“Dreams Come True” for MWPMS with scheduled major NHRA event inclusion…During the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex (Oct 17-20), the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Pro Mod Series (MWPMS) will stage an unprecedented 16-car, eighth-mile exhibition race presented by Atomizer Racing Injectors as part of a National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national event.
“This is a dream come true for me. Everyone in drag racing knows the NHRA is the big show–period,” MWPMS owner and competitor Keith Haney states. “I want to personally thank NHRA, (Motorplex owner) Billy Meyer and (track general manager) Andy Carter for creating this tremendous opportunity for our racers.
“They can’t believe they get to be a part of the first-ever NHRA eighth-mile race, the first 16-car exhibition class field, the first-ever race featuring all Pro Mod engine combos running side by side, and most of all the chance to win the first-ever trophy for eighth-mile racing in NHRA history. Each of these Mid-West Series guys will go down in NHRA history–which alone is amazing–but whoever wins that trophy will really have lifelong bragging rights,” he continues.
In entering three NHRA national events with a nitrous-fed, Summit Racing-backed Camaro last year, Haney qualified for the official RPM Pro Mod field during the 2018 NHRA FallNationals, placing him among the few MWPMS racers with NHRA quarter-mile Pro Mod experience. Each of 20 invited MWPMS entrants will be familiar with the all-concrete Motorplex eighth mile, though, as the Tulsa-based series opened its 2019 schedule at the Motorplex in March and visited twice last year.
Knowing, however, that the RPM Pro Mod group would not be part of the 2019 mix at the FallNationals, Carter said he approached NHRA officials early this year with the suggestion of adding a local Pro Mod exhibition instead.
“Between the Mid-West Pro Mods, the NHRA Pro Mods last year, and a few local races we’ve held, we’ve really built up a strong Pro Mod fan base here. I was just thinking of something on a smaller scale, something with our local guys,” Carter says. “For us, it was really all about the opportunity to do something a little bit different than everybody else.
“Then a couple of months back I got to talking with Keith and NHRA asked me to put a plan together and we were all able to work out a deal. Honestly, I asked for way more than I thought I would get with the number of qualifying rounds and running the finals on Sunday and stuff like that, but they came back and said okay, let’s do it.”
Carter explains the planned schedule calls for completing two rounds of MWPMS qualifying on Thursday (Oct. 17), with an additional round of qualifying on each of the next two days, followed by two elimination rounds also on Saturday. The MWPMS semi-finals and final round will be contested on Sunday (Oct. 20), in front of the NHRA raceday crowd, with the standard MWPMS purse and a coveted NHRA trophy on the line.
Fans interested in attending the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals can save $10 on adult tickets Friday-Sunday by purchasing online at TexasMotorplex.com and using promo code: MWPMS.
Posted by Ian Tocher
