PRO NITROUS

The same scenario for Scruggs’ win in Pro Extreme also applied for the Nitrous super team of team owner/driver Mike Castellana and Hall-of-Fame tuner/driver Shannon Jenkins. They also have been struggling uncharacteristically since changing engine builders after the 2014 season.  
Castallana and Jenkins put the big Camaro into the Pro Nitrous field with a 3.82/192.25 effort while Jay Cox was on the “pole” with a 3.73/200.68 lap that held up to be Low ET and Top Speed for the class.

Castellana beat Jim Sackuvich, Pat Stoken and Travis Harvey to reach his first PDRA final round. On the other (and possibly tougher) side of the ladder, number-three qualifier Tommy Franklin trailered defending class champ Jason Harris, John Camp and finally two-time and defending NHRA Pro Mod champion Rickie Smith.

In the finals, Castellana put a .017 holeshot on Franklin then motored to a 3.79/197.83 to edge out Franklin's quicker but losing 3.78 at 195.87. The margin of victory at the finish line was .011 or less than three feet at the finish line.

"I honestly couldn't tell who won at the end, but then I saw my win light was on," Castellana said during his post race interview, "I actually thought he won, I really couldn't tell."

Crew chief Shannon Jenkins said Castellana drove "perfect" in the final and the win reflected a true team effort. "We've been trying some new stuff and it's starting to come together," he said. "Hopefully this is just the start of a lot more races like this for us."

PRO BOOST

His weekend of racing at Louisiana’s Thunder Road Raceway could not have been much better for Gerry Capano and his Greenville, Delaware-based team. After recording a personal best of 3.86/193.68 mph to capture his first Pro Boost pole, Capano and his supercharged '63 Corvette then ran quicker and faster the rest of eliminations for his first PDRA win.

Capano began eliminations with a 3.87 at 193.77 win over PSCA racer Scott Oksas who towed from California to race with the PDRA. In round two, he recorded a 3.82/193.63 lap that beat John Strickland. In the semifinals he stepped up again with a possible career best 3.81/198.40 that he needed desperately to makeup a huge .120 RT holeshot by Tylor Miller. That win sent Capano to the finals and a match-up with Kevin Rivenbark and his '67 Mustang. 

Rivenbark, who had two wins in two prior PDRA final-round appearances, left first with a .041 RT that gave him a .026 advantage but that advantage was soon erased when Capano ran a 3.80/194.18 mph to beat Rivenbark's back-pedaling 3.91 at 192.30 lap.

"Man, this is awesome," Capano declared upon exiting his car at the top end of the track. "I have to thank my crew and sponsors and especially my wife, Heather, for all of their hard work. We've never had a day like this before. The car just went A to B and got the job done.”