Pro Mod Heaven at South Georgia Motorsports Park

by Marvin T. Smith

Photos

It was Pro Mod heaven at SGMP on April 10-11 when the ADRL came to town for the biggest event in SGMP history. Over 130 vehicles battled for the sixteen spots in five eliminations categories before the largest crowd ever to view a drag race in south Georgia.

In Pro Extreme, Jason Scruggs led qualifying with a 3.75 second run in his new 68 Camaro followed closely by Frankie Taylor with a 3.762 in a field of over 30 cars. The bump spot was a record 3.925 for the quickest field in ADRL history. Scruggs began his trip to the final round by defeating Bil Clanton in round one (3.78 at 201), Brian Daniels in round two (3.735 at 204.85 for a new track mph record), and in a great race Quain Stott in round three with a great 3.724 (track record) at 204.29 to Stott’s game 3.77 at 198. Taylor similarly appeared to be marching through the field with a great 3.77 at 202 to beat Ken Thomas in round one, a 3.79 at 200 to beat Mike Bell in round two, but was stopped by Jason Hamstra’s holeshot win in the semi finals when Hamstra’s 3.81 at 195 beat Taylor’s better 3.808 at 201.73. Hamstra was looking equally strong with a 3.83 in round one and a 3.79 in round two. Note that all of the semifinalists were in the 3.70s in round two. Also note that eliminations saw eight runs over 200 miles per hour – a speedfest that will probably be unequalled for a long time. In the final round, favorite Scruggs shook and watched Jason Hamstra streak to a fine 3.801 at 197.45 for the win.

Pro Nitrous was also exciting. Number one qualifier Khalid Al-Balooshi ran a 3.870 at 196.33 for a potential record if he could back it up. The bump spot for the field was 4.122 as 24 cars tried to qualify. Al-Balooshi’s day ended in round 2 when he broke before backing up his record pass in qualifying. Number eight qualifier Steve Vick picked up in eliminations running a 3.96 over John DeFlorian in round one, a 3.93 at 189 to defeat Al-Balooshi in round two, and a 3.94 at 199 to defeat Johnny Pilcher in round three. On the other side of the ladder, it was all SGMP track record holder (3.84) Jim Halsey. In round one he defeated a broken Thomas Myers and ran 3.898 at 193.02, took an easy single in round two when Pat Stoken couldn’t appear, and shut off in round three after Auxier fouled. In a great final, Halsey ran 3.921 at 191 to defeat Vick’s 3.953 at 187.

In Flowmaster Extreme 10.5, Jeff Naiser qualified number one with a 4.106. Just behind was number one points man Billy Glidden at 4.111. Naser lost in the second round, but Glidden was not to be denied. He dipped into the luck bank for the first two rounds, running sub-par times but getting the wins. In the Semifinals, he found his groove and defeated number three qualifier Steve Kirk with a new ADRL record 4.083 at 175. In the finals, Glidden defeated Spiro Pappas whose new machine was getting better and better as the event went on. Glidden ran 4.09 at 176 to defeat Pappas’ 4.16 at 178.

Sixteen cars turned out for the Extreme Pro Stock field. Robert Patrick established a new ADRL record of 4.059 to lead qualifying, but shook the tires in round one to go home early. This loss opened the door for number two qualifier Brian Gahm to win. Gahm ran 4.13, 4.09, 4.07 at a new speed record 177.28 to reach the finals, where he defeated Cary Goforth with a 4.085 at 177.09 to Goforth’s losing 4.13 at 175.

The Pro Extreme Motorcycle field was the quickest in ADRL history with a 4.345 bump as approximately 40 cycles battled in qualifying. In the finals, Matt Prophit defeated brother Charlie Prophit with a great 4.23 at 170.39 when number one qualifier Charlie (4.21) was forced to slow to a 11 second run.