2016 NHRA U.S. NATIONALS - INDY PRO MODIFIED NOTEBOOK
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MONDAY NOTEBOOK
VON SMITH TAKES HOME FIRST INDY PRO MOD WIN - The best part of winning Indy is realizing you didn't lose in the final round. At least this is how Von Smith sees it.
Smith, of Kingston, Tenn., left the starting line in the Pro Modified final at the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals, and when his Al-Anabi supercharged Corvette shook the tires, and got sideways he could only watch as Troy Coughlin pulled away.
A funny thing happened on the way to the turn-off for Smith. A track worker set Smith straight.
"I didn’t know that I had won," admitted Smith, now a two-time Indy winner. "I’m coasting down through there, not liking what has just happened.
"I said to myself, 'Dadgummit, we almost did it, we’ll have another shot in a couple of weeks."
"I come around the corner, and the guys point me to the left, and I’m like, 'What, are you kidding me?."
"I threw my hands like. 'Did I win?"
"They threw up the number one, and I was like, 'How about that, Praise the Lord!"
Smith, who qualified second in the sixteen-car field, was the quickest winner of Sunday's first round. He believed in his heart the time had come for his first Pro Modified win, to go along with his Top Alcohol Funny Car trophy from 2008.
"I put on Facebook, I said it’s been eight years since my last win at Indy," Smith said. "See it’s time to do it again. Sure enough, it comes out that way. My hat’s off to the whole crew because this car’s been up and down for us all season. Work one time, not the next three so we were very fortunate to put three good runs together."
Coughlin had established himself as the driver to beat, recording an incredible 5.773 elapsed time in qualifying. Smith said he felt as if a perfect run was his only chance of winning.
"Turbo cars have a definite, distinct advantage," Smith said. "They don’t shake. We have to get through the first part of the track, first few numbers ahead of them by such a margin because of the back half ... they run an .81, .89 and .91 back-half, and the best we do ever is 1.98, 1.99. You’ve got to have it covered in the first eigth mile. When the conditions get like they are, and it gets hot and greasy, it’s hard to make up the time because they’re definitely going to gain you on the other end."
Regardless of which combination has the perceived advantage, nothing makes an Indy victory better than beating the quickest field in NHRA history Pro Modified history.
"The biggest thing for me is that for a long time I've looked up to Frank Manzo, and what he’s done, and then for him to name you as his driver, well it just doesn't get any better than that," said Smith. "To win the race with him as your tuner, that's just the icing on the cake."
SUNDAY NOTEBOOK – COUGHLIN HEADS TO ROUND TWO, VON SMITH FIRES STRONG SHOT
CREAM RISES TO THE TOP - Troy Coughlin drove his way to a win in the first round, as the top seed entering Monday's quarterfinal run.
Coughlin extended his undefeated record against Steven Whiteley with a winning 5.835, 252.99 run.
"It's pretty exciting, and I'm really fired up," Coughlin said. "The entire JEGS.com team is fired up. This is Indy. Taking out a car and driver the caliber of Stephen Whiteley in the first round is quite an accomplishment, and it's even sweeter that JEGS.com is title sponsor of the Pro Mod class at this race.
"Stephen and I were side-by-side for the first 200 feet, but then he dropped back all of a sudden, so I assumed he had problems. At that point we were marching so, I figured it would be very hard for him to get back on it and catch us. It's super exciting when you have that feeling like the win is yours and when the light finally came on it was a big relief and a bunch of celebrating."
Coughlin has won here before corraling a win in Super Gas during the 1991 season.
"There's great memories here for all of us," Coughlin said. "When you grow up in a family like yours, you grow up dreaming about winning Indy and we got it done early in my driving career, so that was special. Now, here we are 25 years later, and we'd love to rekindle that winning feeling. There's a lot of emotions and adrenaline right now."
SUNDAY MATCHES - Coughlin races Bob Rahaim, who defeated Eric Latino in the first round. The Jegs Mail Order driver has lane choice
Billy Glidden ran a 5.860, 252.10 to beat Mike Castellana, and has lane choice over Michael Biehle.
Smith has lane choice over Khalid alBalooshi, who beat Mike Janis.
Rickie Smith ran a 5.836, 249.63 to beat Jim Whitely, and will have lane choice over Doug Winters.
SMALL WINDOW, BIG DIFFERENCE - Eric Latino has his supercharged Camaro running well, and achieved it the old fashioned way.
"Worked on it," said Latino, who qualified eighth with a 5.859 elapsed time. "Worked on the car. We just kind of went back and started with square one and looked at when the car used to run really good. We began figuring how we got lost on that deal and started putting the car back to what worked best."
Latino is one of the few in Pro Modified still running a clutch. But, it isn't for lack of effort in trying to find the best possible combination. He's running a Leanders clutch, a similar clutch system run in Top Alcohol Funny Car combination.
"We’ve been trying different clutches," Latino explained. "You know, we’ve gone to twin-disk, triple-disc, 1110’s and we just kinda went back to what we ran with real strong last year. We’re just going to run the rest of the year the way we ran last year, and hopefully, we can win some races."
Getting the clutch to his liking is only half the battle.
"All you can do is one change at a time on these cars," Latino said. "Some guys would go out and make two or three changes. "You have only a real small window to work with, and every small little change makes a huge change on your ET and MPH.
"You can just change one degree of timing for one-tenth of a second and that little tickle gets that tire to hang on, stick and sends that car down the track real fast."
WELCOME BACK - The last time Sidnei Frigo competed in an NHRA event, back in May, at the NHRA Spring Nationals he took his Pro Modified Corvette on an off-road excursion. Frigo rolled his car multiple times and emerged from the accident with a broken arm.
"I feel great. I feel good," said Frigo.
Frigo made his first run on Friday, and while he fell short of the 5.892 bubble, he was able to shake the first-run jitters.
"I feel different things," Frigo said. "[I wanted to] Go again, and no go. But after the first run, everything’s the same."
An accident the magnitude of the one Frigo experienced forever changes a driver. Frigo said parts of him would never be the same.
"Not ever the same, no," Frigo said. "No way. Different. But we try to not commit the same mistake."
INTERNATIONAL WHEELMAN - If it has wheels, Khalid alBalooshi will drive it.
alBalooshi, a citizen of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, has driven everything from nitrous doorslammers to supercharged Pro Extreme cars to Top Fuel dragsters, and even an occaisional high-horsepower hill climb vehicle.
alBalooshi is back in familiar territory this season behind the wheel of a nitrous car, as a second car sponsored by Bahrain1 and working out of Rickie Smith's trailer.
“I am happy and lucky I have something to drive in the show," alBalooshi said. when
alBalooshi splits his time over the course of a year racing in the United States for ten races, and another six with the Qatar Racing Club in Doha. He's what many would consider racing royalty in the Middle East.
"I raced last year and won the championship over there and I’ve been doing some stuff at home between racing in Qatar and driving sand cars," alBalooshi said.
alBalooshi does admit he has his limits when it comes to racing. He does have a stipulation the vehicle must have four wheels.
"If it’s something really crazy, I won’t drive it," alBalooshi said. "If you ask people, they already think we’re crazy driving the Pro Mods.”
SATURDAY PM NOTEBOOK – HISTORIC SECOND DAY ENDS WITH RECORD BUMP SPOT
COUGHLIN REMAINS ATOP LIST - Defending NHRA Pro Modified champion Troy Coughlin upped the ante in the second day of Pro Modified qualifying by hammering out a 5.773 elapsed time at 254.76 miles per hour elapsed time.
"The second pass today was a little bit better than the first pass," Coughlin said. "The temperatures were a little better, the track was a little cooler. We had the car hopped up a little more to run pretty fast on the second pass so (crew chief) Steve (Petty), Mike (Rees) and Kyle (Pettis) have been working on this thing all day to get it to pick up. Track conditions and stuff like on the second pass were a lot better than they were on the first pass and we just tuned up the car like we did last night’s run in similar conditions. We know what to do in those conditions.
Coughlin expects more of the same with tomorrow's first round of eliminations.
"Tomorrow night, first round of competition is a little sooner in the day, so we are going to try to compare notes between this session and the first session today and try to put together a good package for that, probably for tomorrow’s last qualifier.
"We are racing at Indy. This is The Big Go. This is the biggest race of the year and it seems like a lot of the competitors are on pins and needles trying to get everything out of their car that they can and if we could be fortunate enough to leave here with the No. 1 qualifier here at Indy that would be pretty stout for sure."
A STELLAR FIELD - Steve Matusek sits on the bubble of the quickest-ever NHRA Pro Modified field with a 5.895 elapsed time. Ironically, the tied teammate Danny Rowe for the final spot in elapsed time but gained his spot in the provisional field courtesy of a faster 247.43 mile per hour speed.
RACING WITH A PURPOSE - Steve Matusek understands drag racing can be an emotional experience.
Racing this weekend at the Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals, the driving force behind the Aeromotive Fuel Systems name is facing more emotions than ever since he started making passes down the quarter-mile.
A little under a month ago, Steve bid farewell to a gentleman larger than life in his eyes.
Steve's father, John Matusek, passed away on August 7.
The elder Matusek was a fighter from the day he was born in November 1938, escaping Hungary in 1956 as a freedom fighter against a Russian invading force.
Beyond fighting, John Matusek taught himself how to read and write English. He then focused the relentless spirit of determination and a tireless work ethic into tuning and driving his own race cars.
When Steve Matusek grew up and went racing, his dad was always there for him.
"These events are tough for me because when we tested in St. Louis the first time, he was there," Steve recalled. "The first time I won a race was in St. Louis, and I crashed in St. Louis, and he was always there."
On the same token when his father would go racing, Steve was there too. The tears are hard to fight back when Steve talks about his first Indy experience 52 years ago, going to the NHRA U.S. Nationals with John.
"This was our summer vacation in 1964," Matusek said proudly. "He ran a B/Dragster with a Hemi, front engine dragster."
Steve would follow his dad's footsteps both in racing, and later channeling his work ethic into developing a successful business.
"He's my inspiration for the Aeromotive," Steve admitted. "I don’t race like he raced. My Dad raced mad. He didn’t want trophies, he just wanted the check. He won races and when he lost, he wasn’t supposed to lose. You know, I race with purpose. I’m trying to develop new products."
This week is a different story for Matusek.
"I am racing with a purpose this weekend," Matusek said. "Let’s put it this way … we’re motivated to win."
CHARTING NEW TERRITORY - Todd Tutterow and the Galot Motorsports team left some scratching their heads when they converted his PDRA Pro Extreme car into Pro Boost trim, a month ago.
Pro Boost, for those unfamiliar with PDRA classifications, is the equivalent of NHRA Pro Modified minus the nitrous-injected entries.
PDRA also runs eighth-mile, which is Tutterow's forte.
"We are getting our feet wet," Tutterow admitted. "Been doing pretty good. We have done some testing in St. Louis in quarter-mile. It was the first time we’d run the quarter-mile with my car period. And we made one full pass before we came here."
Clearly, the conversion to Pro Boost was in anticipation for the NHRA debut. After many runs in an automatic car, he's back with his old friend - the clutch as well.
Tutterow said there's a good chance the Galot Motorsports could pull double duty.
"W set one trailer up to run NHRA now, and my trailer will be set up to do PDRA," Tutterow said. "It's totally two different worlds. Different ratios, transmissions, converters, clutches, the weight of the car. I like it.
"I like the quarter-mile. It’s nice to be at what I call the finish line and look down and you ain’t but half way there. It is on for the rest of the ride now."
IT'S A FAMILY TRADITION - If you're born into the Glidden Family, you win at Indy. That's just what you do.
Legendary Pro Stock runner Bob Glidden won the revered Labor Day Weekend an incredible ten times throughout his successful career. His oldest son Billy stands prime, and in position, to full challenge for his first.
Billy drives Harry Hruska's Precision Turbo/Mickey Thompson Tires-sponsored Camaro, and in three races has reached the finals twice, winning the most recent stop on the ten-race NHRA Pro Modified Series.
Last year was another story, Glidden raced underfunded, and with a long-in-the-tooth Mustang. He reached the semi-finals rekindling a bit of the magic his dad made famous in the 1970s and 80s.
This time around, Indy is a different story.
"I don’t think anyone’s chasing us," Glidden said. "When we’re making the car go down, we’re competitive. That's a really good feeling."
Two final rounds under his belt, Glidden isn't ready to proclaim he's on the cusp of domination.
"It’s easy come, easy go in this deal," Glidden admitted. "It’s been great so far. We didn’t qualify at a race, so the pendulum can swing one way or another at any given time."
Glidden smiles when he's reminded he's driving a car capable of winning a race outright, and not needing fate to throw him a bone.
"Anytime you can win is great," Glidden said. "It doesn’t matter really what the circumstance is. It’s just anytime you can win, it’s really great."
A win at Indy for Glidden would go beyond great."
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – LONG BREAK DELIVERS REFRESHED PRO MODIFIED COMPETITION
COUGHLIN THUNDERS TO THE TOP - Troy Coughlin pulled off the equivalent of a walk-off homerun during Friday's only qualifying session. In the final pair of the final session, Coughlin pushed his JEGS.com Chevy Corvette to a 5.773-second pass at 254.76 mph to rocket to the top.
"It's a lot of hard work that (crew chief) Steve (Petty), Mike (Rees), Kyle (Pettis) and myself have done over the summertime break, trying to build new parts, new pieces, new tune-ups, new everything from after the Norwalk race,” said Coughlin, who won the fourth event of the year at Englishtown, N.J., in June.
Coughlin has two No. 1 qualifiers in his career.
“The JEGS.com guys had to go to work, we had to make it back up," said Coughlin. "That's the name of the game. That's what they do in Pro Stock, that's what they do in Funny Car, that's what they do in Top Fuel, Comp Eliminator. I'm just excited to see a lot of this stuff pay off."
MAKING IT UP - In early summer, NHRA's tech department hit the turbocharged combination with a rule change aimed at slower them down. The move had just the opposite effect on Coughlin Friday.
"It's not too bad," said Coughlin. "It's a lot of hard work that (crew chief) Steve (Petty), Mike (Rees), Kyle (Pettis) and myself have done over the summertime break, trying to build new parts, new pieces, new tuneups, new everything from after the Norwalk race and the beginning of the summer break where we lost maybe 200, 300 horsepower in boost from NHRA backing us down.
"The JEGS.com guys had to go to work, we had to make it back up. That's the name of the game. That's what they do in Pro Stock, that's what they do in Funny Car, that's what they do in Top Fuel, Comp Eliminator. I'm just excited to see a lot of this stuff pay off."
FOR SATURDAY - Pro Mod qualifying for the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals will continue Saturday, Sept. 3 with sessions at 2 and 5:30 p.m. The final qualifying session will be held Sunday at 1:45 p.m. before the first round of eliminations at 5:30 p.m.
NEW CROWMOD IN TOWN - The line of autograph seekers snaking from the ropes guarding Justin Shearer's pits, and all the way across the pit road told the story in the Street Outlaws' NHRA debut. He didn't even come close to making the show at No. 31 qualifier but it was a bigger picture moment.
"I’ve noticed two things," Shearer said. "I’m the only Pro Mod out here with a 53-year-old factory engine, and I’m the only Pro Mod out here with about 7,500 people behind my trailer. I don’t know if those two are related or not but I have noticed that for sure. I have noticed that there are a lot of people coming to see me race and I think it’s awesome. It sucks that I’m not competitive with this engine and combination but it’s really cool they came out to support me."
For Shearer, the opportunity to race as a professional fulfills a lifelong dream. Just playing the game trumps winning the race this weekend.
"It’s my World Series," Shearer admitted. "Right now it’s Yankees versus the Dodgers in the World Series, and I get to throw the first pitch. I was the first car down in Pro Mod, in the left lane, first car and I’m not gonna strike anybody out, but I’m out there on the field, and I get to throw the first pitch and to me that’s amazing. Amazing."
BACK IN THE SADDLE - Shannon Jenkins has driven a Pro Modified car sporadically over the last five years, and remains light years ahead of the second winningest driver in the division.
Recently Jenkins, nicknamed Iceman for his cool demeanor in pressure situations, enjoys visiting his vocation every once in a while. He still loves tuning, but when it comes to driving, he remains challenged.
Jenkins made his return at a recent PDRA event and looked every bit like the old pro he is.
"I’ve never driven an automatic car," Jenkins admitted. "First time I've ever driven an automatic since I was bracket racing in the mid-1980s. Driving is still really fun, you know. We had a good time. And gonna do some more of it."
Because of the volatility and unpredictability of the modern day nitrous cars, Jenkins said he kept busy during the three-second run preparing himself for the unexpected.
"Sure, not having to shift is one less worry, but it really makes a true driver when you have to do all that stuff," Jenkins said.
Yes, Jenkins misses pulling the old Lenco levers.
"I wish we were still pulling levers, but there’s nothing you can do about it, go with it," Jenkins said. "It really makes a driver a driver when you have to really drive the race car."
THE ORIGINAL - There was a time when very few race teams ran an electronic fuel injection with nitrous combination. Pro Modified racer Harold Martin remembers those days very well because he was one of those select few.
Now, EFI coupled with nitrous oxide is as common as slicks on a race car in the unblown or non-turbo competitors.
"It's a great feeling to know we were one of those pioneers," said former Martin, a former engineer for General Motors. "You know, you want to be a part of change, and part of new direction. I felt that way back when I, many years ago, worked for General Motors, we were part of new innovations and able to see that on vehicles worldwide.
"It’s a great feeling to see, you know, something that you kind of had an inkling that would be the right direction for the future, to see it to be a trend that’s well received."
Martin hasn't been as active in NHRA Pro Modified as he used to be largely in part because of the success of his Martin Technologies, an engineering firm specializing in engineering services for the majority of the major automobile manufacturers as well as processing recalls.
Martin believed as early as 2000, the EFI combination provided the nitrous-injected cars the best opportunity to compete on a higher level in the future.
"I felt that it was the way to advance engines and the control systems offer you way more flexibility than mechanical systems do," Martin explained. "Whether it was nitrous, whether it was blown, whether it was normally aspirated, there was a fit for EFI. It was just a matter of time to get naysayers to cross over and to get folks to come into what’s an everyday thing."
Martin doesn't mind that he's fallen off the front-running path because in the end, the reinvestment of his time into a worldwide corporation pays better dividends.
"My innovations have now led itself into a global company for Martin, and we’re now supporting automotive companies and tier 1 suppliers globally," Martin said. "I’ve got 800 employees today. When I first started it, we had eight people. I’m tickled that those innovations have spun itself into a whole new life for me.
"I wish that I could concentrate more on racing. But, you know, I just spend so much time traveling and managing the monster I’ve created beyond this, that it’s difficult to focus on racing. Racing is still a passion of mine, a love of mine. It’s just not the highest priority."
CHHH-CHANGES - Mike Janis' Jan-Cen-sponsored Camaro might look the same in the future, but it will be very different.
Janis' son, and crewchief, Mike Janis Jr., told CompetitionPlus.com the supercharged Camaro will soon debut a new style of blown powerplant which could change the future of cars who run this power adder.
"It’s the motor we’ve been working on in-house with Jan-Cen Racing Engines/Mike Janis Superchargers for the last two years," Janis revealed. "We’ve dyno’d it, been on the track with it, and made a couple of changes here recently over the summertime. We’re gonna be getting back on the dyno next week before Charlotte and if all goes according to plan, we are going to have it in the car for Charlotte."
Janis said the difference will be in the bore size, among other features.
"It’s a 4.900 bore deal which is legal for the class," Janis said. "It's a project we've been working on. Sonny’s worked on the heads for us. If you want the heads or the block, they have to buy it through Jan-Cen Racing Engines/Mike Janis Superchargers. It's no different than Brad Anderson to get the blocks, heads. It’s kind of our own deal, so nobody can buy heads or blocks unless they come through us. We sell the parts just like anybody else."
Nitrous cars run 5.300 bore spacing, legal for nitrous but not the blown combination.
"Back in the day when we worked with Alan Johnson, we ran a 5.300 blower motor," Janis explained. "The weight is the big concern, so we went to 4.9 which is the max for blowers in NHRA. So we stayed within the rules.
"The biggest thing is just durability. We try to make something that’s going to be really durable. A little different than the standard Hemi valvetrain, and something that will hopefully beat the crap out of it."
ON THE HORIZON - Dan Stevenson didn't need another object lesson before he bid adieu to his involvement with nitrous-injected, Pro Modified vehicles.
Stevenson, of Bolingbrook, Ill., escaped serious injury when his Chevrolet Camaro caught fire turned into an inferno following a qualifying run back in March at the NHRA Gatornationals.
"I still love nitrous racing, but I am absolutely not a fan of fire," said Stevenson after he made the move to change directions in his racing career.
Stevenson purchased a turbocharged car originally built for Rickie Smith and began to navigate the learning curve associated with the new power adder.
It's safe to say five months after his conversion; Stevenson has found his groove with the turbo. He was No. 11 after Friday's first session with a 5.945 elapsed time at 248.84.
"Life's been easier, that’s for sure," Stevenson said. "I’ve saved a pile of money. There’s definitely not as much to do between rounds, and they’re not really very hard on parts. We’re just trying to find what it likes. It’s different."
Stevenson understands he switched one car for another; both equally dangerous.
"The danger comes into play earlier in a nitrous car," Stevenson said. "The danger now happens all the way down track. I do miss the nitrous. I mean, it’s kind of what I was weaned on. The turbo car is a challenge. It’s exciting. There's a lot of power here."
Stevenson would love to coax even more from his car but believes a reprieve from the rules makers are standing in the way of his mission.
"If they’d quit changing the rules on us every other race, we could maybe get a handle on something," Stevenson admitted.
Stevenson admits the March fire taught him a few valuable lessons.
"Never get in a car without supplied air again," said Stevenson. "You can never have enough safety equipment. I appreciate life a little more because probably I shouldn’t be here today because it was a close deal. I appreciate every day."
