The Elite 16 $50,000 Pro Mod Race at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis Texas was an amazing event that brought a new level of fun and excitement to Pro Mod drag racing, and featured the biggest purse in 1/8th mile Pro Mod history. When Randy Merick, in his amazingly bad ass 1979 Corvette, got put out by Franky “The Madman” Taylor in the Semi Finals, they were ready to pack it up. But when Franky had issues and was then unable to make weight, Randy was back in the hunt. He took on Eric Dillard and the famed ProLine Racing team, in their new Procharger equipped 1969 Camaro. Dillard had been picking up and going quicker each and every round, and on paper this one was anyone’s race. Before the final we asked Randy if a split of the purse was in the cards and he replied “I’ll put this damn thing back in the trailer before I’ll split this purse.” When he left the starting line the tension was as thick as cheese with everyone on both sides fist pumping and screaming. But the win light comes on in just one lane, and Randy’s was blinking like a mad man. He’s won the $50,000 in grand fashion outrunning Dillard and the ProLine team in this amazing final. Congratulations to both teams for making it through the entire field and a big shout out to Dillard and crew who had come into the weekend looking at this like a nice test session. I think that Procharger is working.
(Editor’s Note: Well know racer Todd Tutterow had to leave the event in order to return home to his dad Tom before the race was over as his father was having major health issues. The entire Merick Racing and Jeffers Racing teams were feeling rather empty without him there, and wanted to make sure that everyone knew where their hearts truly were during this final round of eliminations. We wish to send our most sincere thoughts and prayers to the Tutterow family during this tough time.)
And because the Mid West Pro Mod season finale was rained out at the Throwdown in T-Town last month, they had to postpone it until this weekend’s Elite 16. This made for an epic event that feature 8 qualifying rounds for the Elite 16 race, with 4 of those rounds also being Mid West Pro Mod eliminations! 8 rounds of qualifying! My announcing partner in crime, the one and only Al Tucci, laughed when I said that I had never announced we were getting into the 8th round of qualifying. EVER! He hadn’t either, but we sure were having fun watching all the action and having fun with the racers and fans. And last year’s number 2 in points in the Mid West Pro Mod Series, Jonas Aleshire, after getting quicker and quicker throughout eliminations, was able to put together a win in the MWPM final that netted him a $10,000 payday AND the season Championship. Congrats to Jonas and the team, it was ultra fun to watch and be a small part of. Good on you boys and girls!
But if you think that Mid West Pro Mods was a great addition to the program, remember it also featured Summit Racing Equipment Top Sportsman AND the Jerry Bickel Race Cars Second Chance Race for all those Pro Mods that didn’t make the Elite 16 cut. There were 14 cars that could have run in that race but only 6 made the call and that meant those 6 were battling it out for the Second Chance $15,000 prize. That’s serious money in it’s own right and I can assure you that Ron Muenks and the Dave’s Claremore RV crew were thrilled to death to get that win in their famed Camaro. They had consistent performance throughout the weekend, running in the mid 3.70s virtually every run in their nitrous huffing hot rod. In the final they took on Jerry Hunt in his beautiful Camaro and both cars were after all the money.
In Summit Racing Equipment Top Sportsman, Kirk Piepke took home the win over Darian Boesch to further reinforce his claim to fame as the fastest milk man in Oklahoma. Piepke put on a clinic in how to be a bad ass in a Top Sportsman car and it was awesome to watch.
