NHRA Pro Mods at St. Louis

Knowles takes St. Louis win; Coughlin finishes Charlotte first

Words and photos by Jeff Burk

The NHRA Pro Mod racers combined two races (Charlotte and St. Louis) into one in a three-day marathon of qualifying and racing at Gateway Motorsports Park located just across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis.

Saturday, Sept. 27, the Pro Mod racers finished up the postponed Charlotte race and Troy Coughlin took his second win of the 2014 season and sixth of his career.   

Colorado racer Mike Knowles (lead photo) raced to his first career victory in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series Sunday.

In an all-supercharger finals of the St. Louis race Knowles, who qualified 14th, used a holeshot to defeat former Pro Mod World Champion Von Smith. Knowles ran a 5.934/244.65 to Smith’s quicker but losing 5.929 at 241.80.

“This is incredible! We’ve waited a long time for this and I am so happy that my boys, Zach and Bryson, and my wife, Kim, were able to be here. I can’t tell you how good this feels or how happy I am for my crew. These guys put their all into this team. Tim (McAmis), Billy (Rice), Bart (Sunn), and Brandon (Booher). Thank you! This is something,” said an elated Mike Knowles.