Champion.”

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