IHRA Nito Jam at Palm Beach Internationals Raceway FL – January 2010

Sheldon Bissessar and Aaron Sipple officially opened up the season with a huge win and an even bigger record. And after all the blogging, arguing, and debating, IHRA opened up with a truly entertaining show!

Bissessar kicked off 1st round qualifying Friday night with an off the trailor 3.75 eighth mile / 5.80 quarter mile run at 238mph thanks to the ASE/IRONMAN Chassis tune-up of Aaron Sipple. That first pass would officially set the new record for the IHRA Top Dragster if Sheldon backed it up within 1%.

Second round brought about some more excitement and drama as Bissessar’s Lenco reverser locked up during the burnout, bringing the 2200lb top dragster to a dead stand still. Back in the pits, Sipple discovered it was a result of a busted gear in the CS2 reverser. Luckily Tom Wirth, a local Florida racer and a customer of ASE / IRONMAN Chassis was on hand. Tom, the owner of legendary and retired record holding Gary Watters’ altered, located another local racer, Larry Clark who generously offered transmission parts for the team’s use.

While at first unsure of being able to make third round, thanks to huge team efforts from the Partytime Racing Team, and a special thanks to Tom Wirth and Larry Clark, Sipple was tightening down everything at the last minute while sitting in the staging lanes. Bissessar and Sipple wowed the crowd yet again after such an intense turn around and still running a consistent 5.85. The IRONMAN Chassis and Partytime Racing Team ended the night winning the first round of Top Dragster Eliminations while resetting the world record for Top Dragster at an amazing 3.74 / 5.79.
Saturday, Bissessar chose to sit out the Top Dragster 2nd round in order to focus on IHRA’s newly established Elite 8 for the 2010 season. Sheldon took first round, even after lifting, running through the traps at a 5.86. 2nd round was won with a 5.81, and Sheldon took the first win of the IHRA Elite 8 with a 5.82 against Eddie Careccia, a standout contender in the finals, who ran out of CO2 and rolled the beams.

Despite the drama of a new program, a fireball explosion for one of the Prostalgia Funny Cars, and an incredible side by side run of Shockley’s Jet Semis, it was Bissessar and Sipple who were the talk of the town at the opening IHRA event! Setting standards and new limits, the dynamic duo are aimed at making their mark on the 2010 season. IHRA President, Aaron Palburn, personally congratulated Bissessar and stated that “He had a very unique and special opportunity going.” Sipple and Bissessar were surrounded in the winner circle by a huge following of fans, friends and supporters who were all in agreeance that 2010 will be a standout year!

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Sheldon Bissessar/Aaron Sipple Ironman Chassis Semi-Final Round 3.82@190MPH
Semi-Final Round
Fiday Night Chaos Sept 11th 2009

Outlaw Dragster WINNER, No.1 Qualifier, Top Speed
3.82@190MPH
Summit Motorsports Park
Norwalk Ohio

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Bissessar and Sipple makes it to the finals !


Bissessar had a wild weekend on his hands while out with a brand new combo from Aaron Sipple’s ASE/IRONMAN Chassis. Even though he laid down a 3.86 on his first pass out, the team was putting out fires round after round, fighting a misfiring half track ignition problem, a broken throttle cable end, and finally a bad delay box leading up to the final round.

Still, Sheldon proved once again his remarkable driving skills, wowing both fans and fellow racers, as he man handled 3000 horsepower to a 3.97 on a 145 degree track surface temp, going sideways through the traps, AND with smoke rolling off the tires in the semis! Sipple stated, “Even after finding the ignition problem, we didn’t know for sure if we had it fixed going into the first round. However, I knew if we had fixed the ignition I would have to also take a lot of power out of the motor to keep the tires calm. It took a staggering 13 degrees of base timing to get the tires to stay under a semi-controlable haze.”

Bissessar and Sipple fought through and overcame all the obstacles of the day, Sipple was trying to remedy the delay box problem as Bissessar sat strapped in the car ready to race. The spectacular final round showdown for the fan packed stands will have to come another day.

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