With only 26 points separating the top four teams in this year’s Pro Modified Racing Association tour, each one of the teams has a chance at capturing the 2007 Championship when they roll into Grand Bend this weekend.

 

This will be the fifth and final event of the season.

 

Leading the race with 1004 points is the Guenther Racing team from Livonia, New York with its 1941 nitrous-powered Willys.

 

“The car is ready and we are very confident in Matt,” said team owner Mike Guenther earlier this week. “We’ve been doing some testing and we need to win rounds.”

 

With Matt Guenther driving, the team has a win at Lancaster Raceway Park, and took runner-up at the recent Sanair race in Quebec.

 

“We’ve got a few things to do,” said Matt Guenther. “I’m ready for the challenge. It’s going to be fun. It should be an exciting weekend.”

 

Guenther added his team has been a tremendous help this year.

 

“We would not be where we are today without Jerry and Donna Highway,” he said. “They have helped us out a lot.”

 

“The first order of business is to qualify well,” added Matt Guenther. “Then stay in the show longer than the other teams in contention, it seems simple.”

 

With 994 points sitting in second spot, Ike Maier of Tottenham, Ontario has had a consistent season with his Maier Motorsports 1969 Camaro.

 

“It’s going to be a great weekend and our team is excited about the challenge,” said Maier, a first-year PMRA competitor. “The problem I see, there’s a number of a teams that are not in contention for the championship, they’ll be shooting to be the next new winner in the series and the rest want to be the first second-time winner in the tour’s history. We need to take out Matt (Guenther) early and hope the other three guys beat each other up.”

 

“I’ve wanted this championship from the get-go,” said the B&B Racing 1953 Corvette driver. “I’m the veteran in this deal, the intimidator, which I hope will help. It’s pretty simple, we’re all on an even playing field, and whoever wins the most races will win this thing.”

 

Another new team to the series this year is the NitroMoose/Ajax Engines 1957 Chevrolet of Kirk and Maria Silbermann of Ajax, Ontario, with Scott Wildgust of Stratford, Ontario behind the wheel. The team sits fourth with 978 points.

 

“All’s good,” said Wildgust. “We know the setup at the Bend that will give us an advantage. We are going to need it, we are the underdogs, but we will be ready to go. We ran a 6.24 there last month, I love a challenge, and it should be a remarkable show.”

 

The Grand Bend Motorplex event, to be held September 1 and 2, is the fifth and final event in the 2007 PMRA season.

 

The Teamsters Canada Thunder by the Beach Weekend featuring the Castrol "Night of Nitro" and Second Annual - PMRA Challenge will take place Saturday and Sunday, September 1-2 at the Grand Bend Motorplex in Grand Bend, Ontario.