If anyone truly understood the magnitude of the GSA NHRA Pro Modified division competing at the U.S. Nationals for the first time as a recognized non-exhibition series, it was Ed Hoover.

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.

If anyone truly understood the magnitude of the GSA NHRA Pro Modified division competing at the U.S. Nationals for the first time as a recognized non-exhibition series, it was Ed Hoover.

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 the next step up from Modified eliminator), 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 and finished semi-finalist after entering the event seventh in the Get Screened America Pro Mod points.

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