[h=2]IHRA: Alaskan makes the World Championship - his own way[/h] Steven Cole Smith (words and image)
Monte Soper admits it: "This year, I cheated."
No, not on the track. Soper, of Palmer, Alaska, admits that he did not tow down his pristine black 1965 Chevrolet Malibu, which has a potent 632-cubic inch V-8 under the hood, to the IHRA Summit Tournament of Champions and Summit SuperSeries season-ender at Memphis International Raceway.
Despite the Alaska license plate he bolted onto the back, this Malibu came from Oklahoma. The rest of Soper's confession: "I cheated, and flew down. I shipped my truck, and bought a trailer, and I bought this Malibu in Oklahoma.
"I will, however, tow the whole thing back to Alaska," a trip he guesses will take "five or six days, if I don't take too many naps."
Back home, Soper races a small-block Camaro. Local track turnout is modest – "25 or 30 cars on a good day" – but the racing in intense, since the season is so short.
"Mother's Day to Labor Day," he says. "That's all we have."