(Steve Gruenwald photo)

NHRA Pro Mods at Gatornationals

Nitrous racers dominate; Mike Castellana leaves first to get win over defending champ Rickie Smith  

Words by Jeff Burk
Photos by Steve Gruenwald and Adam Cranmer

In an all-Chevy, all nitrous final, Al-Anabi racer Mike Castellana drove his nitrous oxide-injected, Shannon Jenkins-tuned Camaro to the win over defending series champ Rickie Smith.  Castellana’s impressive 5.865/244.52 effort held off the top-end charge by “tricky” Rickie who carded a 5.890/245.72. The win by Castellana was his fifth all-time in the NHRA series and his first win at the iconic Gainesville, Fla., track.

Dan Stevenson  (Adam Cranmer photo)

Twenty-seven of the quickest and fastest quarter-mile Pro Mod racers in the world were on hand for the first race of the season and, while the field wasn’t the quickest in NHRA Pro Mod history, the 5.959/243 effort from Illinois racer Dan Stevenson made the “bump” number respectable for a 16-car field.