{"id":566103,"date":"2017-05-03T01:29:49","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T08:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bangshift.com\/?p=566103"},"modified":"2017-05-02T18:38:06","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T01:38:06","slug":"nhra-4-wide-nationals-pro-mod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangshift.com\/bangshift1320\/nhra-4-wide-nationals-pro-mod\/","title":{"rendered":"NHRA 4-Wide Nationals Pro Mod Action Photos: History Made, Castellana Wins"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Photos by David Whealon – DW Photos<\/a>) –\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Mike Castellana and Frank Manzo earned the first J&A Service Pro Mod Wally at the 4-Wide Nationals last weekend and boy did they earn it. As has been the case for the last couple of seasons, the qualifying and eliminations action was insane. This was the first time in drag racing history that pro mods were run in a 4-wide format and the drivers proved themselves every bit the professionals that we know they are. The drivers all came to a “staging school” on Thursday evening at the track where Alan Reinhart and a couple of others talked them through the process of getting in to the beams properly four abreast. While it all looks so simple, it can be a soup sandwich at times. It wasn’t for these guys. They crushed it.<\/p>\n

With four qualifying sessions instead of the typical three, racers really got after it in the hot and soupy air of Charlotte. The list of non-qualifiers was almost equal to the list of cars that actually made the show. All-star heroes like Shannon Jenkins were not racing on Sunday. It was mental.<\/p>\n

Along with the awesome racing and four wide action, seldom seen J&A Service series racer Mike Bowman showed up and ran the second fastest speed in the history of the category at over 258mph. The speed record has stood strong since 2011 and despite the weather conditions, Bowman came within a couple tenths of a mile per hour of actually grabbing it for himself in his turbocharged Chevelle.<\/p>\n

It was one of the most memorable weekends of NHRA pro mod racing ever and to top it off, after the win Manzo said that it was one of the crowning moments of his career to tune Mike Castellana to the win at Charlotte. The drivers all loved it (especially those that qualified) and seeing the first five second “quad” tear down the track was pretty awesome!<\/p>\n

Click the images below to see them in full-size and then scroll to see them all!<\/h3>\n

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