EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK GSA PRO MODS POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND  FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

MONDAY NOTEBOOK: SMITH WINS GAINESVILLE AGAIN

Veteran Pro Mod driver Rickie Smith raced to his first career victory in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx Monday during the rain-delayed Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals presented by NAPAFilters.com.

Smith, a former multi-time winner in NHRA Pro Stock competition, held off event top qualifier Mike Castellana in the final round after defeating Adam Flamholc, Raymond Commisso and Leah Pruett in the first three rounds. In his only other NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series final round appearance, Smith lost to Khalid alBalooshi last spring in Las Vegas.

In the final round at historic Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, Smith powered his trademark red '68 Camaro past Castellana's '68 Camaro with a performance of 5.913 seconds at 240.29 mph. Castellana left the starting line first with an amazing .006 reaction time, but his car got loose near mid-track and slowed to a run of 6.435 at 189.79.

The key round for Smith was his semifinal victory over Leah Pruett. Smith won that race on a holeshot, using a quicker reaction time at the starting line with his performance of 5.926 at 239.95 to cross the finish line about seven feet in front of Pruett, who had the quicker time and speed in her late-model Ford Mustang, posting a 5.919 at 251.34.

With the victory, Smith opens the season in the series lead, 19 points ahead of Castellana.

The NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx continues April 13-15 at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, N.C. with the third annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

POINTS

1.  Rickie Smith; 2.  Mike Castellana; 3.  Leah Pruett; 4.  Donald Martin; 5.  Danny Rowe; 6.  Mike Knowles; 7.  Kenny Lang; 8.  Raymond Commisso; 9.  Roger Burgess; 10.  Donald Walsh; 11.  Adam Flamholc; 12.  Ike Maier; 13.  Pete Farber; 14.  Troy Coughlin; 15.  Steve Matusek; 16.  Jay Payne.

Final round-by-round results from the 43rd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals presented by NAPAFilters.com at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, first of 10 in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx.:

ROUND ONE -- Mike Knowles, Chevy Camaro, 5.919, 241.63 def. Pete Farber, Dodge Daytona, foul; Leah Pruett, Ford Mustang, 5.916, 251.34 def. Steve Matusek, Mustang, 12.231, 71.16; Raymond Commisso, Camaro, 6.338, 183.44 def. Troy Coughlin, Camaro, 8.056, 111.09; Kenny Lang, Camaro, 5.892, 244.34 def. Roger Burgess, Pontiac Firebird, 6.009, 246.48; Donald Martin, Camaro, 5.936, 245.23 def. Donald Walsh, Mustang, 6.044, 236.96; Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.927, 238.72 def. Adam Flamholc, Camaro, 6.064, 234.21; Danny Rowe, Camaro, 5.890, 244.96 def. Ike Maier, Chevy Corvette, 6.271, 230.25; Mike Castellana, Camaro, 5.904, 243.55 def. Jay Payne, Camaro, 13.146, 76.48;

QUARTERFINALS -- Smith, 5.887, 240.64 def. Commisso, 11.859, 70.22; Castellana, 5.810, 246.39 def. Knowles, 5.922, 241.93; Martin, 5.978, 236.63 def. Lang, 7.997, 119.24; Pruett, 5.895, 251.34 def. Rowe, 5.908, 244.83;

SEMIFINALS -- Smith, 5.926, 239.95 def. Pruett, 5.919, 251.34; Castellana, 6.437, 232.87 def. Martin, foul;

FINAL -- Smith, 5.913, 240.29 def. Castellana, 6.435, 189.79.

 
Point standings (top 10) for the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx following the 43rd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals presented by NAPAFilters.com at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, first of 10 in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx.

1.  Rickie Smith, 101; 2.  Mike Castellana, 82; 3.  Donald Martin, 68; 4.  Leah Pruett, 66; 5. Danny Rowe, 59; 6.  Kenny Lang, 56; 7.  Mike Knowles, 55; 8.  Raymond Commisso, 54; 9.  Troy Coughlin, 45; 10.  (tie) Roger Burgess, 43. Pete Farber, 43; Steve Matusek, 43; Adam Flamholc, 43.

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK: PRUETT TOPS SATURDAY FIRST ROUND WINNERS

The NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx kicked off their season at the 43rd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals presented by NAPAFilters.com at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville. Mike Castellana’s Camaro lead the 16-car field when eliminations got underway Saturday afternoon and took out veteran Jay Payne in the opening round at the historic track.

Leah Pruett started from the seventh qualifying position and advanced to the quarterfinals with her quickest pass of the weekend, 5.916 seconds at 250.83 mph, outrunning Steve Matusek’s Mustang in the process.  Raymond Commisso, Mike Knowles, Kenny Lang, Donald Martin, Rickie Smith and Danny Rowe also advanced to the quarterfinals.

Eliminations for the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series will continue Sunday afternoon, following the opening round of eliminations of the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series categories.

First round-by-round results from the 43rd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals presented by NAPAFilters.com at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville, the first of 10 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx.

ROUND ONE -- Mike Knowles, Chevy Camaro, 5.919, 241.63 def. Pete Farber, Dodge Daytona, foul; Leah Pruett, Ford Mustang, 5.916, 251.34 def. Steve Matusek, Mustang, 12.231, 71.16; Raymond Commisso, Camaro, 6.338, 183.44 def. Troy Coughlin, Camaro, 8.056, 111.09; Kenny Lang, Camaro, 5.892, 244.34 def. Roger Burgess, Pontiac Firebird, 6.009, 246.48; Donald Martin, Camaro, 5.936, 245.23 def. Donald Walsh, Mustang, 6.044, 236.96; Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.927, 238.72 def. Adam Flamholc, Camaro, 6.064, 234.21; Danny Rowe, Camaro, 5.890, 244.96 def. Ike Maier, Chevy Corvette, 6.271, 230.25; Mike Castellana, Camaro, 5.904, 243.55 def. Jay Payne, Camaro, 13.146, 76.48.

Saturday's first-round pairings for NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx for the 43rd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals presented by NAPAFilters.com at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville.  Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.

DNQs listed below pairings.

Pro Modified -- 1. Mike Castellana, Chevy Camaro, 5.862, 245.72  vs. 16. Jay Payne, Camaro, 6.955, 214.89; 2. Danny Rowe, Camaro, 5.892, 246.48  vs. 15. Ike Maier, Chevy Corvette, 6.761, 189.95; 3. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.911, 240.42  vs. 14. Adam Flamholc, Camaro, 6.146, 231.04; 4. Donald Martin, Camaro, 5.919, 245.09  vs. 13. Donald Walsh, Ford Mustang, 6.019, 239.57; 5. Kenny Lang, Camaro, 5.942, 243.06  vs. 12. Roger Burgess, Pontiac Firebird, 6.017, 244.25; 6. Troy Coughlin, Camaro, 5.946, 256.26  vs. 11. Raymond Commisso, Camaro, 6.014, 246.26; 7. Leah Pruett, Mustang, 5.952, 250.83  vs. 10. Steve Matusek, Mustang, 5.984, 248.34; 8. Mike Knowles, Camaro, 5.964, 240.08  vs. 9. Pete Farber, Dodge Daytona, 5.976, 242.19.

Did Not Qualify: 17. Scott Ray, 8.278, 151.68; 18. Mike Janis, 13.308, 68.31.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK: CRASH MARS EXCELLENT DAY IN PRO MOD

JANIS CRASHES - NHRA Get Screened America Pro Modified racer Mike Janis was uninjured following a high speed crash at the NHRA Tire Kingdom Gatornationals hosted by Auto Plus Raceway at Gainesville.

Janis lost control of his supercharged Mustang around the 1,000 foot mark, rolled it over on the roof and impacted both retaining walls before coming to a stop in the shutdown area. His opponent Roger Burgess had lifted early in the run and was able to take evasive measures.

Janis was checked by onsite medical personnel and released.

“I am fine,” Janis said. “The car rolled over fairly easy. I guess the fire was the scariest part. The injector got ripped off, so there was fuel just pouring in [the car]. I was able to get it [fuel] shut off and with the safety crew they have here at the NHRA, you don’t worry about them getting to you. They were on me within I guess … ten seconds.”

Janis admitted he probably drove the car a little further than he should have.

“A stupid move, it got a little loose,” said Janis. “It shook and I got out of it. I knew all I had to run was a 6.50 to get where I needed to be. I rolled back into the throttle and almost had it to the floor when I got a little over to the right and it hooked. It hooked and was probably a little too far into the marbles. That was the end of the story.”

Janis said he once cheated fate on a similar run and didn’t crash.

“Not this time,” admitted Janis. “I didn’t get away with it this time.”

TOP RUNNER - The first NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx of the year kicked off at the 43rd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals presented by NAPAFilters.com and it was Mike Castellana that raced to the qualifying lead. Castellana posted a 5.862 second pass at 242.80 mph to lead the 17 cars entered into the event. If he holds onto the No.1 qualifying position it will be the second of his 13-race career.

Also attempting to qualify for the 16 car field is Rickie Smith in second with a time of 5.920 seconds at 237.34, Donald Martin in third at 5.945 at 243.02, Troy Coughlin at 5.946 at 256.26 and Leah Pruett who is currently fifth after running 5.952 seconds at 250.83.

The third round of qualifying for the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday followed by the first round of eliminations at 1:30 p. m.

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

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