NHRA U.S. NATIONALS - PRO MODIFIED NOTEBOOK
Keep up with this weekend's AMS Pro Modified action in Indianapolis by reading our behind-the-scenes event notebook. We will bring you the stories behind the numbers and win-lights throughout the course of the weekend. Tune in daily for the latest news from the pits.
Laird wins his first ever at the U.S. Nationals
It was billed as the best AMS Pro Mod Challenge race ever, the NHRA Mac Tools
U.S. Nationals, and Harold Laird made his very first AMS Pro Mod event win even
more memorable by defeating defending event champion and current points leader
Josh Hernandez.
In just his third start of the season and the first time
he's made it past the first round this season, Laird definitely brought his "A"
game to Indy. Qualifying lucky No. 13 with a 6.195/230.69, Laird delivered a
strong performance throughout eliminations, defeating defending World Champion
Jay Payne in the first round, Mike Knowles in the second, and John Russo by a
holeshot in the semifinals.
Getting to the finals to face Laird, Josh
Hernandez and his Dr. Moon's Rage '68 Camaro dispatched nitrous-powered Mike
Castellana in round one, Shelly Payne and her Brad Anderson-tuned '68 Camaro,
and O'Reilly Raceway Park speed record setter Steve Engel. Engel ran a
blistering 242.15 mph in eliminations to take the track record bragging
rights.
In the final round, Hernandez selected the right lane to face the
charging Laird, and with nearly identical reaction times (.051 to Hernandez'
.055), the two fought a classic side-by-side battle, with the Baton
Rouge-resident Laird defeating the defending champion at the line, 6.102/235.72
to 6.124/237.84.
"This means so much to me, I can't even think of the
words," an ecstatic Laird said. "We've struggled so hard just to get out here,
and to have this kind of success is un-imaginable. It really makes all the work
worth it, and I couldn't be happier.
"It's not just another race, it's
the U.S. Nationals, and to win my first race here is just awesome," he
said.
Hernandez said, "We were really hoping to defend last year's title
but Harold really gave us quite a race. I'm so proud of my team for getting
Tommy Lipar Racing and Dr. Moon's RAGE to the finals for the third straight year
at the U.S. Nationals."
Other notable events of the weekend were
surprise DNQ's by No. 2 in BAE Championship points Raymond Commisso, along with
series presenting sponsor Tim Tindle and his teammate Rick Stivers. Both cars
struggled to get down the track in the tricky hot conditions. Also not
qualifying were turbo-powered Mike Moran and Troy Coughlin.
Coughlin
said, "We came into the race knowing we needed to increase our wheel speed down
low and we accomplished that without question. We just need to control it now
and we'll do that through chassis adjustments and utilizing different gear
ratios.
"We're doing something, or trying to do something, that no one
has ever done before, so every run is progress in my mind. We came here to get
in the field and race for the trophy and we missed that goal. But, we did get to
make some big runs down a track that is prepared to NHRA specifications for a
national event. That's what it takes to get better," he said.
Next up on
the schedule for the AMS Pro Mod Challenge presented by Tindle Enterprises, Inc.
is the O'Reilly Fall Nationals Sept. 20-23 in Ennis, Texas, just outside of
Dallas.
BAE Championship Points Standings (after 7
events)
1. Josh Hernandez 3566
2. Raymond Commisso
2053
3. Jay Payne 1850
4. Tony Pontieri 1547
5. Tim
Tindle 1432
6. Troy Critchley 1356
7. Steve Engel
1337
8. Shelly Payne 1015
9. Scott Ray 989
10. Mike
Janis 850
11. Doug Palmer 841
12. Scott Cannon
801
13. Harold Laird 785
14. John Russo 767
15.
Rick Stivers 679
16. Matt Hagan 653
17. Bryan Seward
613
18. Dan Rowe 597
19. Mike Stawicki 520
20. Cody
Barklage 516
21. Troy Coughlin 404
22. Tommy Gray
394
23. Mike Knowles 361
24. Mike Bell 330
25. Zach
Barklage 283
26. Eddie Ware 279
27. Raymond Vettel
279
28. Andy McCoy 254
29. Chip King 185
30.
Shannon Jenkins 131
31. Brandon Pesz 130
32. Joe
Mulligan 129
33. Mike Castellana 127
34. Quain Stott
126
35. Gene Terenzio 25
36. Dan Saitz 25
37.
Isaias Rojas 25
38. William Rojas 25
39. Mike Moran
25
40. Angel Garcia 25
41. John Deflorian 25
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