Canadian native driver Melanie Salemi reflects on her impressive first full Pro Mod racing season…
The Melanie Salemi Motorsports Pro Modified team, which is based in Buffalo New York, recently competed in the final PDRA race of the season in Richmond Virginia.
Salemi and her “Purple Reign” G-Force Race Cars built, 68 Firebird closed out the PDRA season in fine fashion with a semi final finish. She posted a new personal best performance record of 3.76 at 198 mph and most importantly took a 3rd place spot on the podium for the points championship in the extremely competitive Pro Boost class.
Melanie Salemi (originally from Orillia ON) made some great strides forward in her first full season racing in Pro Mod
Salemi exclaimed, “I’m beyond excited for my team to have accomplished these goals this season. It’s a testament to everyone’s tireless efforts, dedication and sacrifice. When it comes to my guys, it’s always “whatever it takes” and like I’ve said before I believe we have the most versatile team out there. Everything is under one roof. From building the complete car, to building the engines and all of our between race maintenance it is all handled by G-Force Race Cars, MSR Performance, and Resolution Racing Services. My team knows what it takes to do well and I think that was proven this season. We should be able to keep our momentum going through the off season with testing and come out strong in the beginning of 2017″.
The 2016 season is not quite finished for the team as they will embark on their first west coast adventure with their own team to Las Vegas Motor Speedway November 16-20 for the 12th running of the SCSN race presented by Mel Roth.
Jim Salemi owner of G-Force Race Cars states, “We’ve been going to Vegas for this race since 2008 and won it with Kirk Wilmes back in 2008, it will be nice to showcase our product west of the Mississippi as it’s not something we often do. We are focused on building our team and business’ nationwide and this event will help that reach a new level”.
The opportunity for the team to travel west comes from Ross Johnston and his Big Sky Motorsports group based in Bozeman, Montana. “We went to this event in 2015 to look after Big Sky’s unique full size supercharged Chevy pickup. During the event Ross said ‘let’s get the Firebird out here in 2016’, and now it’s coming to reality. Ross and the Big Sky group have supported our team helping with travel expenses all year and it will be great to showcase this race for Big Sky Motorsports”, said Jon Salemi, Melanie’s husband and owner of Resolution Racing Services.
This 2016 season was a pivotal year for the upstate New York based team in running for a championship in the PDRA series. “This is my first full season in the Pro Mod car. It’s been a dream come true to compete at this level and run as well as we have. We have great plans for the 2017 season so stay tuned to all of our social media outlets for the exciting news”.
Thank you to all of our wonderful marketing partners and supporters for helping make this season a great one. AL-LEE Installations, Delta Faucet, Big Sky Motorsports, Quick Drive, MSR Performance, G-Force Race Cars, Resolution Racing Services, FuelTech, Atomizer Racing Injectors, Browell Bellhousing, Jeff Pierce, Ross Racing Pistons, Motorsports Unlimited, Santos Motorsports, TT Motorsports, Flatout Gaskets, Hoosier Racing Tires, NGK Sparkplugs, PST, B&J Transmissions & Kinetic Engineering.
For more information visit the team on-line : HERE
Bruce Biegler Photos
