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MAC
Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
MONDAY FINAL – Payne tops Hernandez in final round
(9-5-2005) - Jay Payne was never the quickest car in eliminations, but he was when it mattered the most. Payne used a quicker reaction time and outran Josh Hernandez in the final round to record his second AMS TLR Pro Modified Challenge victory in 2005 during the MAC Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Hernandez was the quickest driver in the class all weekend. Payne entered eliminations as the second quickest. During Sunday's first round Payne defeated Aussie Ben Bray and Hernandez stopped Zach Barklage. Hernandez resumed where he left off from Sunday’s first round of eliminations. In a pure case of déjà vu, Hernandez delivered a winning 6.085, 231.44 that was overkill as Mike Bell fouled with a -.015 reaction. The former drag racing school instructor for Roy Hill wasted an impressive 6.195, 230.17. In a battle of teammates, Mike Ashley beat Troy Coughlin on the starting and parlayed that into victory with a slower elapsed time. Ashley pulled a .057 reaction time and coupled it with a 6.142, 230.29 to beat Coughlin’s quicker 6.134, 230.10. Payne also returned to his winning ways by beating Thomas Patterson on both ends of the track. His winning lap was a 6.183, 233.64. Rick Stivers closed out the round with a strong 6.147, 231.48 to fend off Glenn Kerunsky’s 6.210, 230.41. The semi-finals provided an interesting scenario as Payne took advantage of Ashley’s starting-line tardiness to snare the victory with a 6.193, 230.21. Ashley lost despite a quicker 6.149, 230.37. Hernandez retained his position as the driver to beat with a 6.118, 231.48 when Stivers shook the tires and aborted the run. In the final round, Payne was not to be denied as he grabbed the quicker
reaction time and led Hernandez to the stripe with a 6.104, 234.29.
Hernandez made it a battle to the end with a 6.128, 229.94. a
d v e r t i s e m e n t MONDAY NOTES - Hip Hop Central, Hoosier Daddy and Invasion of the Body Deliverers
Being the intrepid journalists that we are, we questioned Seward. He said, “That’s our new 2005 Mustang body. We have the 2004 car that we are running now and that’s a new body. It’s something for us to play with.” We’re not sure if the body will go onto his current car or if a new chassis will sport the late model shell. We do know that it has a long way to go because there isn’t even a windshield cut out of it as of yet. Politically incorrect shirt of the day – While walking through the Pro Mod pits, we spotted a very tongue-in-cheek shirt that made us smile. The shirt was being sported by a very large man and bore the phrase “I beat anorexia.” Hoosier Daddy – Apparently Steve Engel’s performance turnaround in the pits with Goodyear isn’t the only tire-related increase that transpired over the course of the event. Hoosier has been working closely with a couple of Pro Mod teams to refine their tires. Steve from Hoosier said, “This tire actually came over from an IHRA Pro Stock tire we were working on. We have always had a reputation for being an aggressive tire and with this one we wanted to give the teams more of a tuning window. Getting these cars through first gear is the most important part of the run and so far these tires are really working.” We’d agree with that, as Josh Hernandez and Jay Payne, the No.1 and No. 2 qualifiers are both sporting them. Hernandez said, “Hoosiers have had a reputation in the alcohol ranks to be more apt to shake during a run. We have been working side by side with the folks at Hoosier and they have done a great job with this tire.” White men can’t dance – Pro Mods and hip-hop? Heck no. A spontaneous case of white guys trying to dance took over Mike Ashley’s pit area this morning. The music in question sounded like the Sugar Hill Gang’s, Rappers’ Delight, a staple early 1980’s rap tune. Several of the normally straight-laced crew cranked the volume and began busting out non-rhythmic, very disturbing, and frankly very “white dude” moves. What’s the line from that old song? “I’ve got music, I’ve got rhythm, who could ask for anything more?” We could…please stop dancing - you’re ruining it for the rest of us. Just kidding of course.
It was a close match, as Payne’s 6.10, 234 mph pass edged out the TLR entry’s 6.12, 229 mph shot. Hernandez was having a storybook weekend until the final. Earlier he had grabbed the No. 1 qualifying spot and logged the low elapsed time of the event. Hernandez said, “The last couple of passes I had to drive the car an awful lot. We made some changes that cured that, but we smoked the clutch on the second half of the final run.” Things worked out as the ladders said they would; Hernandez and Payne were the top two qualifiers respectively. Fans love em’ – The AMS/TLR series got rave reviews from the fans this weekend who stayed planted in their seats for the entire time the intense door slammers were on the track. Many team pit areas were swamped with fans for the entirety of the
event and the drivers’ definitely developed a following here at
the 51st Annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
SUNDAY - Seven
of Top Eight Advance;
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(9-5-2005)
- Everybody needs some-body – Yesterday, we spotted a
pickup truck with a 2005 Mustang body in the back roll up to Brian Seward’s
pit area. The driver of the truck unloaded the body onto the ground
and left. 
Payne
picks up the big one – Jay Payne defeated Josh Hernandez
in the AMS/TLR Pro Mod final. It is the first time Payne has won the
U.S. Nationals in his accomplished career.
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In addition to possibly winning his first U.S. Nationals title, Ashley
(Torco Race Fuels ’67 Mustang) is also seeking to make it nearly
impossible for another driver to claim the 2005 AMS/TLR Cup championship.
Entering the U.S. Nationals, Ashley led Hernandez by 976 points; should
he leave Indianapolis with a lead of 1,033 points or greater, Ashley
would put Hernandez in the position of having to earn bonus points for
setting e.t. or speed records in either Dallas or Las Vegas (the final
two AMS/TLR events of the season) in order to win the Cup competition.
Neither of those tracks is likely to produce the level of performance
necessary to eclipse the current Pro Mod Challenge records of 6.030
seconds and 236.92 mph.
Ashley faces teammate Troy Coughlin (Jeg’s Mail Order ’67
Mustang), a former NHRA national event winner in Pro Stock, in Monday’s
quarterfinals. Hernandez, seeking a second straight win on the Pro Mod
Challenge tour, will be a heavy favorite against Mike Bell in their
quarterfinals race.
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals first-round results (winner
on top)
Mike Bell 6.236, 230.33
Ed Hoover 6.254, 225.79
Thomas Patterson 6.395, 180.16
Steve Engel Center line
Glen Kerunsky 6.145, 231.87
Shannon Jenkins 6.207, 226.35
Troy Coughlin 6.148, 231.04
Troy Critchley Red-light
Rick Stivers 6.194, 232.11
Bryan Seward 6.173, 231.04
Mike Ashley 6.147, 231.00
Doug Palmer 6.275, 224.81
Jay Payne 6.167, 234.13
Ben Bray 6.204, 227.80
Joshua Hernandez 6.119, 230.57
Zach Barklage 6.259, 227.08
SUNDAY QUALIFYING - Hernandez reigns supreme in final qualifying session
(9-4-2005) – If AMS TLR Pro Mod Challenge fans thought Saturday's low-qualifying effort of 6.11 was the best Josh Hernandez could muster, he would have gladly told them that it was only a preview of things to come.
In Sunday's final qualifying session, the Conroe, Texas-based driver for Tommy Lipar blasted out the quickest run in the history of the tour with an awesome 6.089, 231.40.
Hernandez left no doubt as he padded his FLOWMASTER Klash point lead with his second consecutive pole position and fourth of the season.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our team,” Hernandez said. “As tough as this class is, it’s tough enough to qualify once, much less four times.”
The qualifying was indeed tough as Hernandez was confronted with a number of incredible elapsed times during the final session, including those of Jay Payne (6.105, 235.93), Mike Ashley (6.127, 231.95), Rick Stivers (6.141, 233.92), Troy Coughlin (6.147, 231.36) and Ed Hoover (6.159, 231.44).
Zach Barklage is on the bubble with a 6.269, 227.00.
Eliminations are scheduled for Saturday. On the “A” side of the ladder, Hernandez race Barklage; Mike Bell races Hoover; Stivers races Steward and Glen Kerunsky. The “B” side of the ladder pairs Payne and Aussie Ben Bray; Steve Engel versus Thomas Patterson; Ashley versus Palmer; and Coughlin versus Troy Critchley.
SUNDAY NOTES - Records broken; Aussie impresses and Ice Man melted
Every bit helps – Kudos to the entire AMS/TLR Pro Mod contingent here at Indy. First the Barklage family must be recognized for their efforts in raising money for injured Marines. They took the initiative and got the ball rolling.
The ball was nearly stopped by the NHRA, but the confusion was cleared up and the funds are rolling in.
Amy Johnson, the team’s communications representative said, “The Pro Mod community have really stepped up this weekend. This is just another example of the great people in this class doing the right thing.”
She also told us that many of the racers, crew and team owners have been extremely generous in their donations to this very worthy cause.
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Rumor Confirmed – We have been able to confirm the rumor that the Barklage team was forced by officials to pick one car to run in the final qualifying round. They have chosen Zack’s car to be the one. This decision is the result of an oil situation on the starting line yesterday.
What’s kind of odd is that race officials made the “one car only” call and didn’t specify which they could run.
A team member said, “We’re a small team, running two cars with little or no funding. We’re going to pull back to one car, concentrate on it and go out there to try and win this race. We respect the decision and will abide by it.”
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Seward’s loving life – Brian Seward is having a fun weekend. The affable Floridian is very happy to be here at Indy.
“Man, you can’t beat this. This is my first time at this race and it means a lot to us. We’re qualified in the field with a 6.24, which has us in the 13th spot. It would have been great to have that second run yesterday, but that’s the way it goes,” he said.
The team has been running well in Mustang that Roy Hill used to stable. Seward and the crew had a great first outing in Valdosta, GA two weeks ago.
Lazy days – Well not really, but this one started out slow for just about every team in the Pro Mod pits. Why? Well everyone had their cars prepared to run the second session last evening. With its cancellation it didn’t leave much work to do this morning.
Kirk Khuns, who had been thrashing with his team to get their back up car ready for the night session was calm, cool and collected this morning and the Viper is ready to go.
We asked Howard Moon, crew chief of the Dr. Moon’s Rage what had to happen today since the car was prepared last night. He told us, “We pretty much just need to warm it up, that’s about it.”
Many of the crew guys and girls are not used to this kind of down time and they were not enjoying it. In fact, one crewmember told us, “If I wanted to sit around, I’d go home and do it with my shoes off. Hell - I’d even choose what channel to watch on the TV.”
Sounds like a blast.
Nuclear arms race – The final round of Pro Mod qualifying was the quickest overall round in the history of the AMS/TLR series. Nine cars ran in the 6-teens and one cracked into 6.0 territory.
The Dr. Moon’s Rage entry ran 6.09 at 231 mph to officially solidify its position as the number one qualifier. Jay Payne had seemingly snatched the honor with a 6.10, 235 mph lap earlier in the session but the TLR hot rod took it back with authority.
This completes the quickest field in the history of the AMS/TLR series. The number sixteen qualifier is Zack Barklage with his final effort 6.269.
This session was made in the heat of the day, and many were running the tune up they would have run last night so there is not telling what could have happened under the Indiana stars.
Dude, we need stronger tape – Zack Barklage’s fender issue continues to plague the team. Their 1937 Chevrolet body is a shapely piece, but aerodynamically is has been causing some problems.
More specifically, the front fender keeps breaking, in different places. A inspection of the bottom of the fender shows more patchwork than your grand mothers quilt.
Every time the team adds bracing or repairs the broken area with more carbon fiber the air finds another weak spot.
Zack was knocked out by Josh Hernandez in round one, so they will have some time to work on it before their next race.
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My kingdom for 13 thousands – Ben Bray was just that close to knocking off Jay Payne in round one action but it was not to be.
Bray left on the always-tough Payne, but the big power that comes from the Brad Anderson Hemi that Jay runs was good enough to make up for the whole shot. There were many people hoping that Ben would be able to pull off one of the great upsets of the event thus far.
The kid’s one hell of a racer and we doubt that anyone else could get acclimated to “driving on the wrong side” at 200 plus miles per hour as quick as he did.
He didn’t need to earn our respect…he already had it!
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No Mo’ Nitrous – Shannon Jenkins was the only nitrous car to qualify for the sixteen car field and he was strong. Jenkins ran a 6.19 in the final session to cement a spot in round one.
He ran into Glen Keunsky and his day was over. Kerunsky runs the same wedge-headed motor that Rob Atchison runs in IHRA funny car competition. Jenkins left on Glen and many thought that his day was toast.
That Canadian born-and-bred mill gave Kerunsky a monster, WJ-like top
end charge to grab the win. Although not an upset by the numbers it
still felt like one after watching the pass.
SATURDAY - Hernandez’s 6.11 Leads by Three-Hundredths
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(9-3-2005) - The AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge presented by TLR might have lost a qualifying session Saturday at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, but not before Pro Mod fans were treated to some outstanding action earlier in the day.
The highlight of the day came from Joshua Hernandez, who drove the Tommy Lipar Racing ’57 Chevy to a stunning 6.11 in less-than-ideal conditions, an e.t. that pushed him from No. 9 all the way to the top spot in the order and gave him a three-hundredths cushion over the rest of the 26-car field. Hernandez later was guaranteed of entering Sunday’s fourth and final qualifying session in the No. 1 spot when Saturday evening’s Pro Mod Challenge session was cancelled following Funny Car driver Tony Pedregon’s bizarre starting-line incident — a mishap that apparently began with a stuck throttle and ended with a concrete barrier.
Trailing Hernandez following Saturday’s action were first-round
leader Glen Kerunsky (6.14), Steve Engel (6.14), defending series champion
Mike Ashley (6.15), and Mike Bell (6.15). The entire top half of the
field came in under the 6.20-second barrier.
Hernandez is looking to pad his lead in the FLOWMASTER Pro Mod CLASH
bonus event points standings. The TLR team has not qualified lower than
third in the last six Pro Mod Challenge events, a string of success
that has already guaranteed Hernandez a spot in the eight-car CLASH
field regardless of his performance in Indianapolis or Dallas, the final
two events in which drivers can earn CLASH points.
The Pro Mods are scheduled for a final qualifying session Sunday; the 16-car eliminations program begins later that evening.
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals qualifying results
(through 2 of 3 rounds)
1. Joshua Hernandez 6.117, 230.80
2. Glen Kerunsky 6.144, 226.47
3. Steve Engel 6.149, 232.07
4. Mike Ashley 6.152, 230.41
5. Mike Bell 6.158, 232.11
6. Thomas Patterson 6.176, 227.84
7. Troy Coughlin 6.181, 230.13
8. Rick Stivers 6.198, 232.99
9. Jay Payne 6.205, 234.09
10. Ed Hoover 6.206, 226.16
11. Troy Critchley 6.216, 226.73
12. Shannon Jenkins 6.233, 227.00
13. Bryan Seward 6.248, 227.88
14. Brandon Pesz 6.270, 226.01
15. Doug Palmer 6.273, 225.30
16. Mike Castellana 6.281, 225.37
(not qualified)
17. Ben Bray 6.296, 226.54
18. Frankie Taylor 6.301, 204.51
19. Chip King 6.328, 222.84
20. Cody Barklage 6.351, 221.02
21. Zach Barklage 6.357, 193.29
22. Brian Daniels 6.359, 220.84
23. Mike Moran 6.459, 229.27
24. Scott Ray 6.483, 216.13
25. Annette Summer 9.169, 108.00
26. Kirk Kuhns 9.884, 89.14
SATURDAY NOTES - Oily exit; Hernandez' rope tricks; New math and frustration in the pits
(9-3-2005) - Barklage gets the boot? – The hot rumor floating around the pits was that Zack Barklage was told to park his car after leaking on the starting line during qualifying. The team was tight lipped when asked about it, so we will have to see if Zack answers the call for round three.
Uhhh, maybe it wasn’t the tires – Steve Engel made a blazing 6.14 lap last night after switiching to Goodyear slicks, which garnered a lot of praise from his fellow racers. We were expecting more of the same on his second qualifying lap, but it was not to be.
Engel said, “We drove through the clutch. Our sixty-foot time was exactly the same as last night but after that we just drove straight through it. I changed the gear ratios in the transmission last night and that’s what I think did it do us.”
Hey, as far as we’re concerned when you are in the field as solid as they are, you can afford to try a few things.
Seamstress for hire – Well, not exactly, but that’s what it almost came to at the TLR, Dr. Moon’s Rage pit space after driver Josh Hernandez laid down a shag-nasty 6.11 to become the low qualifier. What has throttled competitors is the fact that the run was made in the heat of the day.
But we digress. Hernandez was packing his chutes when he noticed that one of the tether lines had torn. Not having a replacement and not having anywhere to find one in a pinch Hernandez harked back to his Boy Scout days and used a square knot to repair the parachute.
“If we use a square knot it will only get tighter when the parachute is deployed. The bottom line is I have more than enough room to stop with one parachute, but I would rather go to this line with both of them packed and ready for action,” Hernandez said.
We sure think it’s funny, but does she? - If you look at the hood of Scott Ray’s Ohio Crankshaft sponsored Corvette you will see the words, “Mom’s Mercedes” scripted on the hood up near the blower.
We dig it, we’re just not sure she does.
My abacus is broken – During one of the many interruptions of racing today the NHRA was running one of their “did you know” audio recordings. The recording stated that, “nitromethane cost 30 dollars a gallon, roughly 25 times the cost of a gallon of gasoline.”
We’re just journalists here, but let’s try a math problem. We’ll be charitable and say that gas is ONLY three bucks a gallon. Multiply that by 25 times and you get? A number larger than 30.
The Mysterious Mr. Hill – Roy Hill, international man of mystery that he is, refuses to budge on a big announcement that will be made regarding his car. The words “It’s coming” are scripted down the quarter panels of the Mustang with “September 22-25 lettered below it.”
We asked what the heck all this was about, the only thing Roy would say is, “It’s going to be blue.”
We have no idea either.
Swapping horses – Things are busy in the Kirk Kuhns pit area. On their last qualifying pass they broke the four-link brackets off of the chassis of the team’s Corvette. Luckily for them they had another car in the trailer.
A team representative told us that they are prepping the familiar red Viper for final qualifying tomorrow. The Jerry Haas-built Viper is equipped with a Brad Anderson Hemi, same as is in the Corvette, so mechanically the two are similar. The Viper is a former Shannon Jenkins car from the 2001-02 season.
Khuns is currently unqualified.
Closing time came early – Due to the bizarre incident involving Tony Pedragon at the starting line and the ensuing delay, the evening Pro Mod session was cancelled. There are rumors of an early qualifying round tomorrow, but those have yet to be substantiated. Reactions were understandably not rosy.
Glenn Kerunsky, who is currently qualified second said, “We would have liked to have had the run tonight. We nicked a piston last night, and being where we are in the order we are playing with house money. This would have allowed us to open it up a bit, but we won’t have the chance now.” Tomorrow the team plans to work on a race day setup.
Those who have not made it into the show do not have that luxury. Many will be in desperation mode, trying to break into the field. The bump currently sits in the high 6.20’s. Annette Summer was visibly upset as were many others who had yet to break into the qualifying order.
The list of names on the non-qualified list has some surprises in it. Chip King, both Barklage brothers, Kirk Khuns and Frankie Taylor need to get in, as does Australian Ben Bray, who is currently the first alternate at No. 17.
FRIDAY NOTES - Long distance traveler; Swappin' rubber and Turbo Boogie
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Rules is rules – It seems that two Pro Mod teams, the Barklage brothers and the AMS team of Troy Crtichley were running fund raisers this weekend. Critchley was supporting a charity that helped child cancer patients and the Barklage clan was helping to support injured members of the Armed Forces.
There was an issue raised and NHRA officials asked the teams to stop what they were doing. They complied, albeit grudgingly. They were eventually allowed to restart their fund raising efforts, but they had lost a lot of momentum.
I’m giving her everything she’s got, captain – In the first Pro Mod qualifying session the cars were flying. Low twenties and teens were showing up on the boards as the cars at the end of the line looked on.
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Josh Hernandez and the Dr. Moon’s Rage 1957 Chevy was one of those cars. A stroll by the machine in the staging lanes showed the crew cranking more clutch into the car. On the pass, the car responded well to the clutch adjustments, but the chassis was overpowered.
“When you have a good track and a powerful car it really wants to go left when it hooks,” said Hernandez.“We made a chassis adjustment for that but it just was not enough. The car was moving toward the wall and I was trying to bring it back over, but I had to pedal it. It still went 6.27 and we laid our data from a 6.09 pass earlier in the year and it matched up perfectly before I had to lift.”
Hernandez is qualified ninth, a shade over a tenth slower than pole sitter Glen Kerunsky.
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Anything you can do I can do better – Canadian Glen Kerunsky, who definitely earns the long distance award for making the trip to Indy from his home in Priddis, Alberta, fired the opening salvo in the Pro Mod war this weekend. He currently holds down the No.1 qualifying spot with a 6.144 pass.
Kerunsky said, “That was a great run on a great track. I am tuning this stuff on my own now so I had a little bit of a learning curve, but that was a great pass right down the middle. We know that we can lay one down with the big boys, we have to back it up now.”
That edges Steve Engle’s 6.149 pass from earlier in the session, which was a team best buy a large margin. Understandably, the team was very happy.
When asked how the team made the nearly one tenth performance leap, Engel said, “We put Goodyear tires on it. That’s all we did. We know that the motor is there and the car is making the power. The only change we made was the tires and boy was that a nice smooth run. It felt very, very good where I was sitting.”
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The “Turbo Shuffle” – There are two turbocharged cars in the Pro Mod field this weekend, but neither are qualified after the first session. Mike Moran and Annete Summer had the same issue this afternoon. Tire shake. Neither car made it much farther than 300 feet under power before violent shake caused both drivers to abort their runs. The “turbo shuffle” is not a dance either driver wants to partake in for the rest of the weekend. No one wants to drive a 200mph mosh-pit.
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Long hard road – Doug Palmer and his fiance Toni departed Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Tuesday. They left early for a couple of reasons. They had no power, no running water, and really no reason to stick around. The pair left for what was supposed to be a 13-hour ride to Indy. Cut to Thursday night. They arrived at IRP and NHRA officials nearly closed the gate on them because they were no going to allow any more trucks in, Palmer just made it.
“We did not have too much damage by our town, but what’s happening is that people are walking up the interstate and getting to the outskirts of our town,” Toni said. “We know some people on the Sheriff’s department that are going to look over the house and my business, it’s getting bad.”
“We were trying to find a highway that was open,” Palmer said. “The National Guard had many of the highways closed down and they said that we could go up route 59. We got up a ways on the highway and we were dodging trees, pulling off the highway to miss all the debris and finally had to stop the rig and turn it around. We then drove 10 miles going the wrong way to get off that highway.” The pictures that Toni shot of the trip are stunning. The pair showed an incredible amount of dedication to make it to this race despite all of the obstacles in their way.
What's It Going to Take? - Thanks in large part to a four-event winning streak in the first half of the season, Mike Ashley and the Torco Race Fuels Pro Mod team are closing in on a second straight AMS/TLR Cup points championship.
Ashley can clinch the Cup this weekend in Indianapolis, depending on
both his performance and that of the only three drivers (Joshua Hernandez,
Jay Payne, and Troy Critchley) who have not already been mathematically
eliminated from the possibility of winning the Cup title. Entering the
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Ashley has 3,917
points; Hernandez, in second place, has 2,941. A driver can earn a maximum
of 516 points at a Pro Mod Challenge event (qualifying No. 1 and winning
the event), although up to 200 bonus points are available for record-setting
runs. However, the three remaining sites of AMS/ TLR events - Indianapolis,
Dallas, and Las Vegas - have historically not been among the quicker
or faster tracks on the Pro Mod Challenge
circuit.
Using a 516-point scale, Ashley can clinch the title by leaving
Indianapolis with at least a 1,033-point lead over the second-place
driver (a maximum of 1,032 points would be available in the final two
events). Entering the U.S. Nationals, Ashley leads Hernandez, the current
second-place driver, by 976 points, so Hernandez will need to reach
the same round of eliminations as Ashley to keep his hopes of a championship
alive. If, for example, Ashley were to reach the semifinals and Hernandez
the quarterfinals, the resulting difference in points would give Ashley
the 1,033-point gap he needs to clinch his second straight championship.
Technically, 716 points are available to any driver at a Pro Mod Challenge
event (winning, qualifying No. 1, and setting both ends of the AMS/TLR
performance records). The current standards of 6.030 seconds and 236.92
mph, though, are not likely to be re-set in any of the three remaining
events. Ranking all 14 Pro Mod Challenge sites by
their current track records shows that Indianapolis is eighth-best in
e.t. and ninth in speed, Dallas is 12th and eighth, and Las Vegas is
13th and sixth.
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Sub-lime – That was the Mopar name for the color that Chip King’s brand new and totally bitchin’ 1970 Dodge Daytona Pro Mod. The car is, in our opinion, (and we hope yours) the best proportioned “wing car” ever introduced into the category. The wing, although shorter than the stock, is in good measure with the rest of the body. From any angle this car is a real showstopper. We suspect that the buzz about this car amongst its competitors will be it’s 50 inch from overhang. The original cars were produced with that amount of overhang, thus the reason for its legality. The monstrous Mopar will not be running this weekend as King just picked it up from the paint shop 72 hours ago.
Working man blues – Mitch Stott will be getting his fingers greasy this weekend, not gripping the steering wheel. It was widely speculated that Stott would be driving the 1957 Chevy Dr. Moon’s Rage entry of the Tommy Lipar Racing outfit and Josh Hernandez was going to run the brand new Tim McAmis Camaro. Unfortunately, final assembly was not completed in time to have the car on the track. The newest scuttlebutt is that Stott will be driving the 1957 Chevrolet in Dallas and Hernandez will be in the new car.
Let’s go home in one piece – Word has
surfaced that Ben Bray had a harrowing, lane-swapper of a test ride
at St. Louis last week. He did get it shut down without incident and
later Ben mentioned that the cars steer differently over here. Apparently
the Top Door Slammer entries need to be muscled around and Bray was
expecting the same from the Pro Mod over here. He quickly learned that
was not the case.
FIRST LOOK - The Car That Made Daytona Proud
(9-2-2005) - Chip King's new Vanishing Point Race Cars-built Daytona Charger is bound to make any Mopar enthusiast green with envy.
THURSDAY NOTES - What's that smell?; Breaking the silence; Close quarters and Team Australia ready to rock
(9-1-2005) - That new car smell…kinda – There are a few brand new race cars here in the Pro Mod ranks this weekend. Mike Stawicki has his 1967 Camaro, Chip King is supposed to debut his new Super Bird wing car and Australian Ben Bray is driving the new-to-him AMS Corvette, which is Troy Critchley’s Outlaw car. Bray’s car does not have that new car smell, however - it has that seasoned Australian essence from Critchley’s campaign in it.
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It’s quiet…too quiet – Aside from the noise of Vern Summer clicking that monstrous turbo motor over in the front of the family Corvette, there is not much going on in the Pro Mod pits today. The cars are scheduled to run at 5:45 tomorrow for their first qualifier, so most of the teams are doing minor prep work. The real fun begins tomorrow morning.
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Give em’ an inch and they’ll take – Maybe another inch and a half? The NHRA pit parking squad must have been using their micrometers to park the Pro Mod rigs as the teams are in there pretty tight.
Let’s hope that the boys and girls are able to keep things nicey-nice in their cozy digs here at Indy.
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Bray and Critchley, together again – As has been widely reported, Ben Bray is driving the second AMS-sponsored entry at this, the 51st Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.
The son of Australian drag racing legend Victor Bray is set to make his U.S. debut in competition at the most prestigious drag race in the entire world. How’s that for a baptism by fire?
Ben, who is known as "The Kid" back home, is a legitimate threat as he is a two-time and current Top Doorslammer champion in Australia, having run a best of 6.02 at just under 245 mph.
This weekend is a reunion of sorts for the Bray family and Critchley, who ran a second car on Victor's team in Australia a number of years ago.
Been to any good yard sales lately?
(9-1-2005) - You'd think the AMS Staff Leasing team was conducting a yard sale by the looks of things. However, the team was assembling their pit area on Thursday when this photo was taken. The AMS TLR Pro Modifieds are not slated to run until late Friday afternoon.
Favorites looking to avoid IRP "curse"
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(9-1-2005) - As the 2005 AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge
presented by TLR season begins to wind toward its
conclusion, drivers Mike Ashley and Joshua Hernandez have established
themselves as favorites to win any event in which they're entered. Whether
that status means much at this weekend's Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals, though, remains to be seen.
Over the last four seasons, Indianapolis Raceway Park has become something
of a graveyard for favorites when the Pro Mod Challenge takes to the track.
Other than Shannon Jenkins' win in 2002 - which came in the midst of an
all-conquering season - the AMS/TLR series' Iron Eagle trophies have gone
to Ronnie Hood (2001), Rickie Smith
(2003), and Jim Halsey (2004), none of whom were considered to be leading
contenders prior to the event. None of those three drivers, in fact, has
gone on to win another Pro Mod Challenge event since their respective
Indianapolis titles.
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Entering the 2005 event, defending AMS/TLR Cup champion Ashley (Torco
Race Fuels '67 Mustang) and three-time event winner Hernandez (Tommy
Lipar Racing '57 Chevy) are certainly hoping to repeat Jenkins' feat of
winning a U.S. Nationals title as a favorite. Between them, Ashley and
Hernandez have won eight of the 11 Pro Mod Challenge events this season,
have appeared in a combined 11 final rounds, and have solidly established
themselves in the top two positions of the AMS/TLR Cup points standings
(although third-place Jay Payne is only 219 points
behind Hernandez).
Although the stakes are high for all the Pro Mod teams attending drag
racing's largest event, they are arguably even higher for Ashley and the
Torco team. Although he can't clinch the AMS/TLR Cup title in Indianapolis,
even a non-winning effort from Ashley can make it virtually impossible
for any other driver to move around him at the top of the standings. With
just three events (including the U.S.
Nationals) remaining on the 2005 calendar, Ashley leads Hernandez by 976
points; the Pro Mod Challenge points structure essentially rewards each
round-win with 100 points.
With the unique Monday racing at the U.S. Nationals, the traditional
Pro Mod Challenge structure has undergone some changes. The Pro Mods will
get a single qualifying run Friday, two runs on Saturday, and a final
qualifying shot on Sunday afternoon. The first round of the 16-car eliminations
program will be run on Sunday evening, with the survivors coming back
to race in Monday's quarterfinals.
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© Competitionplus 2005
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