Rick Stivers, driver of the Trane '06 Pro Mod Stratus, used blistering times and bracket-car consistency to win the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway.
 
Stivers qualified No. 3 with a 5.940 at 240.85 mph and then ran like a bracket car at 5.927, 5.913, 5.919 and 5.908-seconds to earn his second-ever trip to the Pro Mod Challenge winners circle. In round one, Stivers dispatched Dennis Radford, and then moved on to take out No. 2 in the points Roger Burgess followed by points-leader Burton Auxier.
 
In the final, Stivers rode his Trane past Melanie Troxel in a thrilling side-by-side drag race by running a 5.908 at 241.89 to Troxel's 5.946 at 242.36.

Rick Stivers, driver of the Trane '06 Pro Mod Stratus, used blistering times and bracket-car consistency to win the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway.
 
Stivers qualified No. 3 with a 5.940 at 240.85 mph and then ran like a bracket car at 5.927, 5.913, 5.919 and 5.908-seconds to earn his second-ever trip to the Pro Mod Challenge winners circle. In round one, Stivers dispatched Dennis Radford, and then moved on to take out No. 2 in the points Roger Burgess followed by points-leader Burton Auxier.
 
In the final, Stivers rode his Trane past Melanie Troxel in a thrilling side-by-side drag race by running a 5.908 at 241.89 to Troxel's 5.946 at 242.36.
 
Troxel used similar consistency and prowess to advance to her first Pro Mod Challenge final. She ran a 5.986 at 240.81 to defeat Mike Castellana's 6.004 at 233.84 mph. next, she ran a 5.971 at 242.54 to take out the No. 1 qualifier Brad Personett, and then ran a 5.983 at 241.89 to dismiss Joe Baker and advance to the final.
 
Stivers said, "That was a great final round, Melanie is an awesome competitor, and I think the fans got a great show all day long. We were on a tear, all weekend long. Brad Anderson had this car hopped up, and we had the car to beat.
 
"This weekend has been some of the best racing anytime, anywhere, and I have to thank my entire team, Brad, my wife Jill, and my son Rick Jr., who couldn't be here this weekend but who I know was listening on the Internet and was screaming with us as I took the stripe."
 
Troxel said, "Al (Billes, crew chief) kept after it all weekend, and we were able to get the R2B2 Motors/ProCare Rx Corvette into the finals by being consistent. In that last round, we knew we had to give it all we had, and we just didn't have quite enough. It was a great weekend, a great race, and we're all really proud of what we were able to do.
 
"I love racing here in Charlotte, the track is amazing - you don't have to worry about bumps or problems, and both lanes are pretty much equal, so you can take the lane choice pretty much out of the equation. It's a great facility, one of the very best," she said.
 
Number one qualifier Brad Personett was also on a tear all weekend, running the second-quickest time ever in Pro Mod Challenge competition at 5.872 to take the top spot. He ran a 5.955 at 236.34 to defeat Kirk Wilmes in the first round, but hurt his motor in the process. Overnight, his team changed the motor, but when he faced off against Melanie Troxel in the quarterfinals, an air gap hadn't been set properly and caused the car to lose power at the hit of the throttle.
 
Personett said, "We've worked so hard to get to this point, and even though we didn't go any farther this weekend, we know what it takes now to get down the track, and I think that next time we'll have things lined up to go more rounds."
 
The points battles tightened up for both the championship as well as qualifying for the $35,000 MATCO Tools Pro Mod Clash. While there are two races left to determine the World Champion, drivers only have one race - Richmond, Virginia - left to earn points to break into the top eight spots that qualify for the race-within-a-race that will be contested during qualifying at the Challenge finals in Las Vegas.
 
With more than 230 points still available until the finals, Burton Auxier still holds onto the lead despite his early exit from today's event. Right on his heels are Roger Burgess and Danny Rowe, both less than 60 points or three round-wins out of first place. Also within striking distance are Mike Castellana and Joe Baker, along with Raymond Commisso, Jay Payne and Tim Tindle who mathematically could win with although with very slim odds.
 
Competing for the Matco Tools Clash, Tim Tindle currently holds the No. 8 spot with 342 points, followed within 60 points by Brad Personett, Mike Knowles and today's winner Rick Stivers who each have a chance to bump into the Clash and earn a chance to compete for their piece of the $35,000 purse up for grabs.
 
Burton Auxier took home the $500 B&J Racing Transmissions Bonus by winning his first-round match against Jay Payne by a holeshot, 5.972 at 236.63 to Payne's 5.943 at 240.51.
 
Next up on the calendar for the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge is the Virginia NHRA Nationals in Richmond, Va. scheduled for October 9-11.
 
Current Standings (After 8 of 10 events)
1 Auxier 578
2 Burgess 524
3 Rowe 521
4 Castellana 475
5 Baker 461
6 Commisso 407
7 Payne 393
8 Tindle 385
9 Personett 347
10 Knowles 342
11 Stivers 326
12 Smith 233
13 Lastor 200
14 Troxel 122
15 Laird 155
16 Lang 140
17 Wilmes 104
18 Gray 85
19 Radford 83
20 Maier 72
21 King 67
22 McCoy 63
23 Gibson 42
24 D'Aprile 43
25 Stock 32
26 Budano 31
27 Hance 31
28 Patille 31
29 Russo 31
30 DiStefano 41
31 Ray 41
32 Christoffel 10
33 Flamholc 10
34 Landis 10 

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