Pro Mod legend Rickie Smith lost to Rahaim in the semifinal when Smith lost traction.

Rahaim has one victory and three runner-up finishes in his career. He was runner-up at the previous Pro Mod race at Bristol.

In a battle of Pro Mod superstars, Troy Coughlin Sr. came out on the losing end this time against Rickie Smith in the second round of the Real Pro Mod Association NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Series race.

Coughlin and Smith have won the last four NHRA Pro Mod championships, with the JEGS.com driver winning in 2012 and 2015 and Smith in 2013-14. Sunday in Norwalk, the race was over early as Coughlin red-lit for what he believed was the first time in his Pro Mod career.

"It's definitely more fun to beat him," Coughlin said. "We're good rivals, and we're always picking on him and he's picking on me. We're going to get him next time; it's our turn."

Coughlin has been solid on the Christmas Tree this season, but he left .001-second too soon. Another hundredth of a second later, and Coughlin would have been racing in the semifinals, but two things conspired to affect Coughlin. First, Pro Mod drivers picked up their game in Norwalk, and a rules change had crew chief Steve Petty and the JEGS.com team looking for elapsed time. They found it in the launch of the car, which likely contributed to the red-light.

"All these guys can hit it at any given time, so you have to go up with you're A-game all the time," Coughlin said. "We did. We had a faster car and the driver was up for it. We were just a skosh too quick. Our normal reactions times are between .025 and .050, but here there was one double-oh and a bunch of teen lights.

"We've done some stuff to the car to help it accelerate because with the rule change we lost close to 270 horsepower. We've got to try and find it somewhere, and we found some in e.t. and it's picking the reaction of the car up, too. We'll regroup."