After his son got pneumonia right before the first IHRA Divisional in Crandall, Charlie decided to make the trip anyhow and drive the family ’63 Vette in Super Rod. With no lofty expectations, Charlie decided to just have fun, and never dreamed he would end up winning Sunday. With a win under his belt in IHRA competition, the decision was made for Charlie to run the car at the remaining 2011 IHRA Division 4 Renegades points races of the season. At the 2nd stop on the schedule in Baton Rouge, Charlie picked up yet another win. It was at this point that Charlie realized he was in the points battle, a position he never dreamed he’d be in this late in his racing career. Following a strong showing at the Shreveport make-up race, Charlie headed into the final race of the year in San Antonio, Texas holding on the points lead. “We had looked at the points before heading south, and noticed Arlie Boggs had recently traveled out of state and runnered-up at Mountain Park Dragway divisional. We were still sitting at 410, out front by 28 points over Arlie, and 48 points over Clark Mundt. Luckily we drew Clark Mundt first round Day 1 in San Antonio and were able to pick up the win. Advancing to the 4th round Day 1 netted us another 11 points, putting our total at 421. Day 2 paired Arlie and Clark 1st round and this obviously played into our favor since whoever lost would be out of the hunt. Arlie won that round, and all we could hope was to match him round for round so he couldn’t gain any points. Unfortunately we lost 3rd round Day 2, and were at the mercy of the remaining racer’s to knock out Arlie Boggs. A win for Arlie would have won the division championship, but as fate would have it, Philip Pennington put an end to his hopes for a championship in the semis. With Boggs losing, the championship was won, and our focus shifted to the Tournament of Champions race next month in Virginia. We plan on giving the other racers a run for their money in the TOC, God willing we will bring home the Super Rod World Championship to D4. I’d like to thank my wife Diana who attended every IHRA race with me this year, InsideSuperRacing.com, and of course Charlie Stewart Race Cars.”
