Words and photos by John Edwin Mason

Thanks to Tommy Gray and Scott Cannon, the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association (NEOPMA) is going to have to shell out for a new logo. Right now, the logo reads “230 MPH, 6 SEC. ET’S.”  That’s as obsolete as a flag man at the starting line. The new logo will have to say “240 MPH, 5 SEC. ET’S,” because those are the kinds of numbers that Gray in his "Undertaker" Camaro and Cannon in his "Modzilla" Firebird put on the board April 17-18 at Virginia Motorsports Park.

The fun started during testing, the day before the race.  Everybody knows that the track at VMP can produce blinding quick runs since it’s only few hundred feet above sea level and the crew is second to none when it comes to prepping a track.

On Friday, Tommy Gray made the most it, testing two different "Undertakers" -- a NEOPMA/IHRA legal ‘68 Camaro and an ADRL-legal ‘06 GTO. The GTO ran a 5.795/250.97, which was impressive but meaningless as far as the race was concerned. What really mattered was the Camaro, which put down a race-legal 5.914/241.67. If that had been a qualifying run, it would have been a record.

Gray’s performance had people smacking their lips in anticipation of a slew of big numbers Saturday. Sadly, it was not to be. All day long, in testing, qualifying, and eliminations, most of the cars struggled to make clean laps.  Either the track went away or the racers couldn’t find the handle or a little of both.

At first, Scott Cannon looked unbeatable. His sleek and swoopy ‘68 Firebird ran a 5.947/241.20 before it counted, and he came back with a 5.979/241.45, in the first round of qualifying, to take the pole in the blower class. As it turned out, these were the day’s only passes in the 5's. Gray couldn’t match his numbers from Friday and ended up qualifying third, right behind a stout Tim O’Hare.