OH, BROTHER!

Words and photos by Jeff Burk

The racers refer to Houston Raceway Park as the "mineshaft" because so many of NHRA's quickest and fastest speeds are recorded on that South Texas quarter-mile track made of asphalt and concrete. It lived up to its name and reputation during the running of

ADVERTISEMENT

the NHRA O'Reilly Spring Nationals. The track yielded the quickest field ever, the quickest legal Pro Mod pass ever, 12 laps of 230-mph or faster, and a new absolute Pro Mod speed record.

It was, however, a good event for the nitrous oxide racers. After the second of ten NHRA AMS Staff Leasing races, the nitrous Pro Mod contingent might start referring to that track as the "graveyard." Why, you might ask? Because, for the second consecutive event, the conditions during Pro Mod qualifying were nearly perfect for supercharged Pro Mod cars -- track temperature under 100 degrees, air temperature below 80 degrees and "air" that showed near sea-level for most of the race. As a result, the blown cars dominated the qualifying and the race and, for the second straight race, the only nitrous racer to make the program was defending champ Shannon Jenkins.

This race was historically one of, if not the most dramatic races in the history of Pro Modified because of a variety of events that occurred.

Jim Oddy tuned up his Summit Racing Equipment-backed 'Vette and Fred Hahn drove it to a 6.072/230.45 lap that left their competition stunned.

"I like to be rewarded for doing good when I race," Oddy said. "AMS puts up $2,000 for low qualifier at these races and I like to get that reward if I can. Mitch (Stott) ran a 6.16 in the first round and I thought, 'I know how to run a 6.13,' so I put that tuneup in the car and it went out and ran a 6.07/230. I don't mind telling you I was stunned. I never expected that number."

NEXT PAGE >>