Nitrous oxide all-star tuner and driver Shannon Jenkins made his return to the NHRA with a career best 5.838/249.35 effort. (Adam Cranmer photo)

Brazil racer Sidnei Frigo was another racer who made a career best qualifying lap with a stellar 5.795/256.70 that temporarily moved him to the top of the qualifying ladder. (The speed record in the class is currently the longest standing record for Pro Cars. Melanie Troxel in 2011 set the record at 258.71 and it should be noted that Melanie set that record under much different rules for the class.) (Adam Cranmer photo)

Frigo’s reign as number one was short lived as two pairs later Steve Jackson regained the top spot with a very impressive 5.781/251.58 effort. At the end of the second qualifying session Kevin Fiscus from nearby Jacksonville, FL, held down the bump sport in his 20'10 Mustang with a 5.882 /248.25. That number represented, at the time, the quickest bump in NHRA Pro Mod history, but there would be more Pro Mod history made at Gainesville.

Kevin Fiscus (Steve Gruenwald photo)

For the Saturday final qualifying round that would determine the quick-16 Pro Mods every one of the 27 Pro Mods entered ran the session and when the noise was done the RPM Pro Mod racers had delivered yet another spectacular qualifying session that resulted in lowering the record “bump” spot from a 5.88 down to a record 5.885!

Mike Castellana (Steve Gruenwald photo)

Mike Castellana (nitrous) and Eric Latino (supercharged) ran identical 5.885 ET’s in that final qualifier to go from non-qualified status to the 15th and 16th spots. How impressive was the Pro Mod qualifying show? When qualifying was all done, 20 of the 27 cars entered had ET’s in the 5.70-5.80 range and the average qualifying speed for the quick 16 was just under 247 mph!