(Photos by Mike Burghardt) – Mike Janis won his first E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service world championship at the season ending event during the NHRA Toyota Nationals.
Janis’ ’69 Camaro Pro Mod was the points leaders entering the weekend but was defeated in the first round of eliminations by Mike Caruso. Rickie Smith, in his ’18 Camaro was second, advanced to the quarterfinals and had an opportunity to win his fourth championship – if he advanced to the semifinals. Rick Hord allowed Janis to claim the crown by defeating Smith.
“It hasn’t set in yet,” said Janis. “After losing first round we were all kind of down. Now, just incredible feeling, I can’t explain it. We had a good car all year; we had a good car when we got here, nice and consistent runs. It will sink in in the next hour or so. I’ve won races before but this is the cream of the crop right here. The NHRA pro mod champ, I love it.”
In the finals Sidnei Frigo faced Mike Castellana for the last victory of the year. Frigo was able to race to the win with a run of 5.756-seconds at 256.50 mph to the trailing run of 5.861 at 249.49 for Castellana. This is the first win of the season for Frigo.
“We had a lot of issues with the car at the beginning of the year.” said Frigo. “Now we fixed the car and it runs great. Next year is going to be a good year.”
The Final Top Ten Point standings, following the 18th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the race is the final of 12 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.
- Mike Janis, 770 points
- Rickie Smith, 763 points
- Mike Castellana, 725 points
- Steve Jackson, 659 points
- Jeremy Ray, 610 points (above) finished in a tie with Chad Green, 610 points
- Rick Hord, 565 points
- Khalid alBalooshi, 558 points
- Todd Tutterow, 521 points
- Jose Gonzalez, 510 points
Now the Gallery from E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service world championship at the season ending event during the NHRA Toyota Nationals
It’s been interesting to see how they can evolve each body type into the inevitable turtle shell……
Noting the lack of spectators. NHRA or GOing AWay?
Another interesting fact: By my count 60% of the top 10 cars are owned by Middle Eastern entities.