BRADENTON, Fla. — Fans at Bradenton Motorsports Park were treated to a modern-day David vs. Goliath battle Saturday night, with the self-proclaimed “underdog” Steve King outrunning two-time NHRA Pro Mod world champion “Stevie Fast” Jackson.
King took home the $150,000 winner-take-all payday at the sixth Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, the third and final event of the DI Winter Series presented by J&A Service. King’s 3.629 seconds at 204.82 mph run defeated Jackson’s 3.653-second pass at 203.55.
“It’s tough when you come down here with 83 of the baddest cars on the planet,” said King. “We know we’re bringing a good car, but you gotta have a little luck along the way. We’ve done really well in the Winter Series, but just had no luck. But today was our day.”
Meanwhile, Ken Quartuccio secured the inaugural DI Winter Series points championship with his second-round victory over Australian John Ricca. The win, along with early exits from the rest of the top five in points – Kye Kelley, Mark Micke, Kurt Steding and Melanie Salemi – gave Quartuccio the $25,000 awarded to the series champion.
“For 30 years of racing, I’ve tried to treat everyone as best as I can,” Quartuccio said. “To do this with my wife, Denise, and my daughters Kelsey and Kaitlin…this (championship) is important, but the friendships and families I’ve made, it’s unstoppable. It’s because of Scott Tidwell, Dustin Nesloney, Steve Petty, Brandon Stroud, you can go down the list. People don’t realize how hard this series is to race, and how much heart and soul every team out here puts into it.”
The World Series of Pro Mod also included the third annual Mountain Motor Pro Stock Invitational and the second annual Pro 10.5 Challenge, which both paid $25,000 to win. Two-time PDRA Extreme Pro Stock champion Johnny Pluchino earned the Mountain Motor Pro Stock win, while reigning PDRA Pro Street champion Ethan Steding was victorious in Pro 10.5. Brazilian Roderjan Busato won the Chicago-Style Pro Mod Second-Chance Shootout, which paid $10,000 to win.
A pair of $50,000 paydays went to the winners in the second annual Intercontinental Top Sportsman Championship and the second annual Intercontinental Top Dragster Championship. Ronnie Proctor (Top Sportsman) and Hailey Hawkins (Top Dragster) collected those big checks. Tom Gunner, better known as “Jimmy Dale,” won the $30,000 Lil’ Gangstas class, while David Braskett took home the win in the $5,000 Super Pro Shootout.
PRO MOD
In an incredible final round Saturday night, King continued the time-honored WSOPM tradition of winning the event as an underdog. Two years after Spencer Hyde was victorious from the No. 32 spot, King ran through the 32-car field from the 30th position in the Gene Pilot-owned screw-blown “Savage” ’18 Corvette to take home the massive $150,000 payday.
While he may not have had the quickest car on the property all weekend, King used a consistent string of passes in the 3.60s to reach the final round, where he faced off against two-time NHRA Pro Mod world champion, and fan favorite, “Stevie Fast” Jackson. Jackson was first off the line with a .029 reaction time to King’s .052, but King’s 3.629 at 204.82 was enough to drive around Jackson’s 3.653 at 203.55 mph at the stripe – a miniscule .001 margin of victory in the closest final round in WSOPM history.
“I don’t even know where to start,” King admitted. “We didn’t have the fastest car all day long, but we had a consistent car. We came here knowing we had a good car. But when you’re racing against guys like Stevie Fast and Jason Harris, all these guys here are badass. We’ve been flying underneath the radar, but this weekend, we capitalized and came out here…I mean, it’s unbelievable to beat 80 of the baddest guys on the planet.”
In the first round of eliminations, King was paired up with Cameron Hensley in the ProCharger-powered Coast Packing ’69 Camaro. Both drivers were nearly identical on E.T., but King’s slightly better reaction time – .088 to .099 – and 3.649-second pass at 204.85 mph was enough to get by Hensley’s 3.650 at 200.98. King faced Jeff Rudolf and his “Ghetto Sleigh” ’69 Camaro in the second pair of round two. While Rudolf slowed to a 4.826 at only 116.05, King ran a 3.681 at 203.98 for the victory. The win was his slowest pass of eliminations, a testament to how consistent he was all day long.
“We’re always the underdog,” said King. “I’m sure at every chip draw, guys were going, ‘I want him,’ because we were the slowest of the round. But they can’t say that anymore. We just go A-to-B every run. My guys worked their asses off with engines, transmissions…every round we had stuff tore apart. They’re gonna be tired tonight, but they really put the work in.”
From there, King faced a gauntlet of multi-time world champions from a multitude of classes. In the quarterfinals, King took out six-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders with a 3.654 at 203.34 to Enders’ 3.836 at 184.47. He would then meet his longtime friendly rival, and reigning back-to-back PDRA Pro Boost world champion, Jason Harris, in the semifinals. Harris suffered parts breakage, while King stayed in the .60s with a 3.638 at 203.80, setting up a final-round matchup with Jackson.
“I don’t think there’s been a tougher (path through eliminations),” King said. “I didn’t have lane choice one time on race day. When you look over and see Erica Enders in the other lane, that right there is unbelievable. Then the next round you got Jason Harris, and then the next round you got Stevie Fast, who can draw that up? You can’t draw that type of script up. Today was just our day.”
Jackson defeated Pro Mod veteran Stan Shelton in the opening round, and Ty Tutterow in round two. Jackson then essentially benefitted from a bye run in the quarterfinals against No Prep Kings star Scott Taylor, who broke immediately as his car launched. Jackson, meanwhile, went 3.625 at 206.67. In the semifinals, Jackson won a close side-by-side race with 2017 WSOPM champion Mike Bowman.
After being doused with champagne and beer in the winner’s circle party after the race, King was quick to credit the entire crew that he was busy celebrating with.
“Jeff Miller’s been with me for 25 years,” said King. “The G-Force [Race Cars] guys, Jon and Evan Salemi, Eddie Whalen…all those guys helping us put engines in, pistons, transmissions – as soon as something’s broke, here they come. That means a lot not only to me, but to Gene Pilot. He preaches a team atmosphere, and that’s what we have. This is all for Gene. He didn’t make it this weekend. I don’t know what he’s doing in New Jersey tonight, but I guarantee it’s pretty loud.”
Despite having just claimed the biggest win of his career before the regular season even starts, King said he and his team have no plans of slowing down in 2025.
“We’re gonna go run PDRA this year,” King said. “Gene wants to win a championship, and we’ve got the right guys in place to do it, if I can drive the car halfway decent. That’s where we’re headed.”
