2009 NHRA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS - GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD NOTEBOOK
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SUNDAY - Cool Temps on Sunday lead to Hot times in Bristol; Auxier wins his first
The cloudy skies and cool temperatures on Sunday did nothing but heat up the action in the Get Screened America Pro Mod 
Challenge
presented by ProCare Rx at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in
Bristol, Tenn. For the first time in Thunder Valley Dragway history,
two Pro Mod cars ran side-by-side five-second runs, and Dixie, West
Va.-resident Burton Auxier scored his first Pro Mod Challenge victory
while overtaking the points lead.
After blasting to the No. 5 qualifying spot with a 6.092/231.95, Auxier
got an easy run in round one against a broken Taylor Lastor, and then
drove around turbo-powered Brad Personett 6.020/236.34 to 6.138/236.71
to advance to the semifinals. He then used his quickest lap of the
event to edge St. Louis winner, Roger Burgess, 6.008/235.68 to
6.098/241.45, finding his way to the finals for the second time this
season and hoping for his first win.
Auxier faced R2B2 Racing's Raymond Commisso, another driver searching
for his first Challenge win, and as the two staged their cars, Auxier
lit both lights quickly but held onto the brakes, while nerves got the
best of Commisso who left before the green light, handing Auxier the
win and the title.
"I just rolled in a bit too deep and staged really quickly, which isn't
something I ever do, but I knew I had to have a great light if I was
going to have any chance against Raymond," Auxier said.
"This win has been a long time coming, and it feels really good now that it's here," he said.
"I remember when we had the old Corvette and used to come out here and
just barely qualify, knowing we were going to be out after first
elimination. Now that we're with Al-Anabi, and the new car it's been
picking up a little bit. It feels really good," he said
As Auxier's wife asked him the order of events at the Winner’s Circle
ceremonies, an excited Auxier said, "I don't know honey, this is my
first time here. This is a whole new ball game!"
Commisso's road to the finals included a win over Danny Rowe Saturday
night and then one of the best matchups of the weekend, seeding
Commisso against top qualifier Mike Castellana. Commisso sent
Castellana packing early, blasting off a 5.952/242.45 to a
nitrous-assisted 5.998/235.64 - the first side-by-side five-second Pro
Mod matchup Bristol Dragway history. With the win, Commisso advanced
all the way to the finals, drawing a bye in the semi's due to the short
field.
Extremely disappointed by his red light start in the finals, Commisso
said, "All these guys out here are great racers, very competitive. I
got a bit anxious and just jumped the gun. Al [Billes, crew chief] and
the team did a great job giving me the fastest car on the track and
this one just falls on my shoulders." Commisso said.
The weekend was highlighted by the contribution of more than $5,700 to
the Southern Appalachian Ronald McDonald House in memory of fallen Pro
Mod driver Steve Engel, who won this Bristol event last year.
Next up for the Get Screened America Pro Mod challenge is the O'Reilly
NHRA Summer Nationals, May 29-31 at Heartland Park Topeka, in Topeka,
Kansas.
Points Standings (After 4 of 10 events)
1 Burton Auxier 330
2 Mike Castellana 299
3 Roger Burgess 284
4 Joe Baker 217
4 Danny Rowe 217
6 Rick Stivers 200
7 Brad Personett 196
8 Jay Payne 177
9 Raymond Commisso 174
10 Taylor Lastor 167
11 Tim Tindle 156
12 Harold Laird 155
13 Mike Knowles 147
14 Kenny Lang 140
15 Andy McCoy 63
16 Rickie Smith 52
17 Billy Gibson 42
18 Chip King 35
19 Kirk Wilmes 31
20 Tommy Gray 10
20 George Landis 10
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SATURDAY - High Track Temperatures Heat Up Pro Mod Competition in Thunder Valley
Weather forecasters couldn't have been more wrong today,
as the 80 percent chance of rain in Bristol turned into a beautiful -
albeit sunny and hot - day as the Get Screened America Pro Mod
Challenge presented by ProCare Rx took to the drag strip for the last
session of qualifying and round one of eliminations at the NRHA Thunder
Valley Nationals.
The blacktop boiled as track temperatures exceeded 121 degrees, giving
way to the "challenge" of the Pro Mod Challenge. In the end, Mike
Castellana took the pole at 6.050/234.90 in his nitrous-powered '68
Firebird.
"It's hot, it's sticky, and we just had too much power," Joe Baker,
driver of the Matco Tools '68 Camaro, said after smoking his tires in
the third qualifying session today. Baker finished qualifying in the
No. 11 spot.
Baker wasn't the only driver struggling to find the right balance of
power in qualifying however. Big 3 Turbos-driver Brad Personett agreed,
saying, "You've got to be a lot more forgiving on hot tracks with your
power." Forgiveness was definitely on Personett's side, landing number
two with a 6.077/246.44 and taking high m.p.h. bragging rights.
With only a three-degree drop in track temperature when the first pair
was fired, crew chiefs were scrambling for any advantage they could
find.
St. Louis event winner Roger Burgess advanced with a hole-shot win
against former Pro Mod World Champion Jay Payne with a of 6.139/237.71
to Payne's quicker 6.109/236.55. Burgess will face Tim Tindle in the
second round of eliminations.
Burton Auxier faced Taylor Lastor in the first round, but got the easy
win-light when Lastor's main fuel line broke loose, spraying the track
with fuel after the burnout. Burton will meet Personett in round two.
Raymond Commisso got a confidence-builder when Danny Rowe redlit,
giving away the win. Commisso will face current points-leader Mike
Castellana in round two. Castellana beat Mike Knowles 6.078/234.41 to
8.355/109.87 in round one.
Knowles said of Castellana: "Mike's good. You know when you go up
against him he's good. He's got a lot of laps, and he's been to a lot
of races. We were getting at it too hard, and we've just got to work
on finesse."
Eliminations are scheduled to conclude Sunday afternoon.
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FRIDAY QUALIFYING - Pro Mods rumble for the numbers in day one at Bristol
With
the threat of rain increasing as the afternoon wore on, the only rumble
heard in Bristol, Tenn. was coming from Thunder Valley. A lucky dozen
braved the weather and the economic storms to race in the Get Screened
America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx Friday at the NHRA
Thunder Valley Nationals. Despite an abbreviated field there was no
shortage of action.
R2B2 owner and Pro Mod series driver Roger Burgess said, "It's a small
field, but it's a competitive field. Everybody has got a shot at
winning this weekend." After the 4:30 qualifying rounds that certainly
seemed to be the case.
In round one action, top-qualifier Mike Castellana was disqualified
after his Al-Anabi nitrous-injected '68 Camaro weighed in light.
Castellana's spot on the leader-board was taken by his teammate, Burton
Auxier, who clocked in just .002 thousandths of a second slower at
6.092/231.95. The balance of the field struggled in the muggy air,
their super-chargers gasping for a breath.
The evening session saw the temperature drop and the performances
improve. Castellana came in with a solid run and landed back on top
with a 6.050/234.90. R2B2 Racing's Raymond Commisso jumped from last
place to the provisional No. 5 with a 6.108/240.42 after spending some
time readjusting in the pit after first session.
Brad Personett once again delivered monster MPH in his turbo-powered
'68 Camaro and landed No. 2 with a 6.077/246.44, and 2006 Bristol event
winner Jay Payne landed third for the super-charged entries with a
6.091/231.95.
Danny Rowe and Tim Tindle, were both DQ'd in round two after crossing the center line and "bowling for cones."
"I was just checking to see if they were glued down," Tindle explained
with a laugh when asked about his ride. "Seriously, though, it shook
really hard, and I pedaled it once to try and get it back, but it was
just too close to the line and I lifted.
"There's always another round to run, and I wasn't about to push it too hard," Tindle said.
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THURSDAY NOTEBOOK -
BAKER'S SECRET WEAPON - Matco Tools/Lend America-sponsored driver Joe Baker is currently fifth in the GSA NHRA Pro Mod standings after three of ten events, and said he knows "it's time to make a move."
"We've gotten a lot of things sorted out with the car and our engine setup, and I am really confident Chuck [Ford, crew chief] has everything ready to go the distance," Baker said.
"This is a championship team, and there is no doubt we can win at this track. Chuck has done it before, and it's our turn in the winner's circle now," he said.
Ford tuned two-time Pro Mod World Champion Mike Ashley to victory at the Bristol Dragway in 2005, and guided 2006 Rookie of the Year Joey Martin to a runner-up finish in '06. Ashley returned last year and runnered-up to Steve Engel, again with Ford calling the shots.
"Chuck is like our secret weapon," Baker explained. "He's got that quiet personality, and can generally be conservative, but I think the history speaks for itself in recent years. It doesn't change how I will drive, but it definitely gives me a mental edge - and in a sport where fractions of a second mean everything - that's huge."
THUNDERING INTO THE VALLEY - In the heart of Pro Mod country, it's anyone's game in the Get Screened
America Pro Mod Challenge, and the battle is heating up as 
competitors
enter the second of four races in a seven-week span this weekend at the
NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. The race will also
feature a special tribute to 2008 event winner Steve Engel.
Most-recent event winner Roger Burgess is definitely on a roll, never
qualifying below No. 2 so far this season and consistently delivering
5.90-second performances when he stages his ProCare Rx Camaro. His
Duluth, Ga.-based team, tuned by 2004 Bristol Pro Mod Challenge winner
Al Billes, is to a man ready to put another Get Screened America
Warrior on the mantle, but to do that, they will have to get past
points leader Mike Castellana and his Al-Anabi teammate Burton Auxier.
Auxier has twice runnered-up this season, and Castellana has driven his
nitrous-powered '68 Firebird to a quarterfinal and semifinal finish to
go along with his Gainesville win.
After the carnage of the demolition derby-style racing in St. Louis
that saw series stalwarts Rick Stivers and Harold Laird both roll their
cars in dramatic non-injuring crashes, the field for this weekend's
event is reduced to a hopefully lucky 13.
Entrants include: Burton Auxier, Joe Baker, Roger Burgess, Mike
Castellana, Raymond Commisso, Chip King, Mike Knowles, Taylor Lastor,
Jay Payne, Brad Personett, Danny Rowe, Tim Tindle, Andy McCoy.
The drivers and fans of the series will have opportunity to honor the
late Steve Engel, winner of the 2008 Bristol event, through charitable
donations to be received during the weekend and given to the Southern
Appalachian Ronald McDonald House. Engel, who died as a result of
injuries he sustained in a racing accident in Indianapolis last season,
celebrated the Bristol win as his first - and only - win in the
Challenge.
The mission of the Ronald McDonald House is to provide a "temporary"
home-away-from-home for children and families of seriously ill children
receiving medical care in any local hospital.
The Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge opens with two rounds of
qualifying on Friday (4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.) and continues Saturday with
a third and final qualifying attempt (2:15 p.m.). The first round of
eliminations is scheduled for Saturday at 4:30 p.m., with the remaining
three rounds of eliminations set for Sunday.
Current Championship Points Top Ten (after 3 of 10 events)
1. Mike Castellana 241
2. Burton Auxier 216
3. Roger Burgess 212
4. Rick Stivers 200
5. Joe Baker 185
6. Danny Rowe 184
7. Harold Laird 155
8. Jay Payne 142
9. Kenny Lang 140
10. Brad Personett 139
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