Driving the same ’70 Duster that carried Jason Hamstra to the ADRL Pro Extreme championship last year (though with a Roots-blown motor), Terry Coyle from Stamping Ground, KY, stole the Pro Mod Blown qualifying lead from Tutterow in the fourth and final session with an outstanding 3.808 at 188.86-mph pass. Coyle made it to the semis, but suffered traction woes that handed the win to Ric Fleck, who ran a career-best 3.907 at 187.42 mph. 

Racing from the number-two spot, Chris Rini of Carmel, NY, won the Pro Mod Nitrous race Apr. 28, at Carolina Dragway in his ATI ’69 Camaro. Racing top qualifier Doug Riesterer, who reportedly suffered engine damage in his semi-final win over Dewayne Silance, Rini left with a huge .075 holeshot, then went 3.867 at 188.78 to take the win with the quickest pass ever for a nitrous car equipped with a Powerglide transmission. Riesterer, meanwhile, barely got off the line before his ’68 Camaro belched a huge fireball out of its left exhaust and he coasted to a 13-second lap.

Hunter Yeomans of Allendale, SC, was unstoppable in his “Watermelon Express” ’57 Chevy after qualifying number one with a 4.702 at 145.55 in the 4.70 index class for the Big Dawgs event at Carolina Dragway. Though he broke out in a first-round solo pass and again in the next two elimination rounds, Yeomans’ opponents were even bigger offenders so he made it to the final against Mike Herring and his ’93 Lumina from Conyers, GA. Yeomans left first with a .033 reaction and his 4.733 at 141.37 took the win over the 4.737 at 138.31 put up by Herring.