(Luke Nieuwhof photo)
The 32 drivers who qualified in Pro Mod assembled after the field was set to determine first-round pairings through a random chip draw.
The Snowbirds also include four other heads-up classes, with No. 1 qualifier honors going to Lyle Barnett in Precision Shaft Technologies Pro 275 presented by Mickey Thompson Tires, Greg Blevins Jr. in Callies Performance Products Limited Drag Radial presented by Energy Manufacturing, Chris Holdorf in TBM Brakes Outlaw 632 presented by Rife Sensors, and Shawn Pevlor in TRZ Motorsports Ultra Street presented by Precision Turbo & Engine
PRO MOD
After taking the provisional No. 1 spot in Pro Mod in Friday’s two qualifying sessions, Mark Micke predicted that his 3.591-second pass wouldn’t hold up for the top spot after two more sessions on Saturday to set the field. Though numerous drivers improved, including pair after pair of career-best numbers in the final session, no one could get around Micke. Amazingly, Micke in his twin-turbocharged M&M Transmission ’69 Camaro has qualified No. 1 at every race he’s attended this season.
“To be No. 1 against this group, that just puts an exclamation point on our season,” said Micke, who will take on 2024 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod winner Derek Ward in the first round. “It shows the work we did, the dedication my guys did, and just shows the program that we have to be able to come out on top of these guys. That’s no small feat. I know tomorrow’s a whole other day, but today, we won by qualifying No. 1 and we’re gonna go to bed happy, smiling, and ready to rock and roll tomorrow.”
Jason Harris, the two-time and reigning PDRA Pro Boost world champion, fired off a 3.594 at 209.62 in his ProCharged Southern Diamond Company “Party Time” ’69 Camaro in the final qualifying session to qualify No. 2 behind Micke. He’ll take on his former Pro Nitrous rival, Jay Cox, who recently came out of retirement to field a new twin-turbocharged entry.
“This is the best of the best right here,” said Harris, who credited tuner Brandon Stroud and Pro Line Racing, as well as partners like Southern Diamond Company, SP Tools, ProCharger, and Hoosier Tire. “This is a lot of organizations all coming together to try to run fast. I really didn’t think a .59 would stick, but it did. I really didn’t have anything to lose. Just getting in is the only thing because the chip draw kind of throws a wrench in everything. It doesn’t matter where you’re at, as long as you’re in.”
Melanie Salemi, who won the 50th annual Snowbirds in 2021, wheeled the screw-blown Al-Lee Installations “Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird to a 3.599 at 207.21 in the final session to round out the top three. It was a reassuring performance for Salemi and her Buffalo, New York-based team, as they brought out a new car earlier this season, and they’ve struggled to qualify in the massive field at the World Series of Pro Mod the past two seasons.
“To be able to come here with 64 cars, the baddest Pro Mod drivers in the world, plus extra drivers that are coming to drive Pro Mod this weekend, it’s kind of refreshing to know that we’re still up there in the top three of the baddest cars,” said Salemi, who will face Brazil’s Roderjan Busato in round one. “Hopefully this puts a good start to the Winter Series for us and we can carry it through this first race, the next race, and the World Series because I think it’s time that I qualify for the World Series.”
Behind the three 3.59s, three drivers ran 3.60s, five drivers ran 3.61s, nine drivers ran 3.62s, five drivers ran 3.63s, and seven drivers ran 3.64s to qualify in the 32-car field. Pinellas Park, Florida’s Bob Glenn, who won this year’s NMCA Xtreme Pro Mod championship, took the bump spot with a 3.647 at 204.29 in his roots-blown B&K Motorsports ’67 Mustang. Multi-time Pro Extreme world champion Jason Scruggs ended up No. 33 with his 3.648.
The randomly drawn first-round pairings are Jeff Rudolf vs. Ken Quartuccio, Kenny Lang vs. Randy Weatherford, Jerico Balduf vs. Jay Santos, Bob Glenn vs. Kurt Steding, Cameron Hensley vs. Spencer Hyde, Roderjan Busato vs. Melanie Salemi, Jason Harris vs. Jay Cox, Jason Lee vs. Chip King, Joel Wensley Sr. vs. Craig Sullivan, Matthew Deitsch vs. Keith Goolsby, Derek Ward vs. Mark Micke, Travis Harvey vs. Sidnei Frigo, Stevie Jackson vs. Mike Decker III, Steve King vs. Ty Tutterow, Kye Kelley vs. Mike Decker Jr., and Erica Enders vs. Billy Banaka.
The Snowbirds is the first of three points-earning races in the inaugural Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service. Following the Snowbirds, Bradenton will also host the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission on Jan. 23-26 and the World Series of Pro Mod on Feb. 27-March 2. The series will pay out more than $275,000 to the three race winners and overall series champion.
PRO 275
Between cold conditions and a late-night oildown, Pro 275 didn’t get to complete its fourth qualifying session. The class didn’t see any changes at the top of the qualifying order from Friday’s two sessions. Lyle Barnett, pulling triple duty in Pro 275, Pro Mod, and Limited Drag Radial this weekend, locked in the top spot with his 3.676 at 202.30 in Tommy Youmans’ ProCharged “Salvage Title” Mustang. Nick Lacerenza stayed No. 2 with a 3.773 at 199.70 in his ProCharged ’90 Mustang. Chad Opaleski remained third in his screw-blown ’66 Chevelle with a 3.803 at 198.79.
LIMITED DRAG RADIAL
Friday’s provisional No. 1 qualifier in Limited Drag Radial, Greg Blevins Jr., held on to the top spot and even stepped up from his 3.899 best from Friday. He laid down a 3.872 at 191.84 in his ProCharged ’69 Camaro to remain the only driver in the class to dip into the 3.80s. Matt Bell was the next closest with a 3.911 at 195.25, a slight improvement from Friday, to stay No. 2 in his turbocharged ’93 Mustang. Wally Farbaky moved up to third in his turbocharged ’20 GT350R with a 3.918 at 196.59.
OUTLAW 632
Chris Holdorf threw down a stout 4.123 at 170.30 in the final qualifying session to take the No. 1 qualifying position from Kyle Salminen. Holdorf in his Nelson-powered Freedom Grow ’06 GTO made the pass next to Salminen, who similarly stepped up with a 4.124 at 172.72 in his Nelson-powered ’03 Cavalier to miss out on No. 1 by one thousandth of a second. Mike Fiorelli’s career-best 4.16 at 171.03 in his ’68 Camaro from Friday held up for the No. 3 spot.
ULTRA STREET
Shawn Pevlor’s dominant weekend in Ultra Street continued when he lowered his own E.T. record to a 4.374 at 161.87 in John Kolivas’s ’93 Mustang. Davey Hull and Kieffer Simpson followed Pevlor into the 4.30s, with Hull running a 4.378 at 160.63 in his ’92 Mustang and Simpson recording a 4.398 at 163.47 in his “American Xpress” ’13 Mustang to qualify second and third, respectively.
Eliminations at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals presented by Motion Raceworks will begin at 9 a.m. Find a detailed schedule and results at www.Facebook.com/BradentonMotorsportsPark.
General admission tickets are available for Sunday eliminations for $30. Active military and children ages 11 and under get in free. Fans can also watch the race through the official event livestream on www.FloRacing.com.
Nate Van Wagnen | Drag Illustrated | Photo: Luke Nieuwhof
