NHRA Pro Mods at Houston

Turbo runs the table as Walsh gets second win for Hruska

Words by Jeff Burk
Photos by Joe McHugh

Veteran racer Don Walsh, driving for owner Harry Hruska, ran the table at the April 24-26 RPM Pro Mod race at Royal Purple Raceway.

Twenty-seven NHRA-legal Pro Mod teams came to the historically quick and fast Houston drag strip but when the clutch dust and tire smoke cleared, Walsh driving a turbocharged, Larry Jeffers Race Cars-built 2014 Camaro qualified number one in the 16-car field and set Low ET at 5.825 seconds. The only performance mark Walsh didn’t set was the Top Speed and that honor went to RPM series rookie Troy Coughlin Jr., who drove his turbocharged ‘Vette to a Top Speed of 251.06 MPH.

In the Pro Mod final Walsh faced nitrous racer Bill Glidden. Glidden had run his all-time best 5.88 ET during eliminations and what could have been a great final round was spoiled when Glidden lost traction early in the suspect right lane.

Lane choice was critical at this race. Of the 15 rounds of eliminations on Saturday and Sunday 13 rounds, including the final, were won from the left lane.