EXCITING PRO MODIFIED RACING IN RICHMOND
It was an early birthday present for BAE/Stivers HVAC-driver Rick Stivers as he won the AMS Pro Mod Challenge event title at the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals in Richmond, Va.
As Stivers’ son, Rick Jr., and wife, Jill, raced to congratulate the newly crowned event champion, tears of joy flowed as the family celebrated the win. Stivers defeated Raymond Commisso in the final, with Commisso handing Stivers the win before the round even started by leaving the line early and forfeiting the match.
"It's been a long road getting here and no one knows how hard we've worked and what we have been through to get here," Stivers said. "What an awesome thing - I'm almost speechless, which, for anyone who knows me, is nothing short of a miracle in itself.
"Chuck Ford really got this car running well this weekend. It's been such a long season, and we just couldn't buy a break, but, today it all came together, and thanks to Tim Tindle and Brad Anderson, we finally earned our Eagle," he said.
Stivers, who turns 50 this coming Thursday, October 11, was given a surprise birthday party Saturday night by his family and team. His wife Jill said, "Hey, what better way to celebrate than to start the party early," and her husband said he couldn't have asked for a better gift than to win his first major event.
It was an early birthday present for BAE/Stivers HVAC-driver Rick Stivers as he
won the AMS Pro Mod Challenge event title at the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA
Nationals in Richmond, Va.
As Stivers’ son, Rick Jr., and wife, Jill,
raced to congratulate the newly crowned event champion, tears of joy flowed as
the family celebrated the win. Stivers defeated Raymond Commisso in the final,
with Commisso handing Stivers the win before the round even started by leaving
the line early and forfeiting the match.
"It's been a long road getting
here and no one knows how hard we've worked and what we have been through to get
here," Stivers said. "What an awesome thing - I'm almost speechless, which, for
anyone who knows me, is nothing short of a miracle in itself.
"Chuck
Ford really got this car running well this weekend. It's been such a long
season, and we just couldn't buy a break, but, today it all came together, and
thanks to Tim Tindle and Brad Anderson, we finally earned our Eagle," he
said.
Stivers, who turns 50 this coming Thursday, October 11, was given
a surprise birthday party Saturday night by his family and team. His wife Jill
said, "Hey, what better way to celebrate than to start the party early," and her
husband said he couldn't have asked for a better gift than to win his first
major event.
Stivers defeated teammate Tim Tindle in the semifinals to
earn his first-ever finals berth. Tindle had advanced from the second round
after narrowly avoiding a collision with veteran driver Shelly Payne, who
crossed the centerline from the right line, swung back and hit the right
retaining wall, and crossed over in front of him, slamming into the left wall
and sliding to a stop past the finish line.
Shelly, who walked away from
the crash, was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for tests and was later
taken to another facility for further testing. Current reports say she is alert
and active, and that the additional testing is to assure she sustained no
internal injuries.
Tindle said, "I hate that Shelly hit the walls so
hard; you never, ever want to see that happen to a driver. I was never more
happy that I shook the tires than on that run, because I was just a bit behind
her when she crossed over in front of me, and I took my foot off the gas and put
on the brake to avoid hitting her."
R2B2 Motors-sponsored Raymond
Commisso, in his second final round appearance of the season, worked his way
through a tough side of the ladder to earn his way to the money round. In his
first round, he held off fellow Canadian Tony Pontieri with a decisive
6.098/236.96 to Pontieri's 6.214/233.03. In round two, he delivered a blistering
6.075/237.05 to beat 2007 World Champion Josh Hernandez. Hernandez had recorded
two 5.99-second runs in the weekend, red-lighted and gave Commisso the round and
the free pass to the semis.
In the semifinals, Commisso took on Mike
Janis, and used a 6.044/238.47 to defeat the veteran driver's tire shaking
6.866/156.03.
At the end of qualifying on Saturday, eight drivers were
named as qualifiers for the $50,000 ProCare Rx Pro Mod Clash. Drivers earned
points throughout the past five events based on their qualifying position and
consistency in qualifying, and the top eight will compete in eliminations to be
held in Las Vegas at the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals, October 26-28.
Making the cut were Josh Hernandez, Tony Pontieri, Tim Tindle, John
Russo, Jay Payne, Shelly Payne, Steve Engel, and Raymond Commisso. Pairings will
be determined randomly and announced before qualifying in Las
Vegas.
ProCare Rx Chairman and CEO Roger Burgess said, "It's been great
for me and my company to be a part of this whole thing series this year,
especially with the drama coming into this weekend. I'm extremely happy for the
drivers who made the Clash, and I'm definitely looking forward to Vegas when we
get to award the trophy and the $25,000 cash grand prize."
The tenth and
final race in the 2007 AMS Pro Mod Challenge will be contested in Las Vegas at
the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals October 25-28, where the $50,000 ProCare Rx
Pro Mod Clash will be contested, with the winner will receive $25,000 cash and a
one-of-a-kind trophy courtesy of Roger Burgess and ProCare Rx.