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COMMISSO RACES TO QUALIFYING LEAD IN GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD DRAG RACING
Commisso covered the quarter-mile distance at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in 5.910 seconds at 248.20 mph in the second session to take the top spot
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IN BATTLE OF SMITHS IN PRO MOD, RICKIE GETS FIRST ROUND WIN
Veteran drag racer Rickie Smith beat three-time NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series winner
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MUSI EARNS GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES VICTORY
Veteran drag racer Pat Musi raced to his first NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series victory Sunday
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| Payne repeats at Richmond in a weekend like none before |
 DINWIDDIE, Va. (October 11, 2009) - In the reasonably short history of Pro Modified drag racing, there has never been anything like this weekend's Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge at the NHRA Virginia Nationals. The stands were full and the fans stood and cheered as records were broken, re-broken, and broken yet again. Side-by-side runs in the 5.80's, nitrous cars blasting into uncharted territory, and a turbo-charged monster that sucked the wind from the sails of every other car with a 253.28 mph blast. In the end, Jay Payne defended his event title and won the Warrior and Mike Knowles who failed to even qualify walked away with an NHRA Wally.In the three rounds of qualifying, the times improved with nearly every pass. At the end of round one, Roger Burgess was on top with a 5.936. In round two, Rick Stivers drove his Trane-backed Dodge Stratus to a 5.906 to hold the provisional top position overnight. By Saturday afternoon, the atmospheric racing conditions had improved remarkably, giving the final round of qualifying a boost that led to a flurry of record-setting times. In the third pair down the track in the last qualifying session, Dennis Radford piloted his '70 Duster to the quickest-ever nitrous-powered lap of 5.924 at 237.13 mph. The very next pair, Jay Payne broke into the 80's with a 5.870 at 242.67. Melanie Troxel followed soon after with a 5.891 at 244.69, and then Brad Personett launched a record-passing shot of 5.843 seconds at a monster 253.28 mph. Commisso followed with a 5.891 at 243.55, and then Stivers grabbed the No. 1 spot back from Personett with a 5.837 at 245.81. The march of 80's continued in round one of eliminations with six drivers passing the mark. Notably, Commisso took out points-leader Burton Auxier with a 5.843 and opened the door for Burgess or Danny Rowe to move into first place. Stivers took out Scott Ray with a 5.835, and Joe Baker took out Personett with a holeshot 5.873 to 5.866. Baker used another holeshot in round two to send No. 3 Rowe packing and took away any chances for him to take advantage of Auxier's early exit, 5.865 to 5.854. Jay Payne ended Burgess' hopes of making any advances on Auxier as well, taking him out with a 5.836 at 244.43 to a 5.911 at 246.30. In the same round, Stivers had a near-perfect .001 reaction time in his victory over Tim Tindle, running a 5.836 at 247.11 to Tindle's 5.914 at 240.81. The win put Stivers within striking distance of removing Tindle from the top eight in overall points and the chance to run for the cash in the Matco Tools $35,000 Pro Mod Clash to be contested in Las Vegas later this month. Melanie Troxel and Commisso added even more drama to the round, running the quickest-ever side-by-side round, with Troxel's record-breaking 5.829 at 247.79 losing to Commisso's even quicker 5.817 at 246.03. His mark now stands as the World Record in Pro Mod. In that round, no driver ran slower than a 5.914, and six of the eight drivers clocked times in the 5.80 zone. Semifinal action paired Commisso against Stivers and Payne against Baker. Baker's luck ran short and he struck the tires while trying to swing for the fences, losing to Payne 5.944 to 8.411. Baker said, "Truth be told, we got greedy. We didn't detune the car enough for the climate conditions. With everyone clocking such great times we just got carried away." Stivers blasted to a 5.823 at 246.93 to take out Commisso, who was slowed by a broken spark plug to a 5.998 at 235.35. His win set up an all Team BAE final of Stivers versus Payne. Adding to the drama of the round, Stivers either had to set an ET record or win the event in order to pass Tindle for the No. 8 spot overall and qualify for the Matco Tools Clash - one of Stivers' goals coming in to the weekend. As Stivers and Payne took the line, it looked like it would be an easy win for the Lexington, Ky. businessman, but at half-track, Stivers couldn't control the monster tune up Anderson put into the car and crossed the centerline, thereby forfeiting the round and handing the win to his teammate Jay Payne. "It just wasn't meant to be," said a disappointed Stivers. "I wanted that record so bad I could taste it, and Brad gave me a tune up that would have run a 5.70-something. The air was there, the conditions were right, but when the wheels went up after I shifted, I couldn't hang on, and it just got away from me." Payne's victory was his first of the season and his second at Virginia Motorsports Park, his first coming just last year. Stivers won the event two years ago. Payne wasn't the only driver to leave Virginia with a trophy, however, as Mike Knowles was awarded an NHRA Wally for having the best appearing crew - the first time any Pro Mod team has ever been considered for or won that honor. Knowles, who failed to qualify for the field, said, "It was really cool to be awarded the best appearing crew from NHRA. That made the DNQ a little easier to take. We always take pride in the way things look and how we present ourselves, so to be recognized for that, it means a lot. It's also huge, as a class, to be included in the judging for that. We've worked hard to keep the relationship with NHRA advancing, and I think this is a great sign of how things are continuing to get better and better." Next up on the schedule for the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge is the series final race of the season at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas, Oct. 29 - Nov. 1. OFFICIAL STANDINGS (After 9 of 10 events) 1 Auxier 610 2 Burgess 578 3 Rowe 573 4 Baker 532 5 Payne 509 6 Castellana 508 7 Commisso 501 8 Tindle 437 9 Stivers 424 10 Personett 384 11 Knowles 352 12 Smith 264 13 Lastor 200 14 Troxel 177 15 Laird 155 16 Lang 140 17 Gray 117 18 Radford 116 19 Wilmes 104 20 King 98 21 Maier 72 22 Ray 72 23 McCoy 63 24 DiStefano 51 25 D'Aprile 43 26 Gibson 42 27 Patille 41 28 Stock 32 29 Budano 31 30 Hance 31 31 Russo 31 32 Flamholc 20 33 Christoffel 10 34 Landis 10 |
