 |
    |
 |
|
|
NHRA AMS Pro Modified Challenge - St. Louis, MO.
|
 |
|
The
latest results from the sixth stop on the ten-race AMS Pro Modified
Challenge tour
|
By Bobby Bennett Photos by Chris Simmons |
| A special photo gallery is available at AMS Pro Modified - Photo Gallery - St. Louis SUNDAY - Rowe continues his St. Louis magic with his second career victory
(6-27-2004) - There’s something about Gateway International Raceway that brings out the best in AMS Pro Modified Challenge racer Danny Rowe. The InfiNet Insurance/Unique Performance-sponsored driver from Laguna Hills, Ca., reached the final round for the second national event in a row and captured his second career national event victory dating back to 2001. Ironically, Rowe’s last victory came at this same event during the first season of Pro Modified under the NHRA sanction. “I really don’t know what it is about this place,” explained Rowe. “Everything just fell out way. We’ve really worked hard to get things together and with Mike Ashley’s help, we were able to do just that. With the hard work of Chuck Ford and Jimbo Ermalovich, we were able to put this InfiNet Insurance/Unique Performance into the winner’s circle.” The thing that really put an exclamation point on Rowe’s victory was the fact that from the time he reached the final round at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in 2001 until last weekend’s event in Englishtown, NJ., Rowe had been mired in the midst of a qualifying drought.
“There’s not a day during those tough times that I didn’t began to second-guess myself and start to think that maybe things had come too easy for us,” explained Rowe. “We have some good people helping us and we may have gotten off schedule a bit, but all we did was pay our dues. “We feel really good about the direction we are headed into.” Rowe entered eliminations as the fifth quickest driver with a 6.223, 228.69. Rowe began his march to the final round at the expense of team owner Mike Ashley for the second week in a row. Rowe snagged a .003 holeshot out of the gate and it served as added insurance as he beat Ashley to the stripe by a 6.227, 226.66 to 6.242, 226.20 margin. Smith had a colorful ride to the final round that opened with a battle against Rickie Smith. After a slight staging battle, Von rolled in first, but it was Rickie that scored a nearly .04 holeshot. Von tracked him down to score the victory by a 6.174, 230.49 to 6.250, 223.95. Janis maintained his quick qualifying pace as he conjured up a 6.176, 230.12 and that was more than enough to enable him to pull away from Billy Harper’s 6.295, 223.36. Harper’s entry danced around during the course of the run and at mid-track actually pulled the wheels in the air.
Zach Barklage closed out the round by overcoming a quicker reaction time from Fred Hahn and winning with a 6.277, 230.76. Hahn lost with a 6.285, 225.33. In the semifinals, Rowe stepped up his program against the low qualifier Janis and used horsepower to drive around him with a 6.206, 228.23. Janis concluded his day with a 6.226, 228.65. On the other side of the ladder, Smith advanced to the final round to earn lane choice with a 6.200, 223.95 to eliminate Zach Barklage. Barklage encountered mechanical problems as lost with a 7.431, 196.36. In the final round, Rowe snagged the quicker elapsed time and that
proved to be a huge positive as he led Smith all the way to the
finish line with a 6.209, 229.86. Smith made it a close race as
he came up on the short end of the affair with a 6.240, 226.39.
SATURDAY - Janis retains top spot despite quick final session
(6-26-2004) - Despite a quick final qualifying session, former IHRA World Champion Mike Janis from Lancaster, NY., retained the top qualifying position for the NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals, the sixth stop on the ten-race NHRA AMS Pro Modified Challenge tour. Janis, whose Eaton-sponsored Corvette established a new world record on Friday, failed to improve during the second day of qualifications, but the reality of it all was that he didn’t need to. A little bit of breathing room would have been perfect for Janis, whose quick performance marked his first career pole position in NHRA competition. “We were sweating bullets there at the end, but we felt confident the number would stand,” explained Janis. “We actually were looking to improve and we could have run quicker on Friday, but things all worked perfect in the end. We are very happy and excited. Sunday will be a challenge we are looking forward to.”
Fred Hahn made his best qualifying effort during the final session when he went from non-qualifier status to the second quickest with a 6.194, 229.51. Hahn’s, a driver for Jim Oddy’s Summit Racing Equipment-sponsored team, are the defending NHRA AMS Pro Modified Challenge champions. Faced with the prospect of encountering his first DNQ, former Alcohol Funny standout Von Smith made a last-ditch effort to put Tommy Lipar’s Ford Mustang into the third spot. Smith’s best effort was a 6.208, 230.49. Mike Ashley stood on the laurels of his Friday efforts en route to rounding out the top-half of the show with a 6.218, 226.62. Unfortunately for Ashley, who owns the Gotham City Racing operation, he’ll have to meet his teammate Danny Rowe in the first round. Rowe was the fifth quickest with a 6.223, 227.77.
Rickie Smith was credited with being the quickest nitrous competitor as he pushed his new Jerry Bickel-built into the sixth spot. The King, NC.-based driver cranked out a 6.225, 223.73 for the sixth spot. Just .001 behind Smith was Zach Barklage whose 6.226, 231.87 represented his best run on Friday. Rounding out the quick eight-car problem was Paducah, Ky.’s Billy Harper, who produced a 6.228, 225.33 on Friday to get in the show. First-round pairings for Sunday's eliminations for the sixth of 10 events on the NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge, an NHRA exhibition class, being held at the eighth annual Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals at Gateway International Raceway. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday: |
 |
| Al Billes, current points leader, failed to make the cut for Sunday's eliminations. |
And then there was one – Heading into the final session of qualifying, the only two drivers with an unblemished qualifying record in 2004 were Al Billes and Von Smith. Billes had gotten in during the third session and barely hung onto his berth following the final attempt. As fate would have it, Smith who was in line behind Billes during the final qualifying session, leapt to the third spot and eliminated Billes from the qualified field.
Coincidence? – On two different occaisions, commercials came up on the Motel 6 Vision screen urging spectators to visit their closest concession stands. The problem with that? It was broadcast just before the final session and in the middle.
Patterson uninjured in fire - During the final session, last year's event runner-up Thomas Patterson was hit with a double-whammy. Not only did he explode a clutch, but also destroyed a piston when the motor zinged sky-high. The resulting fire was enough to evacuate Patterson, who admitted that he had never had to hit the fire bottles with the car before. There was minimal damage to his 1941 Willys.
 |
| Scotty Cannon will have a new Cavalier in six weeks from Vanishing Point Race Cars. |
That Cavalier Cannon – Scotty Cannon will be the first to admit when something has gotten the best of him. But, on this day, Cannon pointed out the obvious. His swing-arm chassied 1953 Studebaker has seen its better days in Pro Modified. At least in running with the new rules, it has.
“This is certainly a good car, but it’s nearly impossible to make one of these swing-arm cars run with the 20% overdrive,” explained Cannon. “We’re certainly not quitters, but sooner or later you have to swallow your pride and admit when something just won’t work.”
The Oakley-sponsored driver confided that he will have a Vanishing Point Race Cars-built Chevrolet Cavalier coming in six weeks.
New power curve for Radford – Pardon Dennis Radford if his Dodge Viper isn’t performing up to the level that his fans have become accustomed to. The veteran nitrous runner from Baker City, Oregon, is breaking in a totally new engine combination. From the cylinder heads to the camshaft, Radford is learning the nuances of the latest Charlie Buck engine. Last week provided a good experience for Radford as he vaulted to the top of qualifying during a West Coast Pro Modified event in Salt Lake City, Utah. The adjusted altitude was 8000 above.
Hoover’s Luck Sucketh – Pro Modified team owner Paul Trussell and his driver Ed Hoover are to the point that they’re disgusted with bad luck. After missing the clutch on the first round, the Trussell Motorsports team rebounded in the second session and was for all intent purposes on a run that would have put him in the field when a fuel nozzle broke and sprayed fuel all over the windshield. The third run produced the best effort albeit the car was weak on the clutch. Primed and ready to go for the final session, the car launched and immediately went on seven cylinders. The culprit was later diagnosed as a bad spark plug.
Quipped Hoover, “Even if I was trying to sabotage our efforts, I don’t think there’s any way in Hell that I could script something that bad.”
The Numbers Game – Just how lop-sided was the Pro Modified field. Consider this, a little less than .05 of a second separated first from the fourth spot in the final qualified field. Interestingly enough, .005 separated the fifth from eighth spots.
 |
| After a massive tape job, Billy Harper's crew decided to drive three hours to Kentucky to pick up a front-end. |
The Gotham Game – For the second event in a row, Mike Ashley’s Unique Performance/InfiNet Insurance-sponsored qualified two cars in the field with the efforts of Ashley and team driver Danny Rowe. Unfortunately for them last week in Englishtown, NJ., they met in the semi-finals. That won’t be the case tomorrow. They meet in the first round of eliminations.
Snake Bit – During today’s third session, Billy Harper learned just how vicious a foam timing block can be at 220-mph. Harper had drifted as he drew closer to the finish line and crossed the centerline. The damage was so bad the team was forced to perform extensive fiberglass repair. However, just minutes from the final qualifying attempt, crewchief Evan Rives decided to skip it for safety reasons. They just didn’t have a lot of faith in the repair job.
Nothing could have created a tenser situation than the quick session in which Harper began as the 5th quickest and ended up 8th.
Harper dispatched a team to drive three hours to their Paducah, Ky.-based shop to retrieve another front end for Sunday’s eliminations.
FRIDAY - Widowmaker Janis weaves a record web en route to St. Louis pole…
 |
| Mike Janis established a new world record en route to qualifying number one. |
(6-24-2004) - Mike Janis experienced the one thing that every drag racer regrets just one week ago in Englishtown, NJ.; he was forced to withdraw from competition with parts attrition. There was no such problem in St. Louis, however, as Janis not only made it through the first day of qualifying with everything intact, he also roared to the top of the qualified field and established a new world record as well.
Janis, a former World Champion, was more than happy with the end result of the day. His 6.169, 231.00 snagged both the top spot and the world record in one fell swoop.
“This is much better,” explained Janis. “We are happy to be atop the field with the Eaton Corvette. Tomorrow is another day, and for now we’ll be happy, but our work is far from over for this weekend.”
 |
| Mike Ashley was the second quickest in Friday qualifying. Both of the Gotham City Racing cars were in the top-half of the field. |
Slipping into the second spot was New York mortgage banker Mike Ashley, who recorded his quickest career run in St. Louis with a 6.218, 226.62. Earlier in the day Ashley had produced a 6.228, 225.03.
Past St. Louis titlist Danny Rowe returned to the same form that netted him a victory in 2001. The Laguna Hills, Ca.-based driver saved his best run of the day for last with a 6.223, 227.77.
Zach Barklage rounded out the top half of the show with a 6.226, 231.87.
Billy Harper carried the banner for the nitrous fraternity as he put his Dodge Viper into the fifth spot with a 6.228, 225.33.
Mitch Stott rebounded from his shortcomings in Englishtown to claim the sixth spot in provisional qualifying with a 6.294, 225.03.
Rick Stivers used his first qualifying attempt to earn a spot in the show as he cranked out a 6.306, 216.55.
Rounding out the field was the AMS Staff Leasing-sponsored 1941 Willys of Troy Critchley who produced a 6.310, 222.18. Interestingly enough, Critchley’s run bumped out points leader Al Billes.
FRIDAY NOTES - The perfect qualifiers unqualified, Ray crashes and nitrous racers missing in action..
 |
| Von Smith was one of two drivers headed into St. Louis having qualified for all the events. After the first day in St. Louis, he was unqualified. |
O-for-2 – Headed into this weekend’s event only two cars had qualified for all five previous races. Both Von Smith and Al Billes, the drivers with unblemished qualifying records, were unqualified after the first day.
The session from hell – What was scheduled for 30 minutes turned into nearly an hour and a half of one calamity after another during the first qualifying session. It all began with a car in the sand-trap, and then a double oildown brought the entire program to a halt. That was in the first six pairs. The balance of the session went much better.
Scary Moment for Ray – Scott Ray experienced a wild ride in the first session when his parachute failed and the brakes provided no reprieve. Ray admittedly braced himself for the sand-trap following his 6.513, 214.48 lap but had no idea that it would unfold the way it did. The sand did very little to slow the momentum of the car and it launched well into the catch-net and took out the hay bales as well. The scary moment was when the net ripped the injector hat from the engine and sent it through the windshield. Ray was uninjured.
 |
| Scott Ray experienced a scary moment on Friday when his parachutes and brakes failed simultaneously and the car went through the sand-trap. The collision with the net ripped the injector hat from the engine and sent it hurling through the windshield. Ray was uninjured. |
The thrill is back – Bill Hill is making his first appearance on the tour in 2004 with his Budweiser-sponsored 1953 Corvette. Hill will be running three events in 2004 with stops in Indianapolis and Memphis as well. Hill’s sponsorship comes through longtime friend August Busch IV. This marks Hill's first season running separate from the AMS Staff Leasing team. Most of his time this year has been consumed with running Outlaw Pro Modified events.
Record shuffling – Mike Janis took the first stab at Mike Ashley’s recently re-established record at Englishtown. During the first session, Janis eclipsed Ashley’s 6.213 mark with a 6.211. He established a new record in the second session with a 6.169. The first qualifying attempt served as the back-up.
MIA – One of the missing entities from the line-up from this weekend was the two-car nitrous team of Mike Castellana and Shannon Jenkins. According to Castellana, the team decided to skip the event in preparation for the IHRA event in Edmonton. They are also facilitating a move to a new shop for their Speedtech nitrous systems company over the weekend.