2010 NHRA U.S. NATIONALS - GSA PRO MOD
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
PERFECT ENDING AT INDY -Brad Personett capped off an outstanding weekend by claiming one of the most prestigious titles in drag racing with his first Mac 
Tools U.S. Nationals win.
After racing his turbo-charged '68 Camaro to a top speed of the meet and fastest run ever with a 255.39 mph blast earlier in the weekend, Personett didn't have much of a challenge in the final when Joe Baker was a no-show after wounding an engine in the semifinals. Even so, the win was a tremendous accomplishment and will go down in the books as the first turbo win in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series.
“The second round was really scary, because I thought we hurt it,” said Personett. “But we broke a three dollar oil fitting. We figured we'd patch it together and keep on beating on it.
“I can't thank my family and sponsors enough, and all my friends who helped me out. If it wasn't for all of them, I wouldn't be out here. Roger Burgess and the Get Screened America people, I have to thank them, too. For Roger Burgess to step up and do what he does for everybody, that says something about the man.”
MONDAY NOTEBOOK: QUICK HITS, RACE REPORTING IN RAPID FASHION
FINAL SET – Raymond Commisso fouls out by a bunch trying to get an edge over Joe Baker, who will be taking on Brad Personett's killer fast turbo in a challenge for the Wally.
Personett's semifinals opponent, Ed Hoover, was holding six-thousandths at the tree but had little chance when it came to the finish line. Personett is way fast this weekend and will have lane choice.
FEEL THE BURN – Danny Rowe and Joe Baker have a little 'burndown' until Rowe bumps in first. Baker gets the win here, and then Kenny Lang and Brad Personett have a mini standoff at the tree, with Personett edging in first. Lang spins the tires and Personett wins with a gigantic speed that is the fastest ever in the category - 255.39 mph. In the process of the blazing pass, Personett oils the track something fierce, and the Safety Safari is rolling all the trucks.
Ed Hoover beats Dave Pierce and will have Personett in the semifinals. Raymond Commisso is .004 on the tree to score a holeshot win over Rickie Smith by five-thousandths.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
SUNDAY NOTES - FIRST ROUND UPSETS RULE THE DAY
The first round of the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series at the 56th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals was plentiful in terms of surprises and action. From the first pair out, the bottom half of the field brightened as they took win after win, barring two top-half starters: No. 2 qualifier Brad Personett in the Big Stuff Camaro and '68 Camaro driver Danny Rowe, who started from the No. 5 spot.
Rickie Smith, who qualified 9th, got the nod in the first pair out on a 5.974 after Melanie Troxel broke loose about 300 feet out in her In-N-Out Burger supercharged Camaro, and in the next pair, Kenny Lang got a free pass when Scott Ray flicked on a red light at the starting line.
Veteran Pro Mod racer Ed Hoover, 11th in qualifying, pulled off a bit of magic with a 5.981 to stop Von Smith, a three-time winner so far this season, who clocked a 5.993. Hoover's victory was followed by a holeshot win for Rowe over Mike Knowles, 6.001 to 5.985.
Joe Baker was next to get a win from the bottom half when Troy Coughlin Jr. had traction troubles. Baker, starting from the 13th position, sailed ahead with a 6.003, and out of the 14th spot, David Pierce lost traction in the next match but hooked back up and headed towards an already flashing win-light; Pierce's Roger Burgess fouled at the start.
After setting the national record for speed in qualifying at 254.52 mph, Personett extended his successful weekend on a lucky note. Unfortunately for opponent Rick Stivers, he popped the 'chutes on the burnout and could not make the run.
The first round ended on a shocking note when low qualifier Mike Janis slowed to a 6.118 and forfeited the victory to Raymond Commisso's 6.042.
Round two of Pro Mod eliminations is scheduled to begin after the second round of pro racing has concluded on Monday.
OH, HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED – Nothing says Indy like seeing veterans of the sport tearing it up on the racetrack. Ed Hoover, driver of the Trussell supercharged '68 Camaro, was a pioneer in the Pro Mod class, back when the entries were incredibly abundant and so varied that a walk through the staging lanes was nearly over-stimulation in terms of uniqueness. Nowadays, the category is so competitive that sleek and similar designs are the norm, and the era of extreme individuality has gone by the wayside in favor of tenths, hundredths, or even thousandths of a second.
Hoover, who helped name the class when it was born out of IHRA Top Sportsman in 1990 (Pro Mod was the agreed upon moniker, based on the fact that the cars were basically highly modified Pro Stockers), has seen it grow from a mom-and-pop sort of operation to a multimillion dollar game where if you drive a supercharged car without a $200,000 billet supercharger, you're behind the times. The evolution of the class has driven up the cost to run a team, but it has also brought an exceptionally competitive edge.
“Out here, anything goes,” said Hoover. “It's amazing what you can see happen. Everybody was on an equal playing field back when this started, now it's a billionaire's club. There is a big, big difference. We used to have 70 cars to qualify; 50 would be a bad number. The popularity of the class brought people like Roger Burgess and Jay Payne into it, and I'm glad they did to keep it going. But at the same time, that kind of experience is hard on people like Ed Hoover. But we've done good this year, and I hope to improve on where we are right now.”
Hoover has managed to keep up with the better-funded teams fairly well and entered the event seventh in the Get Screened America Pro Mod points.
CHECK OUT THAT CHASSIS - Raymond Commisso has a new in-house designed and built R2B2 Racing chassis beneath the body of his supercharged '68 Camaro. He brought the car out at the recent NHRA Unleashed event a few weeks ago and is already liking what he sees.
“We qualified at the Unleashed event and went out in the semi's,” said Commisso. “This is the first national event we've had it out, and there are a bunch of new things on this, but we're working through them. It shows a lot of promise. I like it, it's very comfortable, and this car gives me confidence.”
Commisso went 10.59, 6.05, 9.29, and finished qualifying with a 6.04 to earn the final spot in the field – and a first-round meeting with No. 1 qualifier Mike Janis.
NAME THAT SMITH – When the engine in Rickie Smith's Camaro broke a rod yesterday and the resulting concussion blew out the driver's side window and damaged the door frame, it was a bit of a trick to get everything situated in time for the first round of qualifying this morning. With some major help from the Jerry Bickel guys in St. Louis and Brian Olson, who made the all-night drive to get a new door and window, Smith made the call for the final qualifying session with a proper door in place, right down to the 'R. Smith' scripted on the window.
“We got down there and the guy said, 'You're not going to believe this, but I found a window with the right name on it, Rich Smith,'” said Olson. “It was a used window [that had been salvaged from] an accident, but it wasn't damaged. It was funny. I thought I would get it all off before we even started going, but Rickie said, 'No, leave it like it is.'
“My hats off to Jerry Bickel and those guys. Mike [shop foreman] is one of the greatest guys, and he was just proud as a peacock that everything turned out the way that it did. Rickie and his man changed the motor here last night as well, so everybody is running on empty right now.”
Smith explained, “We were just trying to run this thing too hard. It blew the scoop off, and then the concussion got in the cockpit and blew the window out and messed the door up. Nothing probably $10,000 won't fix. I've had explosions pretty bad before. It's just part of it.
“I knew we'd get it fixed because I have a hood scoop. But the door, we couldn't find anybody to go to Bickel's, but we got Brian Olson to ride all night to go pick this up. Him and Mike, they fixed this door, brought it back, and Brian did the finishing touches. Good thing we found somebody like Brian to do the legwork for us.”
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - MIKE JANIS WIDOWMAKES THE FIELD
JANIS JUMPS TO NO. 1 - Mike Janis tossed a shocker up on the scoreboard when he wheeled his Eaton '10 Mustang, one of just two in the category, to a 5.887 at 244.16 mph to steal the top spot from yesterday's low qualifier, Roger Burgess.
Janis, who was outside of the qualified field at the conclusion of the first session, made up a bit of ground in his second attempt, and was scooched down to the bump spot by the time his turn in the third session came around, and then had Brad Personett nipping at his heels in the big Stuff '68 Camaro with a 5.896 at 264.14 mph. Personett finished the day in the No. 2 spot.
Danny Rowe, Ed Hoover, Chuck Cheeseman, Janis, and John Russo were each outside of the top 16 when the first session on Saturday kicked off. By the end of the second day of qualifying, Rowe and Hoover had scored a spot in the provisional 16 qualifiers – Rowe with a 5.930 in his '68 Camaro for the five-spot and Hoover with a No. 14-earning 6.019 in his Trussell '68 supercharged Camaro.
Bumped down and out for the time being were Dennis Radford, Jay Payne, Billy Harper, Ike Maier, and Pat Musi, who joined Russo and Cheeseman in the group of warriors who will most assuredly be armed and ready come Sunday morning. Ray Commisso and his supercharged '68 Camaro enter day three of qualifying holding down the bump spot.
NHRA's Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge will have one more session of qualifying, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Sunday, and will begin eliminations three hours later if all goes as planned.
KABOOM - In the first round of qualifying today, Rickie Smith blasted to a 5.967 at 235.72 mph, not too far off the mark from his 5.958 clocked in the first session the day before. As he went through the speed traps, a bright flash came out of the engine compartment and the hood scoop was launched into the air when he broke a rod and the engine misfired.
Fans could see debris flying from his '68 Camaro, but what they couldn't see was that the driver's side window blew out as well. Smith, uninjured, said that a replacement window was on its way from Jerry Bickel Race Cars in St. Louis but that without it, they would be sitting out Saturday's second session. Smith plans to be in fine shape tomorrow for a shot at improving on his 5.958 qualifying best.
KEEP ON TRUCKIN' – John Russo is turning heads in the category behind the wheel of a bright red Chevy S-10 Pro Mod truck built by Dan Page Racecars.
We've run three local races near home in Epping, N.H.," said Russo, who is here at his second national event with the truck, the first was at Indy last year, and he qualified with a 6.11.
“The owner, Tommy Zarella, built this because he loves trucks and that's all he owns. We built this for fun and bringing it to the track and giving it a whirl.”
According to Russo, it's different driving the funky little pickup as opposed to a regular Pro Mod car because the wheelbase is 124 inches, whereas a normal entry would have a wheelbase of between 110 and 115 inches.
“It drives like a Cadillac,” he said. “It's pretty consistent when it goes down, handling-wise.”
The team's pits have been crowded with spectators looking to find out about the unique ride and take photos.
Dan Page, the builder of the truck, said “Honestly, this is just something we wanted to try to see if it would work. To be different, stand out. It's still a challenge; we haven't got it all figured out yet. And that's what we expected, to be honest. We're still working on figuring it out. It's so different than everything else out there. Everything about the way the truck is built, the weight transfer, it's just so different from what's out there right now. We've made some decent runs, but we've probably struggled more than we've had good runs, so we're working on it.”
Page has plenty of cars in current competition. He has built a load of Super Comp and Top Sportsman dragsters, and in the last few years has ventured into Pro Mod. There are two Dan Page-built cars competing at the U.S. Nationals: Russo's and the Mustang Janis drove to the provisional No. 1 spot.
BACK FOR MORE – Billy Harper raced a couple of weeks ago in Boise, Idaho, but before that, it had been a year since he'd been out. He drives a black '00 Viper replica, the same as he won the ADRL championship with in 2008, except with a newer chassis.
“I'm in the construction business, so financially I had to take the time off because of the economy,” said Harper. “This car was built two years ago and had never been raced before Boise. Out here yesterday was the first quarter mile pass that it has made.”
Harper plans to run the rest of the year and believes he will run just a few races in 2011 but will be back into it big time in 2012. His crew chief is fellow Pro Mod driver Dennis Radford, who tunes both cars and tuned him to the 2008 title.
“I love drag racing, and this is my 50th year of drag racing,” he said. “I just want to run enough to keep my skills to where I can continue driving. Hopefully, the economy comes back in 2012 and we can get back into championship racing.
“It's special to race at Indy. I have some great memories here. I raced Super Stock here years ago, and a few years ago we were No. 1 qualifier here. I've had some good races. It's always nice. This is THE race, so it's always nice to come back.”
Harper has an interesting background; he ran for Governor of Kentucky in 2007 and got beat in the primaries.
“I'm just not happy with Kentucky politics and leadership,” said Harper. “I thought I should run for governor so that I had a right to complain. I really think I could have helped the state, but I didn't convince enough people. I would try again if the stars lined up of who I was running against and somebody came up with enough money to fund it. It's very expensive. It's worse than drag racing.”
GOT A BOO BOO - When Janis clocked that killer 5.88, he knocked Roger Burgess down from the top spot, and by the time Burgess pulled into the waterbox for his final run of the day, he was third in the lineup. Burgess, looking to take the No. 1 spot back, got hold of the track and made a good, clean pass until his Corvette moved over and across the center line right as he passed through the lights, disqualifying the run and snatching up the last timing block with the nose of his car, where it lodged in a very unpretty fashion. Ouch.
Well, today was a tough day overall. We made it down the track once today — and ended up number 15 with a 6.02! Remember not too long ago when a 6.02 put you in the top five and you ahd lane choice all the way through eliminations?
Wow — how things have changed!
I know this is already the quickest-ever Indy field, and I’ll be shocked if it’s not an all 5-second ladder. I think the numbers are better than the track really is — if that makes any sense, but I know we’re having a really tough time getting through our shift-points without blowing the tires off the track. I’ve said it before — Brad Anderson horsepower can’t be beat — now, we’ve just got to tame it a little to get everything working right, and we’ll be right up there in the fives with the rest of the guys. [Now, let’s see if we can beat the turbo and the nitrous cars — that’s the real question here...!]
It’s great to see guys like Joe Baker and Mike Knowles having success — Lord knows they’ve been working hard all season to get where they are, but neither of them is in the fives yet, so we’ll see what tomorrow’s last qualifier holds. I know my teammate, Jay Payne, needs to get in, because he’s fighting the same gremlins we are — but, like I said, Brad will get it all worked out.
Indy is a complete circus — it’s a world unto itself. There’s no other event like it because there are so many people, and the place is so big — there’s an energy here that you don’t get anywhere else. For me, though, I have to say again that the highlight of my time here when I’m not on the track is holding my little Gabby. She is such an angel, and, she’s really changed the way I look at things. I can’t explain, really — you have to have kids, or better yet, grandkids — in order to completely understand. I just appreciate things more than ever before — and there’s a newness to the way I see things...
Now, if I can just take that newness and get farther into the field and all the way to Monday evening... I’ll be all set!
Talk with you soon...
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - VETERANS DOMINATE THE DAY IN PRO MOD
DEFENDING EVENT CHAMP BURGESS SCORES PROVISIONAL #1 - Quite a few of the Pro Mod drivers suffered traction troubles in their single qualifying run today, but defending U.S. Nationals champion Roger Burgess had just what it took to race to the top of the pack. His 5.926 at 244.74 mph leading the field.
“Al [Billes, crew chief] got the tune-up right, and we pretty much went straight down the track,” said Burgess. “We may have left a little out there, so that gives us something to shoot for the rest of the weekend. We want consistency, first and foremost, and we want to improve as well. I think the weather tomorrow should give everyone a chance to go quicker. If conditions get better, we'll all go for it.”
This is a very special Mac Tools U.S. Nationals for the Pro Mod racers; it marks the first time in NHRA history that they are racing for a Wally, and that fact is not lost on the R2B2 team owner.
“Last year was a nice win for us, but it didn't result in a Wally, so we're hoping to get one of those this time,” said Burgess. “It's a big deal for all of us in Pro Mod, and the competition will be tough. It's going to be fun.”
The wily Pro Mod cars will take to the track on Saturday with the first session taking place at 2:30 and the second at 5:15.
INDY BLOG by Rick Stivers
It was a great day at Indy today — both on the track and
off. (of course, most days at Indy are great — especially in a Pro Mod!) It’s been a long time since we ran last, and, I really was anxious to see what Brad had done to the car over the summer break. It had been giving us problems going straight down the track — it seemed every time we were on a run earlier in the season, it just wanted to go someway other than down the groove — but not today!The tires broke loose right after the hit and started smoking, but I was determined to stay in it and see what she would give me. Brad had spent a lot of time with chassis guys working on fine tuning things, and I wanted to give him the testing session he needed. I got it to hook up again and then it smoked the tires again in second, and then again in third — probably not what you’d expect would be a good run — but for me it was great — mostly because it stayed straight all the way down the track! It was like a monster, quarter-mile burn-out at more than 200 mph!
We ended up 11th overall — hardly something to cheer about — but you’ve got to figure we’ve got a lot more qualifying ahead of us. And, you also have to know that most of the guys in the top ten had a hard time getting down the track, so there’s going to be a lot of changes coming tomorrow. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had an all five-second field — the cars are here to do it — and I know we can get a good number and be there in the middle of things.
As far as off the track, my 8-month-old grand daughter stole the show. Gabby is such a happy baby, and everyone who came by our pits had to stop and say hello to her... And of course she gave them a happy greeting — she already loves the race car... As you can see. She has really changed my life — and I thank God for her every day... Grandchildren are really where it’s at...
Saturday will be a great day — stay tuned for more! We might have only run a 6.879, but you have to know, it’s hard to stop a Trane! We’ll see you tomorrow — if you’re here in Indy stop by and say hello.
ROCKIN' THE BLUE OVAL - Mike Janis is piloting a new Dan Page-built 2010 Mustang, one of just two in the class, this weekend that he's only had out three times so far, most recently at the NHRA Unleashed event held at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis a few weeks ago. Janis drove the 'Stang from the No. 1 spot at the event and set low e.t.
“So far, the car shows a lot of promise,” said Janis, who plans to race at a couple more Unleashed events in the near future, including Gainesville. “The Unleashed experience was good, but it was a bit light on spectators. Hopefully, the next one will be a little better.
“We'd like to win this weekend, but we'd like to qualify in the top half of the field. I was No. 1 qualifier when we were here the last time, in 2007. These Mustangs are aerodynamically a little bit better than the older style cars, so we'll see what happens.”
REBOUND – Provisional No. 1 qualifier Roger Burgess has clearly dusted off after his unpleasant crash at the Norwalk event, earlier this year. Here is a little insight on what went through the driver's mind during the incident.
“I had a job to do,” said Burgess. “I lost control and had the sensation of flying, and I was. All four wheels were off the ground and [I was] headed towards the wall. My thought was, get the wheels turned, and when the wheels come down, get the rear end of that car against the wall because I didn't want to hit it head on. I did that, and in the process I over-corrected and caused the car to tumble. But I still think that, given the options, that was my best option to do what I did.
“I tagged the wall a little bit in Gainesville, but I really didn't even feel that, it just scraped a little paint. This was the first time something like this had happened, and you do a quick inventory and make sure everything moves and is okay. You get out of the car and overall, you're just thankful everything worked out, nobody got hurt, and you're alive. Everything did what it was supposed to do, and all of that went through my mind. I'm very proud of the guys who work on these cars and the effort that we put into safety. There were things that absolutely prevented injuries. The head pad, for instance, didn't allow my head to move more than an inch and a half each way. That kept my neck from hyper-extending. I had no pain, nothing, not one bit of soreness. Of course, the adrenaline can hide injuries that you may have, so I went to the emergency crew and sat with them until my blood pressure had calmed down and they made sure everything was good.”
Burgess got in the car the next day at Norwalk following his crash, and though he admits it might have been a little soon, he knew it was an important step for him.
“I was still trying to win the race, and to do that I had to qualify,” explained Burgess. “We pulled the car back out, and the crew busted their butt. Quite frankly, I probably made a mistake driving the car and kept us out of the field. But everybody did a bang up job and I needed to do that. You have to respect these cars, but you can't drive these things if you're scared of them. I have respect for the car, but I don't have any fear of it”
DOUBLE TROUBLE – As he has done in the past, Jay Payne is working overtime as the driver of the FireIce Pro Mod entry and Top Alcohol Funny Car. Payne, currently fourth in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series standings, is second in Top Alcohol Funny Car. His hopes for the weekend are high, as would be expected of a seasoned driver.
“This is the best weather we've ever had here,” said Payne. “It's usually really hot or it's rainy. Knock on wood, hopefully it stays this way. It's absolutely beautiful. The track is excellent, and if we do it right, the cars are going to go fast.”
As part of sponsor FireIce's continued support of firefighters, the Mount Sinai (N.Y.) Fire Department will be saluted this weekend with Payne's racing efforts. With the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy just a few days away, honoring the FDNY firefighters who lost their lives that day seems wholly appropriate.
BACK TO IT – Long time driver Pat Musi was the No. 1 qualifier the last time he raced at Indy, back in 1981 in the Pro Stock category, and he can still remember 
the day well.
“We were fighting the car that whole year and had just taken delivery of a new car. The three guys ahead of me were Reher, Glidden, and Frank Iaconio. They had the four link car, and we still had a three link car. We just knew we had more power than those guys. We knew if everything went right, we'd out run them. And we did.”
Musi recently returned to enjoying a bit of glory when he took the win at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk. It was the first win for Musi since scoring at Gainesville in Pro Stock back in 1981. He's ready for more.
“We've been working on a new motor,” said Musi. “It's right here, and we're going to put it together tonight. We're learning as we go and working on improving EFI and the tune-up, the whole deal.”
THE TEACHER GETS A LESSON – R2B2 Team Manager Frank Hawley and longtime drag racing instructor Frank Hawley, one in the same, had a chance to try out one of the teams Pro Mod cars at a recent test session at Valdosta.
“I think to fully understand and be able to comment on other people's driving, you should get a chance to do it yourself,” said Hawley. “Roger was gracious enough to let me make a few runs in one of his cars. It's very, very different, as I expected it would be. I didn't expect it to be without challenge. I've got a tremendous amount of respect for the cars and the drivers who drive these things. One of the things I want to do is to be very careful. I think that one of the things that helped me was that they're not incredibly fast compared to fuel cars, but as for how much different the car feels and reacts, I knew it would be different, but I didn't know how different until I actually got in and felt the car. When it doesn't go the way it should be going, it's pretty darn obvious, and you don't need anybody to tell you that this isn't going real good right now.
“It was cool, it brought back memories of me racing my alcohol Funny car years ago, where you'd get to rev the engine up and shift it. That was pretty neat. Overall, I'm really glad I had the opportunity, and given a chance to maybe do something like this again, I think I'd like to pursue it. They're challenging cars, they're exciting cars to drive, and of course a really big part of R2B2 Racing is the Pro Mod program, so it was a great opportunity.”
Team driver Melanie Troxel once called the Pro Mod vehicles "angry little race cars,” and Hawley's assessment after driving one himself was somewhat along those same lines.
“They're inherently unforgiving when things don't go well,” he said. “When this car spins and shakes, the ability to recover quickly and nicely from it is not as easy to do as it is in some of the other cars. What I think that should amount to for a new driver, and I would consider myself a new driver in one of these, is some aborted runs. When it's not going well, you need to step off of the gas and take a look at the data, talk to the crew chief, evaluate your performance, and give it another try. I tried to pursue it as a fact finding mission, as intellectually as I could, as opposed to going to somehow tame the beast. That wasn't in my mind at all.”
At this point, there isn't another test session scheduled for Hawley.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
THURSDAY NOTEBOOK - PREPARING FOR THE BIG SHOW
HOMESTATE HOPEFUL - NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series teams have had a nine-week break since their last event in Norwalk, Ohio, and Brad Personett says he
and his Personett Performance team has been spending the time busily getting ready for the world’s most prestigious drag race.
After a slow start to the season, which was hampered by an untimely testing crash in Tulsa, Okla. which forced the team to miss the event in Houston, Personett says he and his crew have been working overtime to get back in the hunt during the inaugural season of the NHRA’s newest national touring series.
After making repairs to his ultra-fast ’68 Camaro following the crash, Personett raced to five consecutive top speeds and posted a runner-up finish at the Norwalk event. He says he feels the team is finally in position to try and win its first Get Screened America Pro Mod Series event at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, Sept. 1-6 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
“We’ve made some updates on the car to try and get more consistent,” Personett said. “We’ve tested a couple of times at Indy since Norwalk and we made some changes and feel like our program is coming around. It feels like we’ve been playing catch-up all year since our crash in testing.”
While winning Indy is on every racer’s bucket list, the Elkhart, Ind. native says winning at his home track would mean just a little bit more to him.
“It would be something special to win at Indy,” Personett said. “Everybody tries to just a little harder to win that race, so it will be competitive. We’ve got a lot of friends and family coming out for the weekend, so it’s going to be a hectic week for sure. We’re looking forward to it.”
Featuring the world’s fastest and most unique doorslammer cars with an extremely diverse collection of vehicles, including ’63 Corvettes, ’68 Camaros, ’67 Mustangs, ’68 Firebirds as well as late model cars, the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series offers something for every kind of hot-rodding enthusiast.
While most of the competitors in the series choose either nitrous-injected or supercharged engine combinations, Personett is very comfortable with the little-used third combination available in the category.
“With our turbo-charged combination we don’t have a lot of notes to go off of or a bunch of other cars to share information with, so it’s kind of just us out there,” Personett said. “The competition is very tough. There’s a bunch of teams with big budgets out there who have all had success in other forms of racing over the years. They have a lot of experience, so we’re just trying to hold our own out there.”
In addition to Personett, other pre-race favorites in the category are series points leader Von Smith, who has earned three victories this season, Norwalk winner Pat Musi, Houston winner Danny Rowe, Gainesville winner Kenny Lang and several other veteran racers who have competed in multiple NHRA classes, including Jay Payne, Melanie Troxel and Troy Coughlin. Others to watch include Roger Burgess, Ray Commisso, Burton Auxier, Joe Baker, Mike Knowles and Ed Hoover.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 |
Click to visit our sponsor's website
