QUAIN STOTT RUNS 228+ IN PRO MOD
If
there was any remaining doubt that the nitrous-injected Pro Mods are
making 2000 hp or more, Quain Stott erased that with a 228+ mph lap
at Central Michigan Dragway. During the second round of qualifying Stott
ran the fastest speed for an IHRA legal Pro Mod car ever with a 228.19
lap. That broke the previous mark for fastest one time speed which was
held by Fred Hahn at 227.65, Stott's numbers were as follows: 1.063
sixty foot time, 4.187/182.88 in the eighth, 5.398 to the thousand foot
mark, and 228.19 in the quarter. Stott also set on the pole with a 6.39
elapsed time and was the only car in the .30's.
Editors Note: Due to a technical (dumbass) error we incorrectly
identified this particular Stott as Mitch and not Quain. We extend
our apologies and a complementary t-shirt to the mis-identified individual.
NO BLOWER CARS UNDER 6.50 AT MID-MICHIGAN! IHRA GIVES
BLOWER CARS MORE GEAR!!!
The quickest supercharged car at Mid Michigan was Fred Hahn driving
for Jim Oddy at a 6.507 which got him the eighth qualifying spot. .Further
down the ladder we find Al Billes and Allen Pittman. After the event
was postponed, IHRA gave the supercharged contingent the good and bad
news. The good news was that the new minimum gear ratio would be 4.71.
The bad news was that the blower cars wouldn't be able to change the
ratio until they complete the postponed Mid-Michigan race which will
give the supercharged racers just four days to change and ready their
cars for the Wednesday qualifying session at Norwalk.
DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER
This
photo of Tampa, Florida racer Rome Harmon's Nova came across the Agents's
desk. Rome races at Orlando Speed World and was at that track's annual
street racing extravaganza, the World Streetnationals. The Agent can
hear you guys out there laughing at this car, but you should stifle
that urge. The Nova is a real sleeper that runs consistently in the
low nines and may have cracked the eights by the time you see this.
Stage up with this guy and you better be ready or he'll clean your clock.
Agent N20 and a couple of staffers from DRO are going to attend the
event this year and the first guy we are going to look up is Rome -
if he isn't street racing and annihilating some elitist street snob
with a trick paint job.
A HUNDRED MORE CUBIC INCHES FOR PRO MOD
Agent N20 hears that one of the Pro Mod rules changes that IHRA pres
Bill Bader is going to make for the 2001 season, to help the nitrous
racers catch up with the supercharger racers, will be to allow the nitrous
racers engines up to 810 cubic inches. Agent N20 made a quick check
and found out that an 810-cubic inch, five-inch bore center engine from
Sonny Leonard costs about $73,000 and a similar engine from Ron Miller
can cost close to $100,000. Glad to see IHRA getting the cost of racing
a Pro Mod down.
ODDY DECIDES TO BUILD A NITROUS PRO MOD!
Veteran supercharged-engine builder Jim Oddy has decided to switch rather
than fight. Oddy currently fields a '53 supercharged 'Vette sponsored
by Summit Racing Equipment that leads the IHRA Pro Mod points chase.
After IHRA officials initiated yet another round of rule changes after
the IHRA event at Cordova that were specifically designed to slow down
supercharged Pro Modifieds (and were successful) Oddy decided to make
the change.
Oddy told Agent N2O that he will finish this IHRA season with the team's
supercharged car but will immediately begin working on developing a
nitrous powerplant for the 2001 season.
There is plenty of incentive for the veteran Pro Mod team owner and
engine builder to build a nitrous car under IHRA's current rules. Nitrous
cars currently are allowed to weigh 300 lbs less than a blown car, don't
have a rear gear restriction, are allowed three clutch discs instead
of a two and can build a 710 inch engine instead of the 526 inch that
the supercharged cars are restricted to.
Oddy believes that he will be able to develop an engine combination
that will deliver the 2000 hp needed to be a hitter in the Pro Mod class.
He bases that upon the fact that 500-inch Pro Stock engines are making
around 1300 hp and 800+ inch engines are making over 1600 hp. With the
400-600 hp nitrous systems available, it isn't far-fetched to believe
that the Summit backed team can make over 2000 hp. Agent N20 can't wait
to see how the team of Fred Hahn, the Oddys, and team consultant Tom
Anderson do with a car that has approximately the same horsepower they
have now but that weighs 300 lbs less than what they have now!
SHAFIROFF RETURNING TO PRO MOD?
Agent N20 hears that Scott Shafiroff will be returning to the Pro Modified
wars in the very near future. Rumor has it that a southern United States
based chassis builder is just finishing up a '63 Stingray for the New
York based racer/engine builder.
JERRY HAAS TO DRIVE MUSTANG IN NMCA
Jerry Haas will make his NMCA debut driving a Mountain motored Mustang
that he has built for Californian Gary Bohanon. The mountain motored
Mustang was built for the NMCA Pro Street and Haas will shake the car
down at the IHRA race at Stanton, MI August 4-6.
550-HP NOS PLATE SPY PHOTO
Have you seen the ads for the new annular flow plates that Holley/NOS
is making? According to engine builder Pat Musi these units make 550
hp on the dyno when used with a progressive controller. Here are a few
shots of these units you've probably never seen. Tech story coming soon
in DRO!
JENKINS POWER PLAY
Shannon Jenkins made a lot of supercharged racers breathe a sigh of
relief at Cordova. Given the controversy between the blown car owners
and the nitrous-powered crews, Jenkins' first qualifying shot of 6.38
lap stacked up nicely after Troy Critchley hit a 6.30 in Johnny Rocca's
blown '49 Merc during the second round of qualifying.
No carburated nitrous car ran in the 6.2s as did Rocca's Merc and Oddy's
'54 Corvette, but they were solidly in the mid 6.3s and Jenkins saw
that as a harbinger of the future. Sources told Agent N2O that an IHRA
official went to Jenkins and asked how quick he thought his Viper would
run. Jenkins reportedly told the official, "My car can run in the 6.20
range."
That wheezing sound you hear is the blower racers, fearing more possible
restrictions, letting out their breath.
SUDDENLY IT'S 1957 IN 2000:
MOORE'S '57 SHOEBOX IMPRESSIVE IN DEBUT
One of the nicest guys to run Pro Modified, Pat Moore, returned to
action at Cordova. Moore was last seen driving a '67 Camaro for Pro
Stock racer Larry Nance. Moore showed at Cordova with a new Tim McAmis
car with Charlie Buck nitrous engines and ran 6.30s out of the box.
A look in this team's pit showed that between rounds these guys were
putting in eight new rods and pistons or whatever it took go to the
line with a chance to win. Agent N2O thinks these guys will be in the
winners circle sooner than later
ASHLEY'S BACK IN PRO MOD
The scourge of Gotham, Mike Ashley, was another Pro Mod racer making
a return to the sport at Cordova. Sporting a trick Batman like paint
job and a life-size replica of the Statue of liberty in his pit Mike
Ashley debuted his new '57 shoebox. While the team struggled at Cordova
remember that in 89-90 Ashley owned the Pro Mod speed title at 214 and
change.
YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME DEPARTMENT:
IT'S JUST A DECAL FOR GODSAKE!
ECW driver Carl Spiering earned his money and his car owner stood tall
at Cordova. Spearing put on a driving clinic, winning the team two round
wins via holeshots. The team also verified to Agent N2O that IHRA officials
requested that they remove the NOS sticker found on the front quarter
panel of the team's '67 Camaro which had been a nitrous car for years.
The team left the decal on even though the car now has a supercharged
powerplant.
Memo to tech officials and racers: IT'S A DECAL! OK?
Oh and just for the record: multi-time Pro Mod world champ Scotty Cannon
had an NOS decal on all of his supercharged cars. IT'S JUST A DECAL!
DOES THE CIA KNOW ABOUT THIS?
Evidently the IHRA tech committee has decided to ban the in-car video
system developed by Tom Anderson and used on Jim Oddy's Pro Mod Corvette
driven by Fred Hahn. One of the cameras was aimed at the rear tires.
The Agent hears that the tech committee believes that possibly the camera
that is aimed at the rear tire is able to convert the image of a spinning
tire into a signal that can be transmitted to a clutch management system.
Hell, everyone knows that a clutch management system is illegal and
God help us if this technology falls into the hands of the Russians.
The Agent (I swear I don't know any Russians) also heard that Summit
put some cameras in the car for use by the company for their web site
and the team was told those had to go. You would think that IHRA officials
would like a record of what goes on inside that car during a run.
MISSING IN ACTION DEPT
The Agent noticed that both Tommy Mauney and former Pro Mod champion
Tim McAmis were conspicuous by their absence at Cordova . McAmis, who
runs a very successful chassis shop in Missouri, announced a new sponsor
at IHRA's race in Grand Bend but left that race early. Mauney recently
switched to a supercharged powerplant and Agent N2O hears that he has
been testing and so far doesn't have the engine combination the way
he wants it.
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