BRADENTON, Fla. — Less than a year after racing to a runner-up finish at the $150,000 2025 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, Stevie “Fast” Jackson took his screw-blown Motion Raceworks “Shadow 3.0” ’68 Camaro to the $75,000 winner’s circle Sunday night at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission.
Jackson won with a 3.566-second pass at 210.80 mph after opponent Derek Menholt went red by .006 seconds on a 3.57-second pass at 211.36. By winning the second of three races in the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service, Jackson moved up to second in the Winter Series points standings.
U.S. Street Nationals Winter Series victories also went to Jerry Morgano in Pro 10.5, Cole Pesz in True 10.5, and Joseph Mallais in the Strange Engineering Lil Gangstas Championship Series presented by Melling Performance. In the FuelTech Radial Outlaws Racing Series classes, Grantley Schloss (Pro 275), Tommy Youmans (Limited Drag Radial), Billy Lackey (X275), and Joel Greathouse (Ultra Street) were victorious. Ronald Procopio (4.60 Bikes), Brian Shook (6.50 Index), Jason Renninger (7.50 Index) won in the index classes, and Cailyn Fargo won in Jr. Dragster.
After years of trying and many close calls during the history of the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod and now the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service, fan-favorite Stevie “Fast” Jackson finally broke through on Sunday evening, taking home $75,000 and the title of Pro Mod Champion at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission. Piloting his Killin Time Racing “Shadow 3.0” ’68 Camaro, Jackson defeated Derek Menholt in his Harts Charger-equipped 2019 Corvette in the final round, cutting a .011 reaction time en route to a 3.566-second pass at 210.80 mph. Menholt gave up the race at the starting line, going -.006 red before running a 3.570 at 211.36.
The relief was evident on Jackson’s face as he celebrated in the winner’s circle, doused in champagne while standing atop his car with showers of pyro as a backdrop. But it was the individuals he celebrated with that Jackson was quick to give credit to for his performance.
“Ever since Wes had a dream of doing the World Series of Pro Mod in Denver in 2017, and we hauled that thing out there, I saw what he was building and I really wanted to win one of these races,” Jackson said. “It’s a surreal feeling to have the team I have around me. Everybody’s ‘Stevie, Stevie, Stevie.’ This doesn’t mean anything about Stevie. Stevie can only do what he does because I’ve got people like Jeff Pierce tuning the car, people like Bob Reinhardt building the engines, people like Alicia Davis who runs the company when I’m gone. All the crew guys that brought this together. KTR is a big operation with a lot of moving parts. I don’t get to race a lot, but when I do get to bring my car out and have fun with it, it’s awesome to know that they have done everything they can to give me the piece to go do it.”
Jackson qualified sixth in the quickest field in Pro Mod history, with all 32 cars running in the 3.50s. Jackson ran a 3.564 at 211.53 mph, the quickest screw-blown car in the field. With the unique chip draw format, Jackson didn’t benefit from a high qualifying position. He drew 2024 No Prep Kings champion Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington in the first round. Ellington suffered tire shake in “Blue,” his Keith Haney Racing twin-turbo ’69 Camaro, and had to let off early. Jackson cruised to a 3.562 at 211.69 mph.
In round two, Jackson used a 3.583 at 210.11 to defeat Pro Mod newcomer and second-generation racer Brylon Holder in his screw-blown Camaro. Holder threw away a quicker 3.581 pass by going -.010 red. In a difficult quarterfinal round, Jackson managed to get by 2023 WSOPM champion Spencer Hyde in a pedalfest. Jackson cut a .009 light and muscled his way down the track to a 3.771; Hyde, meanwhile, suffered severe tire shake, causing his chutes to deploy early. The victory earned Jackson a date with the quickest car of the entire weekend in the semifinals – the “Lard Machine” ’69 Camaro driven by 2020 NMCA Xtreme Pro Mod champion Eric Gustafson. Jackson once again got the reaction time advantage, .026 to .080, and used it to earn a holeshot win, with his 3.602 staying ahead of Gustafson’s quicker 3.591.
Despite this being Jackson’s first event win in the Winter Series, he and his team are no strangers to success. This is the third consecutive race in the Winter Series featuring a car from the KTR camp. Jackson fell to Steve King in the 2025 WSOPM finals, while teammate Sidnei Frigo made it to the finals last month at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals presented by Motion Raceworks against Jason Harris.
“It really shows that we have the right people in the right places,” said Jackson. “KTR has a culture of letting dynamic, really talented people thrive in their environment. These races are hard to win and they’re hard to go rounds. They’re hard to qualify. We’ve never not qualified for one. If you got a KTR-powered car in a final for three races in a row, it shows that everything we’re doing off the track is correct. You don’t win these things at the racetrack. You win them at the shop. Nobody in this industry works harder at the shop than we do.
“Everybody says they have a good culture, but there’s not a company in motorsports that has a culture like us,” Jackson continued. “We’re a family. We take care of each other, we love each other, we pick each other up when we’re down. It took me a long time in business to realize that I used to think Stevie Fast can tune it, drive it, and do it all – and I can, but not at the level of people that are working together with a common goal of winning.”
Menholt qualified just two spots below Jackson in the No. 8 spot with a 3.568 at 211.66 mph. He knocked out Melanie Salemi in the first round, setting up a titanic matchup in round 2 against Snowbirds winner Jason Harris in his “Party Time” ’69 Camaro. Harris was the lone driver eligible for the Elite Motorsports Million, an unprecedented million-dollar prize to any driver that could win all three Winter Series races.
Harris had Menholt by two-hundredths on the tree, but suffered mechanical failure partway through the run, ending his bid for a seven-figure payday. Menholt went on to defeat John Doc and Peter Norton en route to the finals.
With the win, Jackson moved into second place in the DIWS points championship, behind only Harris. With points-and-a-half available at the WSOPM, everything is still on the table for the two-time NHRA Pro Mod champion.
For the first time since 2019, longtime Outlaw 10.5 proponent Jerry Morgano parked his twin-turbocharged “Copperhead” ’02 Mustang Cobra in the winner’s circle. He qualified No. 2 in the Pro 10.5 field, and due to the random chip draw format, ended up facing No. 1 qualifier Carson Baker in the first round. Morgano beat Baker on a holeshot and drew the bye run in the next round, sending him to the semis to face Tim Partin. He got another holeshot win over Partin to meet Nick Agostino and his turbocharged “Cannoli Express” ’69 Camaro in the final round. The pair of small-block-powered machines spooled up and Morgano was out of the gate first yet again. This time, he paired the holeshot with a 3.905 at 195.65 to beat Agostino’s 3.934 at 200.00 for the $10,000 win.
Following a successful campaign at the Snowbirds, True 10.5 was added to the U.S. Street Nationals lineup, but with a twist – traditionally a no-time class, True 10.5 would turn the clocks on for the second Winter Series race. Bill Lutz, who won the Snowbirds in Pro 10.5, switched to True 10.5 and recorded the quickest pass on 28×10.5s in competition, but a centerline DQ in the third round stopped what looked like another trip to the winner’s circle. Instead, young gun Cole Pesz pulled off one of the biggest comeback stories with his $40,000 win.
Pesz, the son of Pro Modified veteran Brandon Pesz, suffered a major crash in testing that threatened to end his weekend. His team went to work, though, and got the screw-blown and nitrous-assisted Gobert Racing ’18 Corvette repaired and ready for eliminations. Pesz won on a slight holeshot over Scott Taylor in the opening round, got a decisive second-round win over Ryan Hendrickson, and trailered 2024 Snowbirds Pro Mod winner Kye Kelley in the third round. Pesz threw down a 3.969 at 204.70 to stop multi-time No Prep Kings champion Ryan Martin in the semifinals. Final-round opponent Brandon Sandlian went red by .087 seconds, throwing away his 4.132 at 191.62, while Pesz charged to a 3.980 at 204.76.
One of the rising star classes in drag racing, Lil Gangstas, continued its Winter Series run at the U.S. Street Nationals with another diverse, stacked field that included anyone from Snowbirds winner Tommy Hoskinson to NHRA sportsman standout Randi Lyn Butner. A pair of northern natives met up in the $20,000 final round following a long day in the Florida sunshine, with Joseph Mallais in his ’88 Mustang getting the win over Chris Scarlata in his ’70 Nova.
Australia’s Grantley Schloss continued his winning ways in Pro 275, winning the U.S. Street Nationals for the second straight year in his ProCharged ’67 Nova. The reigning Radial Outlaws Pro 275 champion qualified third and took out Paul Major, Ernie Damper, and Nick Lacerenza before pairing up with Texan Rick Bailey in the final round. Schloss reacted quicker and led the whole way, winning with a 3.748 at 200.68 to Bailey’s 3.780 at 198.64.
Car owner and driver Tommy Youmans rolled into Bradenton with multiple cars in his Tommy Youmans Racing camp, but it was Youmans himself and his turbocharged, Pontiac-powered ’70 GTO that parked in the winner’s circle Sunday night. After qualifying No. 8 in Limited Drag Radial, Youmans started out in the 3.90s and ended up in the mid-3.80s by the final round. He defeated Scott Husted, Brandon Carter, Jamie Stanton, and Snowbirds winner Brian Weddle to meet Justin Martin in the final round. There, Youmans left first and never looked back, running a 3.860 at 196.30. Martin coasted to an 11.817 at 41.03.
A long few weeks of preparation for the Radial Outlaws season opener paid off for Maryland-based X275 racer Billy Lackey, who knocked out class veteran Ron Rhodes in the final round. After qualifying No. 4 in his turbocharged ’02 Mustang, Lackey set low E.T. of all four rounds of eliminations with his round wins over Derek Cooper, Trevor Fuqua, and No. 1 qualifier and reigning series champion DJ McCain. Lackey saved the best for last, unleashing a 4.125 at 176.93 to get past Rhodes in the final. Rhodes, whose son, Ronny, also reached the final round in Ultra Street, slowed to a 5.578 at 101.64.
At the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton in early December, Joel Greathouse stepped behind the wheel of Davey Hull’s turbocharged ’93 Mustang while Hull healed from spinal tumor surgery. Greathouse ended up earning the Ultra Street win there, and the arrangement continued this weekend at the U.S. Street Nationals. Once again, Greathouse wheeled the Hull family’s machine to the winner’s circle. He defeated Russell Justus, Dave Fiscus, and Jessie Coulter en route to the final round, where he used a holeshot advantage and a 4.484 at 154.37 to finish ahead of Ronny Rhodes and his quicker 4.458 at 157.59.
