Burgess proved his ability as a driver as he took a race car that was neither the quickest nor the fastest in the field and put himself and his team in the winner’s circle on a day when the Pro Mods (because of weather) were forced to run four laps of eliminations on Sunday instead of the usual three, which put extra pressure on the drivers and crews.

But wait, there was even more. The Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge racers delivered everything a Pro Mod fan could want including the third Pro Mod to run a 250+ lap in North America when Brad Personett’s turbo Camaro (above) accomplished that feat. For the first time in a very long time there were nitrous oxide-injected cars on hand that were very legitimate contenders to beat the supercharged crowd, and the Pro Mods lived up to their reputation as the most exciting doorslammers in drag racing as two drivers had crashes but walked away with no damage to anything but the cars, their pocketbooks and egos.

For this reporter the Pro Mod qualifying that was reduced to just two sessions on Saturday, due to a rain-out on Friday, was the best entertainment of the event. Jay Payne made a 5.90 at just 230 mph on his first lap which gave him the first leg of a new ET record. Later in the session Personett ran a very respectable 6.122/244.29 in his turbo car and Mike Castellana in his nitrous oxide injected Reher-Morrison Chevy-powered Poncho ripped off a 5.96 in the last pairing.

That set the stage for a final qualifying session where a new ET record for the NHRA Pro Mods could have been set. In front of an Standing Room Only Saturday crowd Personett made one of the most incredible passes in Pro Mod history, turning in a 5.954/250.88 performance that incredibly went almost unnoticed when in the other lane Rick Stivers in Brad Anderson’s number two car had the left rear wheel studs fail at about 400 feet causing the car to make an immediate left turn into the guard wall, totally destroying the car.