Getting Pro Modified rules that please racers of all combinations might be as viable as peace in the Middle East. But race officials at the 2024 – 2025 Drag Illustrated [DI] Winter Series believe they are as close as anyone has been.
The DI Winter Series consists of three races hosted by Bradenton Motorsports Park. Its flagship division is the Pro Modified division.
Recent seasons have demonstrated a high level of competitiveness within these Pro Mod racing events. In 2023, a 32-car field was separated by just .056 seconds, while the spread increased to .066 seconds for 2024 despite the influx of new drivers and combinations. These narrow margins reflect the efforts to maintain as high of a level of parity as any series in major league drag racing.
John Sears, Competition Director for the DI Winter Series, detailed the initiative behind these updates.
“The mission I was given was to create the closest racing and tightest fields in drag racing,” Sears said. “That was the stated goal from the onset, and in both 2023 and 2024, that’s exactly what we achieved.”
Sears and his team meticulously analyzed the rules from other series while collaborating with racers and crew chiefs to develop the new framework.
“We pour over incremental times, scale sheets, and feedback from racers,” he said, emphasizing the aim to ensure that every team feels capable of competing for the top prize at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
The upcoming Winter Series aims to deliver the most competitive eighth-mile drag racing. The event will feature drivers worldwide and a diverse array of power adders, reinforcing the series’ commitment to parity and opportunity for success across all combinations.
Mike Carpenter, Chief Operating Officer of Drag Illustrated, outlined the significance of maintaining this competitive balance.
“Working with Wes, John, and Vic to create a ruleset that brings parity to our Pro Mod class is something I’m very proud of,” Carpenter said. He stressed the importance of ensuring that every racer believes they have a chance to win as they arrive at the track.
“The rules are critical to the success of our events,” Carpenter added. “Every driver needs to know they have a shot at winning when they roll through the gates at Bradenton Motorsports Park.”
Vic Alvarez, the owner of Bradenton Motorsports Park, acknowledged the challenges of establishing rules that accommodate various power adders.
“The hardest part of planning for the Winter Series is working on the rulesets,” Alvarez said. He noted that the excitement comes from the diverse range of competitive cars.
The DI Winter Series will begin Dec. 6-8, 2024, with the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, followed by the U.S. Street Nationals on Jan. 24-26, 2025, and the World Series of Pro Mod from Feb. 27 to March 1, 2025. Each race will pay increasingly large prizes to the winners, then an overall series champion will be crowned.
