NHRA News: Gatornationals Pro Modified Spotter's Guide (03/12/2001)

Gatornationals Pro Modified Spotter's Guide

by Bobby Bennett Jr., competitionplus.com
photos by Roger Richards
Rendering by Lachlan Craven Design Australia
03/12/2001

The Mac Tools Gatornationals will mark the first of five NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series national events in the 2001 season to feature Pro Modified entries in exhibition eliminations.

The exhibitions will feature eight-car fields as set during two qualifying sessions (Friday and Saturday). Sunday final eliminations will feature three rounds to determine a winner.

The Pro Mods also will compete as an exhibition eliminator at the inaugural Mac Tools NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals (Bristol, Tenn.); the 21st Advance Auto Parts NHRA Southern Nationals (Commerce, Ga.); the fifth Annual Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals (St. Louis); and the prestigious 47th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals (Clermont, Ind.).

Below is a spotter's guide for the Gatornationals entrants.

Driver: Fred Hahn
Hometown: West Seneca, N.Y.
Entry: '01 Corvette (supercharged)
Hahn, the recognized leader in the Pro Modified ranks, is a 47-year-old machinist. He drives a Summit Racing-sponsored, '01 Corvette owned by 1970 U.S. Nationals Comp champion Jim Oddy. The team recently took delivery of a new machine constructed by Aussie chassis wizard Murray Anderson, who has been well-documented for his fabrication of the '53 Studebaker driven by Scotty Cannon to the 1998 IHRA Pro Mod title.

Hahn has won nine IHRA national events since the inception of the Pro Modified division in 1990. He set the division on fire last year with a 6.179 lap in Ontario, Canada, and he also owns the speed record with a 228.89-mph blast.

Driver: Quain Stott
Hometown: Inman, S.C.
Entry: '63 Corvette (nitrous-injected)
Stott is part of a family with a rich drag racing history that ranges back to the '50s. The eldest of the two Stott brothers who compete in the class, Quain is a 40-year-old former Comp and Modified eliminator racer. He paced the nitrous-injected entries for much of the '00 season, posting consistent low-6.3-second laps. He topped 230 mph in an event in Stanton, Mich.

Stott has four career IHRA Pro Mod victories along with a number of wins on regional circuits. He nearly claimed the IHRA title in 2000, but lost to his brother in a dramatic first-round race at the season's final event, which cost him the points lead and the title.

Driver: Mitch Stott
Hometown: Mill Spring, N.C.
Entry: '63 Corvette (nitrous-injected)
The youngest of the Stott brothers came into prominence in the latter part of the 1999 season with a semifinal finish at an event in Louisiana. Stott, 37, returned to the same event a year later and claimed his first career victory with his Radiac-sponsored '63 Corvette - the same event where he earlier knocked his brother out of contention for the points championship.

Stott drove the first nitrous-injected entry to dip into the 6.2-second zone with a 6.28 on a qualifying run last season season. In pre-season testing, he has posted several 6.31 runs.

Driver: Troy Critchley
Hometown: St. Joseph, Mich.
Entry: '41 Willys (supercharged)
Australian Critchley, 28, departed Johnny Rocca's camp at the conclusion of the 2000 season after delivering the team's first-ever Pro Modified victory. The colorful driver was quickly named as the replacement for Tommy Mauney behind the wheel of Roy Singleton's supercharged '41 Willys.

Critchley, also a former driver for Australian Pro Modified legend Victor Bray, won the Mopar Performance Shootout in 1999. He once won a race despite having a door fall off his car.

Driver: Ronnie Hood
Hometown: Lenoir, N.C.
Entry: '63 Corvette (nitrous-injected)
Veteran driver Hood was the first African-American driver to qualify at a Pro Modified event. A graduate of IHRA's Top Sportsman Quick 32 division, Hood carries a reputation as one of the class' toughest drivers.

Hood pilots the Pete Fulwylie-owned, Grizzly Luxury Coaches-sponsored '63 Corvette. He regularly clocks consistent 6.3-second laps and made the late rounds at several national events in 2001. Hood is still seeking his first career victory.

Driver: Ed Hoover
Hometown: Gilbert, S.C.
Entry: '63 Corvette (nitrous-injected)
Hoover, 40, was the first driver to win an IHRA Pro Modified national event. In March 1990, Hoover stormed to victory in Darlington, S.C., to etch his name in the record books. He has finished in the top 10 in the IHRA points standings for the last five years.

Driving a consistent 6.3-second entry, Hoover has scored eight wins in 14 career finals. He was a pioneering driver in the class and his emergence dates back to the mid-'80s, when he drove a Camaro in southeastern Quick Eight events, which helped spawn the Pro Mod class.

Driver: Al Billes
Hometown: Barrie, Ont.
Entry: '53 Studebaker (supercharged)
Billes, a 34-year-old engineer, has long been known for his ingenuity within the Pro Mod ranks. He began racing in Pro Modified in the class' sophomore season and battled Scotty Cannon to the wire for the '91 championship. Billes began his career with a nitrous-injected '86 Camaro, but switched over to a supercharged combination in the middle of the 1992 season.

In the mid-'90s, Billes left Pro Mod to run a Federal-Mogul Funny Car, but returned in 1998. His '53 Studebaker was one of the first entries to roll out of Scotty Cannon & Alan Pittman's C&P Race Cars chassis shop. Billes has four national event wins to his credit.

Driver: Alan Pittman
Hometown: Lyman, S.C.
Entry: '41 Willys (supercharged)
Pittman, a partner with Pro Modified legend and current Funny Car racer Scotty Cannon, pilots a beast of a '41 Willys owned by electrical contractor Ken Westbrook. As a rookie last season, Pittman proved he was well ahead of his time when he recorded a 6.25 e.t. He has also come close to the 230-mph level on several occasions.

Pittman is coming off some strong pre-season tests and recently won an event in Darlington, S.C., though he is winless at national events. When his red Willys rolls to the starting line, it strikes an eerie resemblance to Cannon's former flamed Willys, which used to rule the class.

Driver: Mike Castellana
Hometown: Westbury, N.Y.
Entry: '57 Chevy (nitrous-injected)
Castellana has burned the midnight oil in preparation for the upcoming season, and his efforts appear to be paying off. The 36-year-old supermarket operator became the third nitrous driver to reach the 6.2-second range when he blasted a 6.28 during testing at Houston Raceway Park in January.

Castellana also recently announced that Shannon Jenkins will join his team for 2001. He has been running Jenkins engines, but this move should serve to add stability to the team. Castellana is a natural showman, often adorning his pit area in livery that gives it the look of a classic American Graffiti-style drive-in.

Driver: Shannon Jenkins
Hometown: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Entry: '68 Camaro (nitrous-injected)
Shannon Jenkins is the most successful Pro Modified racer to run a nitrous-injected engine combination. Jenkins, a 46-year old, two-time Pro Modified champion, recently made history by recording the quickest-ever eighth-mile lap on nitrous: a 4.05 in testing that he backed up with a 4.06.

Jenkins, a 13-time IHRA national event winner, will have a new look for the 2001 season after joining Mike Castellana's team and returning to his first love, the '68 Camaro. Jenkins first joined the Pro Modified ranks during the '94 season and finished third in the points. The following year he wrenched Tommy Mauney to the championship, then captured the crown himself in 1997 and 1999.

Driver: Dale Brinsfield
Hometown: Greensboro, N.C.
Entry: '68 Camaro (nitrous-injected)
During his drag racing career, Brinsfield has raced everything from motorcycles to NHRA Pro Stock, and has now settled into the Pro Modified class. He has yet to win his first national event, but has come close on several occasions. He has a reputation for lightning-quick reaction times.

After a dismal 1999 season, he launched a "Back in Black" tour in 2000 with an all-black '68 Camaro. He is expected to be one of the low-6.3-second players in this season's Pro Mod exhibitions.

Driver: Rickie Smith
Hometown: King, N.C.
Entry: '63 Corvette (nitrous-injected)
In addition to driving Kenny Koretsky's new Mopar Pro Stock entry, Smith will wheel a '63 Corvette in Pro Modified exhibitions this year. Smith began racing in Pro Mod in 1997 behind the wheel of a '63 Corvette, and chose a nitrous-injected motor combination due to his experience with mountain-motor combinations.

In addition to his two NHRA Pro Stock wins and five IHRA Pro Stock season titles, Smith has won two IHRA Pro Mod events and numerous Quick Eight races along the Atlantic coast. His best finish in the class came in the '97 season, when he finished third in the points race after battling with Shannon Jenkins and Tommy Mauney.

Driver: Chip King
Hometown: Semora, N.C.
'00 Dodge Avenger (supercharged)
King will give Mopar fans something to cheer for when he brings his competitive Hemi-powered Avenger to Gainesville. His best showing came last season in Maryland when he qualified on the pole and posted a runner-up finish. It was the first time he had ever qualified at a national event.

King jumped into Pro Modified from the mountain-motor Pro Stock division in an Avenger built by the Cannon & Pittman shop. He ran 6.20s last season, but is a candidate to leap into the 6-teens under the right conditions.

Driver: Paul Athey
Hometown: Leesburg, Va.
Entry: '49 Mercury (supercharged)
Athey made the switch from Federal-Mogul Funny Car to the Pro Mod ranks during the off-season. The 24-year old will pilot Johnny Rocca's Mohegan Sun Casinos-sponsored Ironhorse '49 Mercury this season, which will be his first behind the wheel of a doorslammer.

Rocca tunes the supercharged, fender-skirted entry, which has flirted with the 6.1 zone and is a past record holder with a 6.22 blast.

Driver: Steve Vick
Hometown: Mocksville, N.C.
Entry: '68 Camaro (nitrous-injected)
Vick is the pacesetter among the bottle-rocket fraternity. The 36-year old clutch specialist has taken the fast road since joining the Pro Mod ranks in 1997. In just three seasons - he sat out 1998 due to a crash - Vick has won three national events and his '68 Camaro stands as the quickest among the nitrous entries with a 6.249 e.t. in a test session.

One of Vick's greatest attributes is consistency. Last season, during a national event, he made three 6.2-second laps within .02-second of each other. He also has momentum on his side after winning two of the last three IHRA national events last season.

Driver: Kirk Kuhns
Hometown: Yorba Linda, Calif.
Entry: '63 Corvette (supercharged)
Fans who attended the season-opening AutoZone Winternationals got a glimpse of what the Gainesville Pro Mod exhibition will look like, as Kuhns entered his flamed Red Line Oil '63 Corvette in the AA/PM class in Comp. On his way to a second-round finish, Kuhns - who formerly ran in Comp and Federal-Mogul Funny Car - qualified No. 1 with a 6.30 on the 7.05 AA/PM index, the quickest run in Comp history. He also topped 222 mph in Pomona.

Kuhns, who resides in 10-time Winston Funny Car champion John Force's hometown of Yorba Linda, Calif., also participates in Goodguys nostalgia events on the West Coast.

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