The whisperings and murmuring floated throughout the pits at Pro Modified events. At the traditional Pro Modified settings the consensus amongst those naysayers was the nitrous combination couldn’t compete. The spoken but unwritten memo made its rounds.

Mike Castellana heard the talk but never subscribed to the belief.

If last month’s firestorm of nitrous potential in Milan, Mich., didn’t send a message to the competition, his victory at the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md., made the point crystal clear.

He not only won his seventh national event to pull into a tie for the ninth position amongst all-time winners in Pro Modified, he also laid down the fastest speed amongst nitrous-injected racers in the class with a 239.14 mph blast.
Nitrous diehard proves the combination is far from dead …

The whisperings and murmuring floated throughout the pits at Pro Modified events. At the traditional Pro Modified settings the consensus amongst those naysayers was the nitrous combination couldn’t compete. The spoken but unwritten memo made its rounds.

Mike Castellana heard the talk but never subscribed to the belief.

If last month’s firestorm of nitrous potential in Milan, Mich., didn’t send a message to the competition, his victory at the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md., made the point crystal clear.

He not only won his seventh national event to pull into a tie for the ninth position amongst all-time winners in Pro Modified, he also laid down the fastest speed amongst nitrous-injected racers in the class with a 239.14 mph blast.

“This has been one of the biggest challenges we’ve ever faced as a race team,” Castellana said. “We had to step outside the box, get out of our comfort zone and try and make something happen – to try and breathe life back into a program [nitrous –assisted engines] that a lot of people had given up on. Last year was a struggle, but it looks like all our hard work is really starting to pay off. Now, we’re getting a handle on this Reher-Morrison/Speedtech horsepower and we’re going to be a contender.”

The performance of this Firebird is proof positive that we’re making big power – 239 mph speaks loud and clear. – Mike Castellana

 

Castellana made wholesale changes to his team in 2005 by leaving the confines of longtime engine builder Gene Fulton to begin an engine program with Dave Reher at Reher-Morrison Race Engines. He’s also got three-time Pro Modified world champion Shannon Jenkins serving exclusively as crew chief and not racing this season in IHRA.

Jenkins, along with Brandon Switzer, made the tuning calls this weekend for Castellana’s triumph.

“There have been a lot of sleepless nights leading up to this,” said Jenkins. “Working with David Reher and bringing their knowledge and technology to the table, combined with our experience in nitrous racing, has made all the difference. Not to mention, the simple fact that we’re focused on a single car here in the IHRA. We’ve got the Firebird to concentrate on and the ‘Black Ice’ car for the ADRL. This way Brandon and I can make collective tuning decisions on one car on race day.”

Castellana couldn’t be more pleased with the Al Anabi Awesome Motorsports team.

“There’s no question about this team,” Castellana said. “I feel this is just the beginning as our partnership with Al Anabi is only going to let us maximize on what we’re already doing. The performance of this Firebird is proof positive that we’re making big power – 239mph speaks loud and clear.”

Another issue that speaks loud and clearly for Castellana is a battle for the five second zone. With the breaking of that barrier the Pro Modified community will never look at the nitrous cars in the same manner. They might already see them in a different light as evidenced by event runner-up Ed Hoover, a former nitrous runner turned supercharged racer.

In Maryland, Castellana beat fellow nitrous racer Pat Stoken in a pedal-fest before flat outrunning every supercharged car which crossed his path.

Castellana added, “After we got out of the cars on the return road, Ed came over to congratulate me and said, ‘It’s been a long, long time since a nitrous car has pulled away from me.’ Personally, I think that says a lot for this team and we couldn’t be happier.”