PRO MOD
Ed Hoover (Steve Embling photo)
It has been a long time between wins for Canadian Nationals champion Ed Hoover. He last claimed an Ironman last season in Edmonton, but was able to snap his dry spell in Grand Bend where he edged Tommy D’Aprile to win the Pro Modified title.
“This was a great weekend and a real tribute to Al Billes, my crew and everyone who works on this car,” Hoover said. “They work so hard night after night, day after day, giving up their free time to come with me. I mostly have a volunteer crew and it’s great to win for them.”
Hoover (Gilbert, S.C.) qualified in the top half of the field, ending up No. 5 on the sheet, and defeated Mark Nielson, Jason Hamstra and Mike Janis to reach the final round. He was very consistent in eliminations, carding 6.107, 6.118 and 6.092 ET’s during eliminations. He was able to step it up even more in the run for the championship, his Camaro clocking a 6.062/234.53 pass to top the 6.873/220.22 for D’Aprile’s Chevy Bel Air.
“We went to the finals at Budds Creek and didn’t give it enough to get the win,”Hoovere said. “This time we leaned on it a little bit because we didn’t want to fall short. You have to have a consistent car and have to get down the track. We were able to do that this weekend.”
Tommy D’Aprile (Steve Embling photo)