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NHRA AMS Pro Modified Challenge - Chicago, Ill.
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The latest results from the fourth stop on the ten-race AMS Pro Modified Challenge tour |
By Bobby Bennett Photos by Roger Richards |
SUNDAY - Castellana scores victory for nitrous contingent at Route 66 Nationals
(5-22-2004) - One can easily consider Mike Castellana to be a clutch hitter after his performance during this weekend’s fourth stop on the ten-race NHRA AMS Pro Modified Challenge tour. The supermarket chain owner from Westbury, NY., won the AMS Pro Modified Challenge portion of the NHRA Route 66 Nationals hosted by Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. His clutch hitting prowess came at a time when the nitrous combination and their supercharged counterparts were deadlocked at 14 victories apiece since the introduction of the class to NHRA competition four years ago. Consider the nitrous cars now to be one-up on their adversaries and Castellana, a longtime nitrous advocate, was more than happy to deliver to help the cause. His defeat of the top qualifier Fred Hahn was a fitting conclusion to a good weekend. “I could get used to this,” explained Castellana. “I owe this victory to Shannon Jenkins and my crew. They are the real winners here today. Every win you get is special, but to me, they just keep getting more enjoyable.
“We just wanted to be the most consistent car out there and I knew in order for that to work, I had to do my job on the starting line.” Castellana’s victory marked the third in his career and second in NHRA AMS Pro Modified Challenge competition. His last NHRA victory came last June in St. Louis, Mo. One of the better rounds of AMS Pro Modified Challenge tour opened with Zach Barklage getting the best of Thomas Patterson. Barklage took advantage of Patterson’s starting line tardiness to further extend a victory that yielded a 6.237, 230.72. Patterson was no pushover as he absorbed the loss with a 6.256, 224.40. Castellana opened his march to the finals with a major victory as he took out the points leader Billes with a .04 holeshot and extended it even more with a 6.217, 225.63. Billes slowed off of his qualifying pace with a 6.290, 226.42.
The unofficial reaction time award went to New York Mortgage Banker Mike Ashley as he blistered Shannon Jenkins with a .002 light. Ashley had to fight his Mustang which drifted all over his lane en route to 6.246, 226.85. Jenkins lost despite a quicker 6.232, 225.33. Hahn showed an example of why he is certainly the driver to beat in Chicago. Hahn outreacted Von Smith and distanced himself quickly with the second six-teen of the weekend, a 6.185, 230.21. Smith labored through with a losing 6.273, 227.46. A scary moment ensued following Hahn’s victory as his parachute malfunctioned and fell under his wheelie bar. Hahn used the full compliment of shut-down area to bring his Corvette to a stop. The rear brakes were glowing red as the safety crews at the top end reached Hahn. Adding complexity to the issue, NHRA officials gave the Pro Modified entries only 30 minutes of turnaround time with impending thunderstorms threatening. Castellana was in the first pair of semi-final combatants and what
promised to be a stout battle never materialized as Ashley rolled
the beams and fouled with a
On the other side of the ladder, Hahn gave a good example of why he was the defending event and world champion. In the first round, Hahn was the only driver in the six-teens and in the second round, he didn’t need the performance advantage as much by winning on a holeshot over Barklage. Hahn used .082 in starting line advantage to successfully fend off Barklage by a 6.278 to 6.253 margin. In the final round, Hahn rated the performance advantage. However, Castellana had been brutal on the tree and continued his lightning-quick prowess in the final round by reeling off a .017 light and stretching out the lead to a 6.227, 225. Hahn absorbed the loss with a 6.285, 228. The next stop on the ten-race NHRA AMS Pro Modified Challenge tour will be next month in Englishtown, NJ.
Sunday's final results from the fourth of 10 events on the NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge, an NHRA exhibition class, being held at the seventh annual NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway: PRO MODIFIED: ROUND ONE -- Zach Barklage, Pontiac Grand Am, 6.237, 230.72 def. Thomas Patterson, Willys, 6.256, 224.40; Mike Castellana, Chevy Camaro, 6.217, 225.63 def. Al Billes, Chevy Corvette, 6.290, 226.43; Mike Ashley, Shelby Mustang, 6.246, 226.85 def. Shannon Jenkins, Camaro, 6.232, 225.33; Fred Hahn, Corvette, 6.185, 230.21 def. Von Smith, Ford Mustang, 6.273, 227.46; SEMIFINALS -- Castellana, 6.307, 200.71 def. Ashley, foul; Hahn, 6.278, 229.00 def. Barklage, 6.253, 230.49; FINALS -- Castellana, 6.227, 225.63 def. Hahn,
6.287, 228.34.
SATURDAY - Hahn continues Chicago performance edge by leading a New York charge
(5-22-2004) - In case you didn’t notice, following the third session of qualifying for the AMS Pro Modified Challenge, Chicago was quickly claimed by New York. That was certainly what transpired as Fred Hahn of Elma, NY., reigned supreme in qualifying during the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. Hahn’s success was followed up by fellow home state racers Mike Ashley of Melville, and Mike Castellana of Westbury. Hahn’s success marked his second consecutive AMS Pro Modified Challenge pole this season and second career top qualifying effort at Route 66 Raceway. Hahn is the defending NHRA Route 66 Nationals champion and he gave an example as to why with the only six-teen of qualifying with a 6.191, 229.35.
Thundering into the second position was Mike Ashley, who rebounded from a DNQ in Bristol last month. Ashley scored a decisive victory earlier this season in Houston from the pole position. He was unqualified headed into Saturday’s first session. Ashley’s 6.208, 226.54 came alongside of Hahn’s pacesetting lap. The quickest nitrous entry in NHRA AMS Pro Modified Challenge competition was the third quickest as Mike Castellana was very impressive with a 6.229, 224.47. Castellana has one victory to his credit and that came last season in St. Louis. Rounding out the top half of the field was Thomas Patterson with a 6.240, 224.70. The balance of the show was comprised of Zach Barklage (6.242), Al Billes (6.258), Shannon Jenkins (6.262) and Von Smith (6.269). Sunday’s first round match-ups include Hahn versus Smith, Ashley versus Jenkins, Castellana versus Billes and Patterson versus Barklage. |
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| A sort of drag racing unofficial history was made when no '63 Corvettes qualified for Sunday's eliminations. Ed Hoover was one of four drivers that came to Chicago with a perfect record in 2004 qualified. He missed the cut this weekend. |
Hell has frozen over – For the first time since 1996 in Pro Modified competition, no 1963 Corvettes will take part in final eliminations.
Kids say the darndest things – With Mike Ashley on the outside looking in headed into the second day of qualifications, young Justin Ashley was analyzing his Dad’s chances of qualifying on Saturday. The elder Ashley heard all the scenarios and quickly made the comment, “It doesn’t matter Justin if we get in on Friday or Saturday, just as long as we get in. Besides, what’s the difference in the two days?” Without hesitation, the observant youth responded, “A good night’s sleep on Friday, Dad.”
The margin narrows – With just six events left, only two of the four drivers that entered the event with an unblemished qualifying effort will leave this weekend with their personal accomplishment intact. When rains ended Saturday’s qualifying prematurely, that eliminated Mitch Stott and Ed Hoover from the list of fortunate drivers. Continuing into Englishtown will be points leader Al Billes and Von Smith as the only two remaining.
The margin of competition? – For the Pro Modified fans keeping score, the difference between the quickest lap for the supercharged contingent and their nitrous contingent was .038. With the adjusted altitude rated at nearly 3,000-feet, if the 20% overdrive rules revision had been enacted, some speculate the nitrous cars could have rated a nearly .07 performance edge.
He knows the shakes by heart – That’s Brad Anderson’s claim to fame these days in campaigning a Pro Modified car. The veteran alcohol Funny Car racing legend has yet to get his Valvoline-sponsored Camaro, which is driven by son-in-law Jay Payne, from point A to point B under full power. It’s not for a lack of effort or fear to try something new. He’s even gone as far as to put a new four-link under the car. He’s not about to back away from the challenge and plans extensive testing in the weeks to come.
Feast or Famine – That’s exactly what Thomas Patterson predicted for his third qualifying run. Patterson was the only driver to dip into the 6.20s during Friday’s first session. However, during the second session, the car had an obvious miss due to a bad spark plug. Patterson and his crew refined their combination for Saturday’s session. In the staging lanes Patterson made the comment, “Either this thing is going to fly or she’s gonna shake the wheels off.” Patterson nailed down the former and it vaulted him momentarily to the top with a 6.240, 224.70. He ended up fourth at the end of the session.
Feels like the first time – In Bristol, three drivers qualified for the first time in 2004. This time only one driver qualified out of the unlucky fraternity and it was Shannon Jenkins. Jenkins posted a 6.262 during Friday’s second session and that was enough to hold on throughout a very quick Saturday first session. Nine of the 22 cars entered into competition have yet to qualify in 2004.
By the numbers – 8 – That’s the number of world championships won by drivers that failed to qualify this weekend. 6.387 – Bump spot if this had been a 16-car field. .078 – Spread between pole position to bump spot. 14 – 14 – The scorecard between supercharged and nitrous entries since the adoption of the class to the NHRA curriculum in 2001.
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FRIDAY - Zach Barklage nails the top spot after first day Chicago qualifying
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| Zach Barklage rebounded from a Bristol DNQ to land atop the Pro Modified qualifying order. |
(5-21-2004) - Whoever made the statement that old age and treachery will whip youth and enthusiasm obviously never met nineteen-year old Zach Barklage. In fact, they might better count their lucky stars that they never met him during first day qualifying for the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, Ill.
The sophomore Pro Modified racer from Lake Ozark, MO., pushed his 2004 Grand Am to the top spot during the final Friday qualifying session with a 6.248, 230.02.
This day proved to be a diametric opposite from his last outing in Bristol, Tenn., where he failed to make the cut.
“This certainly feels a lot better,” added Barklage. “We had a few things go wrong and we chased some stuff in Bristol and never got ahead of things. Today, we just got after it and things fell into place.”
Barklage headed into the final session with a modest 6.341, 217.35 as the fourth quickest.
Fred Hahn continued to show the same form that netted him the 2003 NHRA AMS Pro Modified Championship. Hahn, the defending event champion, missed the combination on his first attempt, but made up for it in the second with a 6.258, 229.27.
Nitrous runner Shannon Jenkins was the quickest of the bottle rockets as he landed third with a 6.262, 223.47. Jenkins was unqualified headed into the final Friday session.
Rounding out the top half of the field was the only driver in the 6.20s during the first session. Patterson led the first session of qualifying with a 6.270, 223.99.
The NHRA’s career quickest nitrous entry driven by Mike Castellana settled into the fifth spot with a 6.276, 222.99. Castellana was the only nitrous car to qualify three weeks ago in Bristol, Tenn.
Von Smith (6.286), Frankie Taylor (6.303), and Al Billes (6.307) rounded out the program.
FRIDAY NOTES - The Perfect List narrowing? Stivers has bad luck again and pitching in to help a friend
50% Casualty? – Headed into this weekend’s event, only four drivers could claim to having qualified for all three events to this point. With two qualifying session complete, only Von Smith and Al Billes are in the show after the first day, Ed Hoover and Mitch Stott are on the outside looking in.
Zero to Hero? – In Bristol, three of the eight qualifiers in the field were competing in final eliminations for the first time in 2004. During the first day, not only were those three (Hahn, Mike Castellana and Thomas Patterson) qualified, but also accounted for half of the entries in the 6.20s.
Bum Luck – Rick Stivers is convinced that he can’t get a break. In what promises to be his last Pro Modified event due to the recent rules change, Stivers had earned his way into the field with a stout 6.32. However, Stivers failed the post-run weigh-in by coming up seven pounds light at the scales. Just to think it all started on Thursday when Stivers drew one of the NHRA’s voluntary drug testing appointments. Reportedly, a few other Pro Modified drivers were also selected.
Grace Race – Because many of the supercharged cars couldn’t find pulleys to accommodate the recent 20% overdrive limitation, the NHRA afforded one more race to the supercharged contingent. Interestingly enough, after one day of qualifying there were three nitrous cars in the field.
Lend a hand, please… - Chip King found himself a bit overwhelmed when he rolled through the gates at Route 66 Raceway. The veteran Mopar runner was without a crew and a tuner when Bill Barrett couldn’t attend due to illness. Seeing the plight of King, several members of Thomas Patterson’s crew (including Patterson himself) chipping in to help King and his wife Wendy.
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