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PRO MODIFIED

Stott was a picture of consistency when it came to winning Pro Modified. The Mill Spring, NC-based driver of the Radiac-sponsored '63 Corvette picked up where he left off last year by winning his fourth national event in a row dating back to September of 2002. His latest victory came at the expense of home state racer, Houston's Thomas Patterson.

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"A lot of the guys in this class have really done their homework over the off-season," said Stott, who is credited with being the first doorslammer driver to post a five-second run. "We came into this season expecting to win some races, but by no means did we expect it to be a cakewalk. This was a tough fight and once we finished qualifying, we knew we were on our game."

Stott felt that if he didn't make any stupid mistakes that the race was his to win. He entered eliminations as the second quickest and recorded convincing wins over Frankie Taylor, Paul Athey and Al Billes.

Patterson, whose last victory came last season at the ACDelco Nationals in Toronto, entered the event with a brand new 1941 Willys. The third-year Pro Modified racer qualified eighth on his final attempt and waded through a list of opponents that was comprised of Chip King, low qualifier Mike Janis and Fred Hahn.

"This turned out to be an awesome day for us," said Patterson. "We used our back-up motor today, which had less power than our main engine, and it responded well for us. The bad lane turned out to be the good lane for us."

Fred Hahn qualified Jim Oddy's Summit Equipment-sponsored supercharged Corvette in the number 4 spot, but the car broke in the semis against Patterson. (Richard Burk photo)	Steve Vick's Camaro is one of a dwindling number of nitrous oxide-aided Pro Mods. (Richard Burk photo)
During the rain-shortened first week of qualifying, Mike Janis turned in the quickest and fastest Pro Mod trip at the new weight. Unfortunately, it couldn't be backed up and therefore isn't official. (Richard Burk photo)	Burton Auxier brought his Corvette from Dixie, W. Virginia for the first wet week, but couldn't make the second week competition. (Richard Burk photo)

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