Florida Tech Driver Breaks 6-Second Barrier at Northern Nationals Jet Dragster Races

Holbrook Beats 2014 Champion Larsen in Elimination Round

MELBOURNE, FLA. — Coming off of her first win, a consolation race victory at the Rocky Mountain Nationals last month, Florida Tech Jet Dragster driver Shea Holbook powered her way to another milestone at the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Aeromotive: a sub-6-second run.

Hitting 268 mph over the quarter-mile stretch at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan on Aug. 9, Holbrook posted an elapsed time of 5.9 seconds in her elimination-round victory over Larsen Motorsports colleague and 2014 IHRA Nitro Jam champion Elaine Larsen.

Holbrook then lost to Marisha Falk in the final when she left the line before the final starting light had turned on. It was Falk’s third finals win of the season.

But there were plenty of positives to take from the event overall.

“If felt great to see some benefits from how hard we’ve been working on the Florida Tech jet dragster,” Holbrook said. “We are excited about winning the first round of eliminations against Elaine with our best yet elapsed time, but there is still more to find in our car.”

Holbrook’s crew chief, Jake Elliott, agreed, saying he was pleased to see progress in the performance of the dragster but that the best is yet to come.

“We now have data to go forward and make those ever-crucial tuning decisions to get this FIT dragster into the winner’s circle,” he said.

Elaine Larsen added, “I’m a competitor, and as frustrating as it was to see Shea’s win light go on, I was so proud of her and how far she has come as a jet dragster racer. Her focus on the starting line is going to take her very far.”

The weekend in Martin also featured races that had been delayed by rainouts at previous events.

In a finals race postponed from the IHRA Nitro Jam Summer Nationals in late May, Larsen defeated Kat Moller, winning her third finals race of the season.

Rain in Michigan forced the finals of another delayed race, the mid-June IHRA Nitro Jam President’s Cup Nationals, to be pushed back yet again. The race, pitting Falk against Larsen, is scheduled for the IHRA Mopar Nitro Jam Nationals presented by Williams Racing in Grand Bend, Ontario, on Aug. 15-16.

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