Round #5 for NHRA’s J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series produced a first time circuit winner…
Stevie Jackson, which is a rookie racer that crossed over the to Pro Mod class from Fast Radial Car class racing, powered to his first career NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series during Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties at Heartland Park Topeka. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented by the Real Pro Mod Association, was the fifth of 12 events this season.
The final round was a rematch from the previous event in Atlanta and marked the third consecutive final round appearance for points leader Mike Castellana. Jackson, who has built a sizable fan following after ample success in the eighth-mile fast street car racing genre, had a better reaction time and was able to hold off Castellana for the win. Jackson posted a winning time of 5.794-seconds at 248.48 to the trailing time of 5.857 at 250.64.
Steve “Fast” Jackson continued his impressive migration to Pro Mod class racing — winning his first NHRA J&A Services title.
This was the second final round for Jackson who made his NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Series debut in Gainesville.
“It’s just as special as I thought it’d be,” Jackson said. “I honestly didn’t think it’d come this quickly. The guys we were racing were an awesome team. We’ve got good funding and really good support behind me. Sheik Abdula is an absolute dream boss to race for. In the good times and bad times he’s with us. Everybody that’s over there in Bahrain, I told you we were gonna get ’em.”
Jackson had defeated Jonathan Gray, Larry Morgan and Sidnei Frigo in earlier event competition.
The 23-cars entered for the event were paced by Bob Rahaim’s nitrous-injected C7 Corvette which qualified #1at 5.746 secs. However low ET of the event went to Castellana who ran a stunning 5.696 secs during his round one win.
Michigan’s Bob Rahaim has recovered nicely from his incident at Houston – he qualified his C7 #1 at Topeka.
Top speed of the meet for the PM cars was taken once again by Washington state’s Shane Molinari who ran his turbocharged Firebird to a 258.32 mph terminal speed. That was the third time this season that Molinari has set the event’s fastest mark.
For the third time this season – the Pacific Northwest’s Shane Molinari was the fastest Pro Mod car on the premises.
Prior to the event — NHRA officials announced that the Real Pro Mod Association (RPM) has been named the presenting sponsor for the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties – the event marks the fifth of 12 races on the J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series 2017 schedule.
“The 2017 NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series season has already given fans just the kind of thrilling racing they enjoy,” said Brad Gerber, NHRA vice president and chief development officer. “Real Pro Mod Association’s support has proven to be vital to the success and growth of the J&A Service Pro Mod Series as their schedule was expanded to include the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties for the first time.
The RPM Association was created by Pro Mod team owners and drivers to preserve and promote the future of the category. Pro Mods are frequently touted as the fuel altereds of the 21st century. RPM is committed to securing sponsorship to the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, providing input to NHRA on rule changes to achieve parity between the different power adder combinations, promoting diversity within the class to invite spectator interest and involvement, as well as maintaining the most exciting and competitive door-to-door racing on the planet.
“Our Pro Mod teams are ready to get to Heartland Park Topeka for the fifth race of the season,” said John Waldie, board member of the RPM Association. “The event is sure to play host to some fantastic Pro Mod racing. Fans will be in for a serious thrill as the full class of Pro Mod cars hit the racetrack side-by-side for the first time at this national event.”
Top 10 points after 5/12 NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series Events:
1. Mike Castellana, 498; 2. Steven Whiteley, 320; 3. Steve Matusek, 286; 4. Steve Jackson, 279; 5. Troy Coughlin, 264; 6. Sidnei Frigo, 243; 7. Shane Molinari, 232; 8. Danny Rowe, 225; 9. Jonathan Gray, 215; 10. Michael Biehle, 197.
NHRA’s J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing returns June 8-11 at the 48th annual NHRA Summer Nationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park at Englishtown, N.J.
Posted with files by NHRA Communications and Bruce Biegler
Photos by Marc Gewertz and Bruce Biegler
