Leah Pruett in her R2B2 Mustang. (Steve Grunewald photo)

Smith was on his game at this race. He derailed Leah Pruett’s 2012 turbocharged Mustang that had won the last three NHRA Pro Mod events with a semifinal victory. Smith won that race using one of his patented holeshot starts. He combined a .058 with a 5.926 to cross the finish line .018 of second before Pruett, who had a quicker ET with a 5.919 but a slower .083 RT.

"It's been a long, long, long time since I lost on a holeshot," Pruett said. "That's drag racing. It's bound to happen in some point in time. It's almost inevitable. It wasn't that bad. It just happens.

"The car's running well,” Pruett continued, “and I'm satisfied with our new tuner, Brad Brand. He's been able to pick up where we left off – and even improve. Going into the semis, we were the only turbo car left. Given the setbacks we've had -- and people are going to say what they say -- but at the end of the day, Brad Brand is definitely 'Bad Brad' Brand in my book."

Jay Payne was Castellana’a first-round victim. (Adam Cranmer photo)

There were just 18 Pro Mod cars attending their first race of the 2012 season. Notable no-shows at the race included Mark Sievers, who reportedly crashed his car in testing the week before the event, and Mopar standard bearer Chip King, who tested for a week prior to the event but didn’t make the race. Some other racers on the entry list just failed to show.

Series benefactor Roger Burgess reportedly crashed his primary “white” car the week prior to the event and was forced to bring out the back-up “blue” car that was made race-ready in a thrash by his crew at the Gainesville track.