Both Mike Maggio, driving his former Al-Anabi ADRL Extreme Pro Mod supercharged ’68 Camaro, and Scott Oksas, driving a turbocharged Chevy-powered 2010 Mustang, stunned their fellow racers and the fans with string of spectacular speeds.
Oksas fell just short of the 260-mph speed barrier with a mind-bending 259.21 blast during qualifying. His speed was no fluke as Oksas also recorded laps of 256+ and 257+ in eliminations. The 259.21 is among the top five speeds ever recorded for a doorslammer.
In eliminations both Maggio and Oksas, who qualified one and two respectively, got bye runs into the second round since there were only six Pro Mods entered.
Based upon their qualifying performances it appeared that Maggio, who qualified with a 5.76,5 and Oksas would meet in the finals. Maggio had no problem getting to the final, dispatching veteran Dan Nickelson’s Viper with a 5.764/255 blast. In the other semi-final match-up Oksas and his Mustang staged against Dan Meyers’ ’68 Camaro.
Dan Meyers |
Meyers promptly strapped a .051 light on Oksas, who was tardy with a .210 light. Meyers ran his best ET of the event, a 6.123, against Oksas’s quicker but losing 6.115/257.09. Meyers may have hurt his motor on that pass as he slowed to 231.28, 17 mph slower than his trap speed in the first round.
The final round was a bit anti-climatic. Meyers knew he would need a great reaction time and a career ET to beat Maggio, but he went .176 red. Maggio coasted to the win with an 8.430/130.30.