Mike Castellana did his best not to end up in the asterisk category. The veteran Pro Modified driver of over two decades, and from Westbury, New York, didn’t want to join Rob Bruins and Eddie Krawiec as those NHRA professional drag racers who won a world championship despite not having won a race in the season. 

Castellana did his part on Sunday, stopping Kevin Rivenbark in the final round of the NHRA Nevada Nationals to put an exclamation mark on his first career NHRA series championship. He clinched the title in the second round by stopping Dmitry Samorukov. It was Rivenbark who did Castellana a favor when he knocked off Justin Bond in the same round.

Sunday's race was the last of 10 events during the 2023 season and the fourth race in the category’s Road to the Championship. This weekend’s race was powered by JBS Equipment and Saturday belonged to Castellana, a longtime Pro Mod veteran.
 
“It’s totally awesome. I had no clue. I knew I was third in the points. I didn’t want to think about what we had to do,” Castellana said. “I knew we had to win the race; that was our goal. I had no clue we could win the championship. I have to thank my whole team; those guys are just amazing. This is awesome. It means a lot. Over the years, we’ve won championships in other circuits, but we’ve been chasing this one for a long time. We came so close a few years back, but we got it this year.”

 
Castellana, who was also the No. 1 qualifier in a dominant final weekend of the year, went 5.703 at 250.74 to easily hold off Rivenbark, capping his championship year off with his first victory of the season. It was the ideal ending to Castellana’s season, as his late-season run helped clinch the world title in the talent-filled FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Type A Motorsports.
 
“It’s an amazing story. I just can’t believe it,” Castellana said. “We came into this weekend, and we wanted to win the race. I didn’t have any thoughts about the championship, but everything came together. Everybody did an awesome job on this car, and we won the race and the championship.”
 
Kevin Rivenbark reached the final round for the first time by knocking off Ken Quartuccio, Bond, and Sidnei Frigo. The 2024 schedule in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Type A Motorsports will be announced later this week.