Wiley veteran Rickie Smith was the latest winner within the NHRA’s J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series…..
Rickie Smith claimed his first win of the season in the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals held at Bristol TN.
The weekend’s Pro Mod competition, presented by the Will Kinzer Foundation for Autism Research in association with the Autism Society of East Tennessee, was the fifth of 10 events in the season.
Driving his nitrous-injected Camaro, wiley veteran Rickie Smith rolled to victory in Pro Mod racing.
Smith, the two-time and defending world champ, powered his IDG 2015 Chevy Camaro to a winning performance of 5.944-seconds at 244.52 mph over Gainesville winner Bob Rahaim’s TLC Waste Management 2015 Corvette. The win was the King, N.C. native’s eighth career victory and third at Bristol Dragway. He is now fifth in points.
“It was a good time to start making rounds,” said Smith of the switch to his new Camaro. “There are still a lot of races left. We gave up on it a couple of races ago but this may get a little fire back in the old guy’s eyes again.”
Rahaim, the No. 1 qualifier with the ninth fastest Pro Mod run ever in qualifying (5.798 secs) fouled out with a red-light during the final, negating his 5.962 at 230.72. He was searching for his second career win. Rahaim is second in points.
Michigan’s Bob Rahaim set low ET and placed R/UP with his awesome C7
Event Essentials: NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals (Bristol TN)
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Once again – Don Walsh set top speed of the meet in Pro Mod — this time at 253.33 mph.
The NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series next heads to Norwalk, Ohio for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, July 2-5.
Posted by: NHRA Communications
BFR Bristol Post Race Report
The dynamic Canadian-American Bell/Fiscus Racing team made it through to the NHRA Pro Mod semi-finals at the 15th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tennessee on June 19th-21st, 2015.
Kevin Fiscus put down a 6.093 at 242.71 mph run during the first round of Pro Mod qualifying with his twin turbo, Pro Line Racing-powered 2012 Ford Mustang. In round two, he went substantially quicker and clicked off a 5.978 at 242.98 mph pass which ranked him seventh at the time. Rain delays pushed the third and final round to Saturday night, but Fiscus got it done when the call was made and went straight down the groove to put in a 5.914 at 236.55 mph performance which placed him sixth overall.
Meanwhile, teammate and team owner Jim Bell also got his qualifying runs in with his twin turbocharged, PLR 481X-powered 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. Bell’s first pass of the weekend was a 6.076 at 237.42 mph which ranked him fourteenth, and he followed it up with a 6.031 at 235.64 mph run in the second round of qualifying. For his third pass, Bell went 5.986 at 229.43 mph which was his quickest attempt of the weekend. Unfortunately, Bell was just 0.003-seconds away from making the Top 16 field and finished up seventeenth overall.
Kevin Fiscus
The first round of eliminations was pushed to Sunday afternoon due to the wet weather earlier in the weekend. Fiscus was paired up with Khalid alBalooshi, the #11 qualifier. Fiscus left the line first, but alBalooshi was hot on his heels and caught up around the 330-foot mark. Fortunately, Fiscus had the power to get the job done and drove around alBalooshi. He crossed the finish line ahead of the other driver, and stopped the clocks in just 5.914-seconds at 248.34 mph.
In round two, Fiscus was paired to race against the #14 driver, Danny Rowe. Rowe was a little too quick off the line and triggered the red foul light, but Fiscus ran his race as if he hadn’t already secured the win. His 5.977 at 244.12 mph would have taken the win even without Rowe’s red light, as Rowe went 6.016 at 243.59 mph.
Fiscus’s performances earned him the right to race in round three, which was the semi-final round. There, he met up with the #7 qualifier and 2014 NHRA Pro Mod series champion, Rickie Smith. Smith got the jump on Fiscus off the line, and moved into the lead. Fiscus was able to make up a lot of ground and was quickly closing in on the other driver, but ran out of track to chase him down. Fiscus crossed the line approximately fourteen feet behind Smith, and lit the scoreboards with a final 5.970 at 246.30 mph hit.
“I’m disappointed to have missed getting in the show by just three-thousandths of a second, but it was great that Kevin was able to get redemption for us and make it through to the semi-finals,” said Bell. “Both of the cars are really consistent now and we’re looking to hurt some feelings next weekend in Michigan with the PDRA.”
Both Bell and Fiscus will be competing in the Pro Boost class at the PDRA Summer Drags at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan on June 25th-27th, 2015 as the Bell/Fiscus Racing team continues their 23-race commitment for the 2015 season.
BFR Post by: Ainsley Jacobs
DragRaceCanada File Photos
