Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com, through the assistance of a key group of Pro Modified historians and enthusiasts, has compiled a list of the Top 20 all-time drivers based on their contribution to the class, historic achievements, statistics and fan appeal.
Starting on Friday, January 8, 2010, the electronic magazine began revealing those names on the list, and will announce two drivers per week, until the No. 1 driver is unveiled on Saturday, Mar. 20, during the ADRL Dragpalooza in Houston, Texas.
Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com narrowed the list from hundreds of drivers down to 20. Today, we reveal No. 2 on the list.
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Four-time World Champion [IHRA/NHRA]
• Winningest Pro Mod Driver Ever
• Only Driver to Hold Simultaneous Titles [IHRA/NHRA]
Shannon Jenkins was content being a bracket racer and then he saw his first Pro Mod car. The sight of this fast doorslammer, purging the nitrous, shifting 
the Lenco and covering every square inch of the Alabama drag strip from side-to-side was enough to draw him in for a closer look.
That evening, Jenkins was partnered up with successful hometown [Tuscaloosa, Ala.] businessman Norman Estes on a bracket car and during the $10,000-to-win bracket event, Estes suggested, “You know those things look like they’d be a lot of fun.”
The easy going Jenkins concurred, “Yep, I think they would be.”
Who would have ever believed such a simple exchange would lead to one of the most storied careers in the history of Pro Modified racing?
One person did. Jenkins.
“Racing has been a passion of mine since I was nine years old,” said Jenkins, who finished third in his first full season of Pro Modified in 1994.
“Everything I’ve ever done all my life I have put 110-percent in it. Racing has been very good to me. It’s something I love to do. I love it (now) as much as I did back in 1990.”
It didn’t take long for the resourceful and innovative Jenkins to rise to the forefront of nitrous tuning and driving. There were no arguments about his status as king of the nitrous tuners when just one year after driving to four finals in his first full season, he stepped out of the car and tuned Tommy Mauney to the 1995 championship.
Two years later, he drove to a championship of his own.
Two years after the first title, he drove his way to a second.
Those were the only times from 1991 until 1999 that a driver other than Scotty Cannon won a title.
Jenkins came in and picked a drag racing fight with the biggest name in the class. The end result was always a clash of the titans featuring the top runners in each of their respective combinations.
“Scotty was a very good racer and so were we,” said Jenkins. “When you matched two bulls up like us, the end result was a rivalry. His drive to win a championship was equal to mine.”
While their championship runs looked effortless, the truth is both worked their fingers to the bone behind the scenes. For Jenkins, he had no other choice. Not only was he challenging the champion, but a gaggle of other nitrous racers who wanted to be in his perch atop the nitrous mountain.
“You might be on top of this class at one time, but it’s not easy to stay there,” Jenkins admitted. “The only place I know to be is on top in nitrous racing. I don’t know any other place to be. You’ll have to work a lot of years and put in a lot of hours before you are going to get me down.”
Jenkins has proven his worth over the years but never did his value become more evident than when he joined forces with Mike Castellana almost a decade ago. What started out as a engine lease relationship has become so much more.
“I have to say one of the defining moments in my career was joining up with Mike Castellana,” Jenkins said. “Mike is one of those guys who is not only a good driver but a great person to be around. Mike is a champion inside and outside of the car. He certainly understands the value of racing the right way. We’ve been together for the last ten years, but we’ve had so much fun that it hardly seems like it has been that long.”
Together Jenkins and Castellana have won a combined three championships including an incredible 2002 run where he won both IHRA and NHRA titles. Three years later, Jenkins not only tuned Castellana to an IHRA championship but also finished runner-up for the crown, another first for Pro Mod team cars.
Jenkins stands as the winningest national event Pro Modified racer with 33 career victories, 18 in IHRA, eight in NHRA and seven in ADRL Pro Nitrous. He is the winningest nitrous racer in all three major series.
In 16 seasons, Jenkins has raced his way to 44 final rounds.
And in those 16 years, he’s watched the nitrous combination go to the front, go to the back and pull alongside the supercharged combination, yet he never wavered in his intention to remain with the combination no matter how bleak the future looked. He always believed his loyalty to the combination led to his success all these years later.
Jenkins always believed Pro Modified was the class for him.
“I look at Pro Modified as the wide-open class full of diversity,” Jenkins said. “There’s no ending to what you can achieve because you are always working to improve, engines or race cars. You can pick and choose which side you want to be on. And for me, it’s just as wide open today as it was when I started. The more keep working on combinations the more advanced it’s going to get. This is the kind of class where you work can put you high on a pedestal or lack thereof, can knock you down in a hurry. It’s very challenging and that’s the part that intrigues me. There’s always room for improvement.”
The room for improvement is what made the class fun for him.
For the complete list visit: ATTITUDE’S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM’S ALL-TIME TOP 20 HOMEPAGE
