ROWE GOES FROM ZERO TO HERO IN SATURDAY QUALIFYING

Danny Rowe went from last place to the top of the pack Saturday in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx at the Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. Joe Baker and Mike Castellana also made big jumps in qualifying in the day's lone qualifying session.
 
On Friday, Rowe's '67 Camaro shook the tires at the launch, forcing the veteran racer to abort his run early and land dead last in the order. His position in the standings forced him to take the first pass in the run order, and the Laguna Hills, Calif.-resident fired a shot straight down the quarter-mile at 5.943 and 245.54 mph that none others in the class were able to surpass.
 

ROWE GOES FROM ZERO TO HERO IN SATURDAY QUALIFYING

Danny Rowe went from last place to the top of the pack Saturday in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx at the Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. Joe Baker and Mike Castellana also made big jumps in qualifying in the day's lone qualifying session.
 
On Friday, Rowe's '67 Camaro shook the tires at the launch, forcing the veteran racer to abort his run early and land dead last in the order. His position in the standings forced him to take the first pass in the run order, and the Laguna Hills, Calif.-resident fired a shot straight down the quarter-mile at 5.943 and 245.54 mph that none others in the class were able to surpass.
 
"On Friday, we were really aggressive with the car, trying to turn the earth, because we knew that we had something capable of running great numbers and we wanted to set the pace. Let's face it, there's a lot of good cars out here. Sometimes that approach works and you're a hero, and sometimes - like yesterday - you're a big zero," Rowe explained.
 
"Today, the guys did a great job with the car. We took a step back to re-think things, and Jimmy (Rector, crew chief) and the guys really calmed the car down, and we went straight down Broadway. Tomorrow, we just want to stay consistent with what we ran today, and then go rounds in eliminations," he said.
 
Joe Baker blasted to the No. 2 spot after improving his 5.983 from yesterday nearly four-hundredths to a blistering 5.949 at 241.20. Roger Burgess failed to improve on his class-leading run from Friday after the clutch pedal linkage broke off the clutch housing, dropping him into third place, and former U.S. Nationals winner Jay Payne also failed to run quicker than his 5.963 at 239.27 mph from Friday.
 
Mike Castellana made a huge move of nearly a tenth of a second into the top five, driving his Al Anabi nitrous-powered '70 Camaro to a 5.963 at 237.75 mph, and Mike Knowles also broke into the fives in his Knowles Enterprises/B&J Transmissions '63 Corvette with a blistering 5.977 at 240.64 mph. Knowles said, "It's nice, because we are able to make some changes in our setup and actually see a difference in our performance on the track. We had a really good run yesterday, and were able to step it up today. We're feeling really good going into tomorrow's last qualifier and eliminations."
 
Melanie Troxel jumped from eleventh into the No 7 spot, improving from a 6.107 to a 6.015. She said, "Of course we always want to be a little further up into the field, but we improved a lot over yesterday, and the car ran straight down the track. It was a pretty clean run, and if we can continue improving like that, you can't ask for anything more."
 
Rickie Smith rounded out the top eight, with a 6.03 at 234.37 mph.
 
In the bottom half are Tim Tindle, current points leader Burton Auxier, newcomers Jason Stock and Ike Maier, Brad Personett, John Russo in the S-10 pickup, Dennis Radford, and rookie Kirk Wilmes. Not qualified are Adam Flamholc from Malmoe, Sweden, Raymond Commisso, Rick DiStefano, Tommy D'Aprile, Scott Christoffel, Rick Stivers and Scott Ray.
 
Racing continues Sunday with one remaining qualifying session scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and the first round of eliminations scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Eliminations conclude Monday.
 
 
AGATE:

1 Danny Rowe 5.943 245.54
2 Joe Baker 5.949 240.85
3 Roger Burgess 5.96 242.45
4 Jay Payne 5.963 239.27
5 Mike Castellana 5.963 237.75
6 Mike Knowles 5.977 240.64
7 Melanie Troxel 6.015 241.02
8 Rickie Smith 6.03 234.37
9 Tim Tindle 6.051 236.46
10 Burton Auxier 6.056 234.29
11 Jason Stock 6.079 232.95
12 Ike Maier 6.079 230.49
13 Brad Personett 6.099 247.88
14 John Russo 6.112 238.13
15 Dennis Radford 6.116 229.35
16 Kirk Wilmes 6.12 231.95
------- Not Qualified -------
17 Adam Flamholc 6.12 228.73
18 Raymond Commisso 6.131 241.97
19 Rick DiStefano 6.237 230.61
20 Tommy D'Aprile 6.301 187.47
21 Scott Christoffel 6.365 215.13
22 Rick Stivers 6.647 162.1
23 Scott Ray 9.166 87.79

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