By Nate Van Wagnen | Luke Nieuwhof photos
In a final round Pro Mod fans will be talking about for years, Derek Ward outran Jim Halsey to take home the $100,000 winner-take-all payday at the fifth Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod presented by Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage and J&A Service Sunday night at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Ward’s 3.625 seconds at 208.17 MPH run defeated Halsey’s 4.304-second pass at 126.09 MPH in front of an overflow crowd on the starting line.
“It’s incredible,” said Ward, the 2023 NEOPMA champion. “The field of drivers they have here is the best in the world. And we won it today. It’s quite an exciting day. This is the biggest win of my career.”
The World Series of Pro Mod also included the second annual Mountain Motor Pro Stock Invitational and the inaugural Pro 10.5 Challenge, which both paid $25,000 to win. Matt Giangrande earned the Mountain Motor Pro Stock win, while “Quick Nick” Schroeder was victorious in Pro 10.5. Jeff Rudolf won the Chicago-Style Pro Mod Second-Chance race, which paid $10,000 to win.
A pair of record $50,000 paydays went to the winners in the inaugural Intercontinental Top Sportsman Championship presented by FTI Performance and the inaugural Intercontinental Top Dragster Championship presented by FTI Performance. PDRA world champions Tim Molnar (Top Sportsman) and Steve Furr (Top Dragster) collected those big checks. “Fast” Freddy Perkins picked up the Top Sportsman Second-Chance win. Bradenton local racer Michael Carpenter won the $5,000 Super Pro Shootout.
PRO MOD
In a double act of sportsmanship, both Derek Ward and Jim Halsey allowed each other additional time to make the final happen. Following the semifinals, Halsey and his team realized they had a serious issue with their motor, so they began the process of replacing their powerplant. Knowing the show had been delayed throughout the day, they did not want to further delay the final, but they needed some additional time.
“We needed to freshen an engine up before the final because we had a mechanical failure,” said Halsey, a four-time PDRA Pro Nitrous world champion. “It took us an hour to do what we needed to do. We talked to Derek’s team to make sure that they didn’t have a problem waiting if we needed extra time. It was like an hour and 10 minutes and we were ready to roll.”
Racing in the supporting classes continued, and eventually Halsey and Ward pulled to the starting line to go head-to-head for $100,000. As Halsey sat in his Fulton-powered ’68 Camaro, drama unfolded in the lane beside him as Ward’s race car would not start. Immediately dozens of crew people, track personnel, and some fans leapt into action to try and start Ward’s car. To no avail, they could not fix the issue on the starting line, and Drag Illustrated publisher and race promoter Wes Buck asked Halsey if he would consider returning to his pit and allowing Ward to replace his starter.
“I like to start last, but my procedure is still pretty fast,” said Halsey. “So, I usually end up waiting on everybody else. I usually let them start first and after a minute or so I knew something was wrong. I saw their guys running back and forth. They asked me what I wanted to do, but that’s not really my decision. That’s the race director’s decision, and he said he wanted to run a side-by-side final and I was fine with that.”
After a 40-minute delay, Ward was once again ready to get into the fight and both cars started and rolled through the water box. The excitement and tension on the starting line was palpable and Ward took a starting line advantage when the tree activated and he never trailed in the race. Looking back at the delayed start and then the eventual race win, Ward was happy but also thankful to Halsey.
“It was stressful up until we got it started in the burnout box for the last final,” said Ward. “You have to forget everything when stuff like that happens. I have to say thanks to Jim Halsey for giving me time to do what I had to do to get up the start line. I don’t even pay attention to all that stuff when it is happening. I’m looking at the tree and down track. That’s it. I wasn’t thinking anything until we got that win light on the finish line.”
With a $100,000 payday in his pocket, Ward is looking forward to a busy 2024 Pro Mod season. The young driver does not have major plans for his winnings.
“We are going to just keep working hard and keep going racing and see what happens,” said Ward.
For Halsey, the 2024 season is off to a bittersweet start. He was breaking in a new car, and it obviously showed promise winning four rounds on race day against some of the quickest teams in the class. Not getting a fifth win light might take some time to get over.
“This was the first race on a brand-new car so we’re very happy with it. Jerry Bickel builds a bad ass racecar,” said Halsey. “I am just looking forward to the season and I am very excited about what it can do the rest of the road. I don’t know about getting more luck. You know, sometimes nice guys finish last. Derek is a good guy, and he runs good. He deserves to win just as much as we do.”
The race day was stacked with quick runs and quality side-by-side racing for both finalists. In the quarterfinals, Halsey and his ‘68 Camaro took out reigning PDRA Pro Boost champion Jason Harris in a 3.652 at 208.33 to 3.684 at 205.35 race. Ward drove his G-Force Race Cars-built, screw-blown ‘68 Firebird to a holeshot win with a 3.673 at 206.45 over Marcus Butner’s 3.667 at 207.40.
Stevie “Fast” Jackson defeated Randy Weatherford, and Todd Tutterow took out Preston Tanner to reach the final four of the World Series of Pro Mod. Halsey (.027) 3.635, 208.71 trailered Tutterow (.057) 3.632, 205.57 on holeshot, and Ward’s 3.639 at 207.85 defeated a red-lighting Jackson (-.070), 5.823 at 79.83 to reach the final round.
Nate Van Wagnen | Drag Illustrated
