When Mother Nature announces an impending visit, a wise promoter plans ahead. Sunday’s weather forecast for Bradenton, Florida, is for bad weather moving in on Sunday, with expectations it would disrupt the final eliminations schedule. 

Therefore, race officials at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission became proactive by starting qualifying a day early with one session on Thursday evening at Bradenton Motorsports Park. 

Mark Micke, the driving force behind M&M Transmissions, was ready as he drove his twin-turbocharged ’69 Camaro to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 3.628-second pass at 220.08 MPH to lead a field of more than 32 entries in PJS Racing Outlaw Pro Mod presented by FuelTech. 

Thursday’s run provided a full circle moment for Micke, whose Camaro 
made the world’s quickest quarter-mile doorslammer pass, a 5.359, with Jose Gonzalez driving during pre-race testing at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals in early December 2023. The mark fell when “Turbo” Todd Moyer blasted out a 5.144 elapsed time on Wednesday. 

Micke considered chasing the personal record but opted to focus on the upcoming race, and the move paid dividends when he continued a string of low-3.60-second passes with a 3.628 at 220.08 to lead the competitive 32-car field. 
 
Back in December, he reached the semifinals before rain forced the postponement of the semifinals and finals to qualifying at the U.S. Street Nationals. Micke, who set low E.T. of eliminations at the Snowbirds, will take on Lyle Barnett in the semifinals during Friday’s second qualifying session. 
 
“We’ve been down here testing all week and focusing on consistency,” Micke said. “Looking at the big picture, there’s two races here to win, and honestly, we’re looking at that big one coming up. That’s the one in the back of my mind. I really want to get a good baseline and get everything solid here so that really sets us up good for when we come back down here for the World Series of Pro Mod [March 1-3].
 
“When those guys started going for numbers, man, your drag racer brain takes over,” Micke said. “My guys were on my ass, and finally, I’m like, ‘No, let’s stop, pump the brakes, and let’s just watch. It was so much fun to watch what those guys were doing. Of course, we want to do that too, but we made up our mind. We’re focused. We want to win this year. Last year was a new car, back into Pro Mod after being gone for so long. We had some stumbles. We ended the year solid, and I think we’ve got one of the fastest, best, consistent, legal cars in the country right now.”

There were 16 cars in the 3.6-second range after the opening session.  Derek Ward, the 2023 Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association (NEOPMA) champion, qualified No. 2 with a 3.632 at 208.17 in his screw-blown ’68 Firebird. Multi-time PDRA Pro Boost world champion Kevin Rivenbark drove Stan Shelton’s screw-blown Culp Lumber ’19 Mustang to a 3.646 at 208.26 to sit third. Travis “The Carolina Kid” Harvey posted a 3.646 at 206.92 in his new screw-blown ’17 Camaro to qualify fourth. Two-time NEOPMA champion Mike Decker Jr. rounded out the top five with his 3.647 at 205.66 in his screw-blown Decker’s Salvage ’17 Camaro. 

In Pro 275, Collins had to fend off 23 other entries as he used a 3.738 at 201.37 in the ProCharged Scott Tidwell Racing ’69 Camaro to hold off chargers like Brylon Holder and Manny Buginga. California-based Holder ran a 3.745 at 198.12 in his ProCharged ’15 Camaro for the No. 2 spot. Buginga, returning to the seat of his ProCharged “Fred” ’01 Mustang that NHRA Top Fuel star Antron Brown drove to victory at the 2023 Snowbirds, posted a 3.753 at 196.96 to hold on to the No. 3 spot. 
 
LaFerriere, driving Duy Bui’s turbocharged ’97 Nissan 240SX known as “White Rice, rocketed to the top of the X275 qualifying order with a 4.144 at 181.11. Frank Mewshaw fired off a 4.211 at 173.61 in his turbocharged ’89 Mustang to qualify second. Grady Underwood is third with a 4.229 at 171.51 in his turbocharged ’98 Mustang. 

Joining Micke atop the provisional leaderboard in the headlining divisions are Jason Collins (Outlaw 275) and Eric LaFerriere (x275).

Qualifying at the U.S. Street Nationals will continue Friday at 10 a.m., beginning with Outlaw 632. Two qualifying sessions are on the schedule, which will also include the completion of eliminations from the 2023 Snowbird Outlaw Nationals.