It will have been more than two months since the NHRA Pro Mod class last raced by the time they enter the lanes for this weekend’s U.S. Nationals in Indy.

But points leader Mike Castellana has stayed very busy in the downtime, in part because he sees a certain yellow Corvette coming on strong.

After a torrid start to open the season, two-time world champ Troy Coughlin has closed the gap to just 82 points on Castellana, one reason why the Pro Mod veteran wanted to stay busy heading to Indy.

“It’s always good to get seat time and testing went very well,” said Castellana, who also tested during the Indy test session last week. “It let us try some things to get ready for the next two races. We’re looking forward to this. It’s the biggest race of the year.”

Castellana is seeking his first U.S. Nationals win in Pro Mod, and he’s already had a banner season in 2017 considering the major change to start the year.
A longtime standout in a nitrous car, Castellana made the transition to a supercharger-powered Camaro and has barley missed a step.

Working with the legendary Frank Manzo, Castellana started the year with two victories and four final round appearances through the first five events. 
Converting to a blower car has been an enjoyable process for Castellana, who listed a number of reasons why he’s having an enjoyable 2017 season.

“Just driving a new combination has a been a lot of fun,” Castellana said. “Getting behind the wheel has been pretty exciting. I like the noise and it’s been a lot of fun. The way everything came together earlier in the season, and the performance of the car and the team, it’s been great.”

A 15-3 start in the loaded class was impressive, but considering the level of competition, it wasn’t sustainable. 

But Coughlin, who has always been able to finish strong, is once again hot heading into the final four races of the NHRA Pro Mod season.

He’s advanced to back-to-back finals, winning in Bristol and losing to Shane Molinari in the final round at the most recent race in Norwalk, and that run certainly has Castellana’s attention heading to Indy.

“This race is important and we need to do well,” said Castellana, who has eight career NHRA Pro Mod wins. “That yellow car is coming on strong. We need a strong showing right off the bat in Indy. We’re capable of winning, definitely. We had a great start and we’re trying to finish just as well. (Troy) has been coming on strong the last couple races, but we’re going to do the best we can.”

The soft-spoken and reserved Castellana certainly won’t let the moment get the better of him, meaning he’s excited to get to Indy. For as long as he has been racing, getting a first U.S. Nationals win against a field of 30 Pro Mod standouts would mean a great deal. 

Strengthening that points lead with a vision of his first NHRA Pro Mod world championship wouldn’t hurt matters, either.

“We can’t miss a beat right now,” Castellana said. “If you mess up once, it could cost you big. We had a bigger points lead and kind of fell back, but we still have the lead. There’s a lot of pretty competitive cars, but we’re just going to go out as a team and do our normal thing. We don’t let any pressure get to us. We’ll go out and do the best we can and let the chips fall where they may.”