PRO EXTREME

Operating on probably one of the tightest budgets in the Pro Extreme class, Brandon Snider showed up in Richmond without a screw blower to bolt atop his alcohol-burning Hemi, but was able to borrow a spare from fellow competitor Neal Wantye that helped the former Marine earn his first PDRA trophy after reaching his second-straight Pro Extreme final.  

After qualifying third with a 3.58-seconds pass at 211.10 mph, behind only pole sitter Bubba Stanton (3.53/217.18) and Dubai racer Badir Ahli (3.56/213.84), Snider ran 3.63 to win his first elimination round over Randell Reid, whom he'd lost to in the final a month earlier at Martin, Michigan. Snider, from Atmore, Ala., then got quicker with each successive trip to the starting line in his '63 Corvette.

A 3.60 at 209.49 dispatched Terry Leggett from round two before Snider went 3.57 at 210.90 to win in the semis against Ahli, who left with a -.113 red light. That set up a final-round match against number-four qualifier Tommy D'Aprile, who steered his Mel Bush-owned '05 Corvette to preliminary wins over Eric Dillard and a redlighting Todd Martin before advancing from the semis with a holeshot win over Stanton. 

After posting nearly identical reaction times, D'Aprile ran 3.60 at 208.30 mph, but it was Snider's 3.56 at 209.95 that took the win home to Atmore, Alabama.

"This was a collective effort," Snider insisted later. "First of all I want to thank God; He already knew who was going to win this race; Tommy and I were just here for the ride.

"But I have to thank Neal Wantye for helping me out, Ken from Motorsports Unlimited, Jimmy Crenshaw, Michael Elsberry, Steve Holloway, all my crew, Joey Martin; these guys just did what they had to do and I just drove it, man. I had the easy job."