No one wanted to hold the Pro Modified "Ironman" trophy in the winners circle. Quain Stott, who took the final against teammate Tommy D'Aprile in a highly unconventional side-by-side parade down the quarter-mile, sat it on the ground. D'Aprile walked around it.

 

"If we can't hold it together, we're not going to hold it," Stott said. "This is a team deal."

 

Stott had just won the race, officially, with a 41.828-second elapsed time at a whopping 25.24 mph to D'Aprile's 44.480/28.04, to jump from fourth in the standings to first. The numbers are correct. They had arranged beforehand to travel alongside each other in their '63 Corvettes to the finish line. When they reached the stripe, they stopped, then Stott rolled across first.

 

No one wanted to hold the Pro Modified "Ironman" trophy in the winners circle. Quain Stott, who took the final against teammate Tommy D'Aprile in a highly unconventional side-by-side parade down the quarter-mile, sat it on the ground. D'Aprile walked around it.

 

"If we can't hold it together, we're not going to hold it," Stott said. "This is a team deal."

 

Stott had just won the race, officially, with a 41.828-second elapsed time at a whopping 25.24 mph to D'Aprile's 44.480/28.04, to jump from fourth in the standings to first. The numbers are correct. They had arranged beforehand to travel alongside each other in their '63 Corvettes to the finish line. When they reached the stripe, they stopped, then Stott rolled across first.

 

D'Aprile, who offered to let Stott win., said, "This is what has to be done. We live and die as a team. We're not only a team -- we're a family."

 

Stott, who drives the Lee Boy entry, said they agreed to run the final that way because "we're not lying about what goes on here. We respect our fans and our sponsors. This is a team deal. What's got to happen has got to happen."

 

He said he wanted everyone to know that the idea was D'Aprile's. "This was Tommy's decision. There were no team orders," Stott said. "He could've let the clutch out and crossed first if he'd wanted to. My hat's off to Tommy for doing what he did, because he didn't have to do it."

 

D'Aprile's "Support The Troops" car carried an American flag affixed to the rear end. He said they wanted the sponsors to get some attention and wanted to salute our military because "it has been such a positive car all year long and people are just so emotional about it."