Rowe Extends NHRA Pro Mod Points Lead

Danny Rowe knew it wouldn’t be easy, but that didn’t sway him and his Sterling Bridge NHRA Pro Modified team from earning a 2^nd straight win on the NHRA Pro Care RX Pro Mod Drag Racing Series tour stop in Englishtown, NJ…..

Fresh off a victory at the O’Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston last month, Rowe was riding a wave of momentum headed into the weekend, and the fact that he had won the 2011 running of the NHRA SuperNationals only bolstered his confidence.

Calgary native Danny Rowe extended his Pro Care RX points lead with a very convicing win at NHRA Englishtown

Rowe dispatched veteran racer Jay Payne in the opening stanza, then outran Steve Matusek in the quarterfinals en route to a match up with series front runner Mike Castellana (No. 2 in points) in the semis.

Rowe’s supercharged first-generation Camaro and Castellana’s nitrous oxide-injected late model Camaro left the starting line within three-thousandths-of-a-second of one another with Castellana taking the early lead. By the 330-foot mark, though, the two cars were door-to-door. Before the eighth-mile Rowe’s Jimmy Rector-tuned hot rod began to pull away, taking the win with a 5.872-second, 248.25mph pass over Castellana’s 5.901/245.58 combination. The win setup a final round pairing with Troy Coughlin and his turbocharged Camaro.

In the final, Coughlin left early, lighting the red light and handing the win to Rowe, but that didn’t stop Rowe from making yet another stunning low five-ninety pass down the legendary quarter-mile at Old Bridge Township RacewayPark.  Rowe’s final pass of the weekend resulted in a 5.910-second, 239.57mph pass – a fourth straight pass within four-thousandths of each other.

Troy Coughlin had a strong event at Englishtown with his turbocharged Camaro -- setting top speed and placing R/UP.

Though a bit anticlimactic, the win over Coughlin in the final round of the NHRA SuperNationals had serious points implications. With the victory, Rowe retained the points lead over Mike Castellana by 30 points and 71 over third-place Rickie Smith.

Kenny Lang had a very strong showing at Englishtown taking the Summit Racing Camaro to the "final four"

The NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx continues June 15-17 at the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol,TN.

North Carolina's Chip King performed this truly exciting half track high speed antic perfectly during PM qualifying!

Posted by:  Wes Buck –  Photos by:  Bruce Biegler & Dave DeAngelis