Popular racer Mike Janis tamed a very ferocious Pro Mod field during the NHRA’s Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Ohio…..
The Western New York based racer claimed his first victory of the season in the J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. The weekend’s Pro Mod racing at Summit Motorsports Park was presented by The Real Pro Mod Association.
Mike Janis defeated a super all 5-secs field at Norwalk
Janis powered his supercharged Jan-Cen Racing late model Camaro to a final round performance of 5.902 seconds at 247.34 mph to hold off Ohio-native Troy Coughlin, who finished in 7.120 at 137.43 when his turbocharged JEGS.com Corvette encountered engine problems near mid-track.
“We ran consistent,” Janis said. “We ended up putting the Goodyear tires back on it. We’ve been going fast in qualifying, but then struggling first round on a hot race track. Now the Goodyear tires have put us back in the winner’s circle like the last three times. We’re pretty happy about that.”
Troy Coughlin was R/UP and set top speed at 252+ mph
To reach the final and take his fourth career victory and first at Norwalk, Janis defeated Clint Satterfield, Robert Patrick and Dan Stevenson. From the Buffalo, N.Y. area, Janis considers this his home track, so winning here was very special.
“It’s awesome to be here and to do this in front of (friends and family),” said Janis, who moves to third place in the points with the victory. “It’s better than winning Indy having everybody here cheering us on. You have no idea of the feeling going through us right now.”
Canada’s Mike Yedgarian was the quickest Canadian PM racer at 6.017 secs but that missed the swift bump.
It was defending event winner Coughlin’s second runner-up finish of the season and he moves into second place in the points standings. It was his third Norwalk final round appearance.
“We’re not sure what happened in the final, but runner-up’s not bad,” Coughlin said. “There’s only one other guy who wouldn’t want our spot, so we’ll take it.”
The event, which featured 28 entries was paced by Michigan’s Bob Rahaim who ran low ET of the event in qualifying at 5.824 secs with his nitrous-injected C7 to pace the super swift all 5-secs field (5.996 bump). Another Corvette C7 – the turbo car driven by Troy Coughlin set top speed for the breed at 252.85 mph.
Bob Rahaim paced the PM field with a superb 5.824 secs blast = low ET.
The next stop on the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Series schedule is Sept. 2-7 at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Posted with files by: NHRA Communications & Bruce Biegler
BFR – Ohio Post Race Report
BELL / FISCUS RACING (BFR) faced strong competition at the 9th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio on July 2-5, 2015.
Team owner Jim Bell’s first Pro Mod qualifying pass with his twin turbocharged, Pro Line Racing 481X-powered 1969 Chevrolet Camaro resulted in some tire spin at the hit, but right after the one-two shift, his car went into tire shake. Bell was just about to pedal the car when Clint Satterfield’s Firebird got loose and crossed the centerline in front of Bell with less than half a car length between the two. Bell had to get on the brakes to avoid hitting Satterfield and coasted through on his aborted pass. Fortunately, Satterfield regained control and neither driver was hurt. It was a blessing in disguise that Bell wasn’t under full power at the time! In Q2, the team took some power out of Bell’s Camaro but it still shook early in the run and he pedaled it to clock a 6.696 at 202.24 mph run which placed him in the twenty-fourth position. For his final qualifying run of the weekend in Q3, Bell advised the team take even more power out of the car in order to hook up on the greasy track. He launched well, but tire shake bit Bell again near the 400-foot mark and he had to lift and pedal once again, posting a 6.599 at 210.21 mph pass on the scoreboards. Bell officially qualified in the number twenty-six spot, well out of the Top 16. Out of the 28 cars that ran in Q3, only four were successful in making a full pass under power due to the greasy track conditions.
Teammate Kevin Fiscus, however, ran extremely well in Q1 with his twin turbo, PLR-powered 2012 Ford Mustang. He went straight down the groove on his first pass and clicked off a 5.910 at 247.52 mph run which put him in the number four spot. During Q2, Fiscus also fought tire spin and lifted. Even though he called it quits early in the pass, he only slipped into fifth for the qualifying rankings. More spin in Q3 derailed Fiscus’ progress, and he wisely chose to click it off once again. After three rounds, Fiscus had ranked sixth overall in qualifying.
Eliminations began on Saturday evening, and Fiscus was paired against the number eleven qualified driver, Dan Stevenson. Fiscus staged his car like a pro, and when the lights on the tree dropped, he cut a 0.061-second light. His resulting 5.931 at 247.57 mph pass was on par with his best qualifying run of the weekend, but the win lights lit in Fiscus’ opponent’s lane as Stevenson got the hole shot advantage with a 0.015-second light and held the lead. It was a disappointing loss for the Bell/Fiscus Racing team as Fiscus crossed the finish approximately three feet behind Stevenson with just 0.0085-seconds separating the two drivers.
“Despite the loss, we’re still feeling good about the numbers that my car was able to put down. Sometimes you have the better car but get beat at the tree – that’s racing! It’s what makes this sport so exciting, and what pushes us to do better next time out,” said Fiscus.
Both Bell and Fiscus will be competing in the Pro Boost class at the PDRA North-South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway in Budds Creek, Maryland on July 16-18, 2015 as the Bell/Fiscus Racing team continues their 23-race commitment for the 2015 season.
Posted by: Ainsley Jacobs
All Photos by: Bruce Biegler
