Nash Competition Engines presents more updates from within the “wild and wicked world” of Pro Mod!….

Highest Stakes Results!

Drag racing’s biggest annual event features titanic final PM round confrontation!

J.R. Gray, the reigning world champion in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports, enjoyed one of the biggest moments in his career at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, knocking off Justin Bond in a final round USA V Canada matchup to win the prestigious Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals.

This weekend’s event was (powered by CFH Superchargers and presented by Shelton Insurance) marked the 8th of 11 races during the 2026 campaign and was the second of five races in Pro Mod’s Road to the Championship.

Gray cashed in on drag racing’s biggest stage, going 5.701-seconds at 252.47 mph in his Al-Anabi Performance Chevrolet Camaro to get past Bond’s 5.759 at 251.72. It is Gray’s sixth NHRA Pro Mod win in his career and his first this season, as he enjoyed a special moment winning Indy for the first time.

JR Gray (near lane) collected drag racing’s single most coveted annual event title held at Indianapolis last week.

“That final round, it was all or nothing,” Gray said. “I want to thank all the guys for their hard work. We had to swap motors after the first round, and we just kept on digging and came out with this Diamond Wally. It’s been hard-fought for us to get to this point and I’m so grateful for my team to get this win and get a little closer to that No. 1 spot (in the standings).”

Gray reached the finals thanks to round wins against Alex Laughlin, Mike Thielen and Billy Banaka.

Bond (from Mission BC) was the fastest car all weekend at Indy.  He qualified No. 1 for the “Big Go” at 5.654 secs 255.00 mph (low ET/Top speed) and reached the finals for the third time this season thanks to round wins against Chip King, Stan Shelton and Michael Stavrinos.

Canada’s Justin Bond was the quickest and fastest Pro Mod car during the 2026 NHRA U.S. Nationals event.

After two races in the NHRA Pro Mod playoffs, Bond is now the points leader, holding a seven-point advantage over Stavrinos. Banaka is just 10 points out of first, while Gray moved up to fifth — 40 points behind Bond.

At Indy, the JBS Pro Mod class was a ferocious affair overall with 21 entries campaigned and a swift 16-car bump spot at 5.815 secs.

Current Top 10 Point Standings – after 8/11 events

1. Justin Bond, 923; 2. Mike Stavrinos, 916; 3. Billy Banaka, 913; 4. Derek Menholt, 908; 5. JR Gray, 883; 6. Stan Shelton, 834; 7. Mike Thielen, 833; 8. Lyle Barnett, 826; 9. Kevin Rivenbark, 805; 10. Jason Collins, 803.

The JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports returns to action Sept. 25-27 with the NHRA Nationals at “the Rock” at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina.

To The Top (Again) at TMP!

Eastern Canada’s drag racing scene did include season round #3 for the IHRP Pro Mod class – hosted during Toronto Motorsports Park’s recent Labour Day Extravaganza event.

On Sunday evening — it was a familiar name emerging on top as Jay Santos (from Halton Hills) once again prevailed.

Santos was the top qualifying car at 3.675 secs over 10 other entries for the event which featured an 8-car bump spot at 4.062 secs.

Then during eliminations Santos took his supercharged ’69 Camaro to three convincing round win lights when defeating Ron Bankes, Claude St. Maurice and ultimately Raymond Commissio. In the finals Santo moved first (.012 RT) and the rattled off both low ET and top speed of the meet at 3.659 secs 206.83 mph to win it.

Jay Santos retained his dominating reputation for Pro Mod racing in Canada – winning again at TMP’s Labour Day Weekend event.

Toronto’s Commisso, who is now driver for the newest Chevy Camaro owned and operated by Al Billes, was a close second at 3.694 secs 206.70 mph.

For Jay Santos,  the win was just the latest triumph for his highly impressive event winning streaks within Eastern Canada – circuit dominance — which now dates back to 3 years ago.

“Actually going into the weekend we had been struggling with the car a bit — it just wasn’t that happy,” Jay remarked.  “After some Friday night testing we trouble shot the whole car late into the night and looking at data we found something. During our second qualifier Saturday afternoon the car went straight down — right there we knew it was going in the right direction and by the end of the night we were number one qualifier.”

“Angelo (Aceto) and Mark Savage did there thing with the tuneup and I had to do mine. We went to the final and we got the win — the 3.65 reset the series record – it was just an unbelievable weekend!”

“TMP had the track on point — they go above and beyond for us to run those numbers. Our team is so happy to be part of this series of great racers and competitors. We are looking forward to the final race of the series — on October 3.”

Canadian Pro Mod “good guy talent” Raymond Commisso had a superb showing at TMP’s IHRP event – with a R/UP placing driving the highly potent Al Billes Camaro.

PDRA Penultimate Results

1/8th mile drag racing’s highly popular PDRA series posted their 2nd to last season race (the PDRA Drag Wars presented by Big Stuff Total Power Management) at Darana Motorsports Park in Benson, North Carolina.

For Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by Jerry Bickel Race Cars, it was Marcus Butler making a huge push to defend his 2025 points championship, taking home his second consecutive event win. The North Carolina native drove his “Heartbreaker” ’69 Camaro to a 3.628 elapsed time at 209.20 mph to defeat Amber Denton, who ran 3.643 at 207.46 in her first final round of the year.

Marcus Butner was the Pro Nitrous winner at PDRA’s recent race in N.C.

The event win for PDRA Pro Boost went to Johnny Camp over the largest field of cars in PDRA history (28 entries).

Camp stood tall at the end earning his second win of the season in his Brandon Stroud-tuned, ProCharger-equipped “Hells Bells” ’69 Camaro, running a 3.594 at 210.44 mph to take down Randy Weatherford, who went -.004 red on the tree, throwing away a quicker 3.578 at 210.11 in his Harts Charger-assisted WS Construction ’69 Camaro tuned by Steve Petty.

Johnny Camp stayed well within 2026 PDRA championship contention with a win for Pro Boost.

The Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series tour will conclude it’s 2026 season with the ProLine Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals presented by ProCharger on September 17-20 at Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, VA.

Posted with files by Bruce Biegler – NHRA Communications and Nate Van Wagnen

Photos by Dave DeAngelis – Blake Farnan – Steve Lowry – Tara Bowker