Pro Modified, a 10-race series which competes as a part of the NHRA's championship drag racing platform, has been described as putting three species of wild territorial animals in a cage and expecting them to get along. 

The volatile division features full-bodied cars with three different power adders racing under three different sets of rules. Those combinations include nitrous oxide-injected engines utilizing either carburetors or electronic fuel injection, superchargers or turbochargers. Maintaining parity has been a never-ending proposition for the NHRA's technical department. Establishing peace has rarely ever been achieved. 

So what does the NHRA do with this seemingly untamable division to calm the waters? This weekend they will run these cars four-abreast as the 24-race NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing tour heads to Concord, North Carolina for the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals this weekend.

"It ought to be interesting," admitted Larry Morgan, a former Pro Stock driver who now competes in the J&A Services Pro Modified division driving a 3000-horsepower, supercharged Camaro. "I can tell you that it's going to be quite the show. If you get a ticket for Friday, you are going to get some serious entertainment."

Morgan has a leg up on most the competition in 4-Wide experience, with the exception of Khalid al-Balooshi and Jonathan Gray, as he is a past champion of the challenging race in a full-bodied race car.

"I guess because the four wide style of racing is so confusing, is why I did so well at it," Morgan said with a laugh. 

Morgan believes the most entertaining aspect of the race might be in the staging process, as the three power adders require a different staging procedures. A two-car race requires an intricately coordinated staging process. 

The nitrous combination is considered the least challenging to stage followed by the supercharged, which must bring the rpm's of the engine to a high level for launch. The turbocharged cars require extra time in which to spool up the engine. Add in this, seven seconds maximum in which to full stage once all four pre-stage lights are illuminated puts all under pressure. 

"Staging is going to throw in as big of a monkey wrench into the process as you will ever find," Morgan admitted. "Just watching these cars stage could be as exciting as the race itself. The sound of all three power adders together should create one crazy sound. There will be a timeout or five I'll bet. There may be a few arguments at the top end of the track. All they have to do is use their heads, and it will be fine. They will love it once they get used to it."

Stevie "Fast" Jackson, new to the NHRA Pro Modified fraternity, has raced in many versions of the class, both domestic and abroad, conventional and unconventional, welcomes the challenge of racing four wide. 

"It’s going to be awesome, it’s going to be fun, and the fans of Pro Modified racing are going to get to see some stuff they ain’t never seen before," Jackson said. "This is going to be like a mix between Saturday night grudge racing in Jackson, South Carolina and NHRA, and Indy Car racing all at once. It’s going to be fun. 

Jackson, who has raced a 3,000-horsepower car on radial tires measuring 10.5-inches wide, says nothing about this challenge intimidates him. 

"No part of drag racing that intimidates me," Jackson declared. "I just like to get it in the lights. The good thing about it is you get an opportunity to crush twice the folks at the same time. So instead of loading up one guy (in the final round), you get to load up three guys. So three times the folks. It’s going to be cool." 

The Pro Modified-style of drag racing actually has roots in the Carolinas. In fact, drag racing historians have confirmed the first versions of this style of racing has roots which can be traced just down the road from zMax Dragway in Charlotte, NC, where a track once known as Shuffletown Dragway staged Quick Eight races, the precursor to the official professional category in the mid-to-late 1980s. 

Shuffletown Dragway, located off of the Mt. Holly- Huntersville exit on Interstate 85, was closed down in the early 1990s and was later used in the construction of the Interstate-485 bypass.  

Scotty Cannon, regarded as the most prolific driver in the class with six world championships, plans to spectate the monumental first for the class he helped to pioneer.

"It was crazy and dangerous back in the early days to run these cars two-wide, and considering running them four-wide was nothing but an accident waiting to happen," Cannon of Lyman, South Carolina said. "This class has come a long way since those days but nothing has changed about them, they still have a mind of their own and will change directions without any advance notice."

Rickie Smith, the hometown favorite for the event, was looking forward to competing in the event but an unplanned back surgery will relegate him to a tuner for the weekend with Jonathan Gray serving as a substitute driver. 

"I think it will be different," Smith said. "I don’t really care much for it, but I’d say let’s run it and see what it does. It’ll bring a little excitement to it I guess. It’s probably going to get some people; I hope it doesn't get me."