Spectators at the May 2-4 J.W. Performance Transmissions Thunder Valley Southern Shootouts will witness some of the greatest bracket racing action to grace the strip at Bristol Dragway.  In addition, fans will be treated to a best two-out-of-three grudge match between 2007 IHRA Pro Mod World Champion Scott Cannon Jr. and the outrageous 1969 Pro-Mod Dodge Charger Daytona of Chip King.

 

Cannon, the son of Pro Mod godfather Scotty Cannon, collected the 2007 IHRA Pro-Mod World Championship after a stellar season. 

 

Cannon is no stranger to the world of drag racing.  He worked on his dad’s championship Pro Mod in the early 90’s.  During his tenure, Cannon worked on the bottom end of the team’s engines, and then followed his famous father to the NHRA Funny Car division years later.

 

“A lot of people ask me if it was easy to get a driving job because of my dad’s championships,” he said.  “I tell them it was harder for me to get in the driver’s seat.  I didn’t start out with an easy job on the crew.  My dad made me earn it.  Later, my dad joined the Funny Car ranks and I crewed there also, doing the bottom end.”

 

King also races in IHRA Pro Mod competition and his weapon of choice is a radical-bodied Dodge Charger Daytona dubbed “The Mean Green Machine.”  King began his racing career by mudbogging his truck.  After a friend told him he should make the switch to pavement, King built a bracket car.

 

The thrill of drag racing hooked King and he decided to make the jump to the Pro Mods.

 

“The exhilaration from the acceleration and the power and the challenge make Pro Mod racing exciting for me,” said King.  “There is a lot going on during a pass.  You see the other car and the wall a couple of times.  Sometimes you end up on two wheels, sometimes one, and sometimes you’re on the roof!”

 

When asked about his radical car, King said the Charger Daytona body style takes full advantage of aerodynamic rules while giving fans something unique to cheer down the track.

 

“The first year we had it at the U.S. Nationals,” King said, “and it was drawing more attention than the nitro cars.  A lot of the owners and drivers you wouldn’t expect to be looking at Pro Mods were coming over to see it.  We do everything in house.  We do all our own carbon fiber and engines.”

 

King greatly anticipates the upcoming grudge match between himself and Cannon Jr. 

 

“I love it in Bristol,” said King.  “The whole facility is great.  We liked it before, but since the revitalization, it is amazing to stand back and look at the whole thing.  Plus, I look forward to beating up on Scotty.  We’re good friends, but we love to beat him.”

 

The first match race takes place at 5 p.m.  Additional passes take place at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

 

The J.W. Performance Transmissions Thunder Valley Southern Shootouts, which will offer a combined purse in excess of $50,000, includes a 4.70 heads-up class, Mikebosracing.com Super Pro, and Virginia Laser Corporation Pro competition.

 

Competitors will take aim on some sizable purses, including $10,000 to win on Saturday.  With big money and exciting races, these gunslingers will come to town ready for a battle.

 

Gates open at 8 a.m. each day with tech inspection at 8:30 a.m.  Time trials take place at 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.  Sunday’s time trials roll off at 9 a.m.  On Friday, eliminations begin at 3 p.m. Saturday’s eliminations are scheduled for 3:30 p.m., and eliminations take place at 11 a.m. on Sunday.