BRADENTON, Fla. — Mark Micke continued to prove that he has one of the quickest cars in eighth-mile Pro Modified racing Friday night when he went to the provisional No. 1 spot at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals presented by Motion Raceworks.
Competing in the first of three races in the inaugural Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service, Micke recorded a 3.591-second pass at 218.87 MPH to lead the 64-car qualifying order in M&M Transmission Pro Mod presented by FuelTech and PJS Racing. Joel Wensley sits on the 32-car bump spot with a 3.670.
Micke, who qualified No. 1 at the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod at Bradenton in March, rolled into the Snowbirds on a mission with his twin-turbocharged M&M Transmission ’69 Camaro. Determined to set low E.T. of every round, Micke got off to a strong start on Friday as he was the quickest driver in both qualifying sessions.
He held off six-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders and her 3.628 in the first session with his 3.625 at 217.21, then went quicker than Canadian Pro Mod veteran Kenny Lang’s 3.624 with a 3.591 at 218.87 to reclaim the provisional top spot in the second session.
“We were trying to run a little faster [in Q1] but the car shook a little early,” Micke said. “Luckily this car recovered and we got lucky to beat Erica by just a little bit. We came back, looked at everything, the guys went to work, made a stator change in the converter, and changed some stuff on the car. I honestly thought everybody else was gonna step up a bunch, so when Kenny went that number, I’m like, ‘All right, I’ve got a bunch of fast-ass cars behind me. We need to go .59-.60 to hold on to No. 1.’ I really felt that. Luckily the car made the rip and did what we wanted it to. I think everybody else is struggling a little bit with the bald spots up there a little bit. We just got a hold of it.”
Lang jumped to the No. 2 spot in the second qualifying session with his 3.624 at 209.17 in his screw-blown ’69 Camaro. Enders, making her return to Pro Mod, laid down a 3.628 at 205.22 in Scott Tidwell’s ProCharged Elite Motorsports ’69 Camaro to end the day in the third spot.
Lyle Barnett, who’s competing in three classes this weekend, took the provisional No. 1 spot in Pro 275 behind the wheel of Tommy Youmans’ ProCharged “Salvage Title” Mustang. He ran a 3.676 at 202.30, which is coincidentally the same E.T. he used to qualify No. 30 in Pro Mod. Nick Lacerenza qualified No. 2 with a 3.773 at 199.70 in his ProCharged ’90 Mustang. Ocala, Florida’s Chad Opaleski is third in his screw-blown ’66 Chevelle with a 3.803 at 198.79.
Newly crowned FuelTech Radial Outlaws Series Limited Drag Radial champion Greg Blevins Jr. was the only driver to dip into the 3.80s in LDR, putting him at the top of the qualifying sheet. He laid down a 3.899 at 193.71 in his ProCharged ’69 Camaro to lead Matt Bell and Jamie Stanton. Bell in his turbocharged ’93 Mustang ran a 3.927 at 194.60 to sit second. Stanton recorded a 3.935 at 189.07 in his ’02 Camaro for the No. 3 spot.
Outlaw 632 is stacked with Florida racers, including the top three drivers. Port Charlotte’s Kyle Salminen went to the top in his Nelson-powered ’03 Cavalier with a 4.152 at 171.10. Mike Fiorelli, based in Hollywood, posted a career-best 4.16 at 171.03 in his Clayton Murphy-tuned ’68 Camaro to sit No. 2. Clermont’s Chris Holdorf drove his Jamie Miller-tuned, Nelson-powered Freedom Grow ’10 GTO to a 4.165 at 169.00 to round out the top three.
A handful of Ultra Street competitors dipped into the 4.40s, but perennial top qualifier Shawn Pevlor was the quickest with his 4.405 at 161.87 in his Cincinnati-based ’93 Mustang. Another Ohio-based driver, Dave Fiscus, followed Pevlor with a 4.443 at 156.99 in his ’93 Mustang. Terry Wilson posted a 4.456 at 155.88 in his ’95 Mustang to qualify third.
