CMTS Final at Gateway Words by Jeff Burk Photos by Jeff Burk and courtesy Gateway Int'l Raceway 11/19/04

The 2004 champion for the CMTS Outlaw Pro Mod series wasn't decided until the fourth and final race of the series which was run at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, just across the Mississippi from St. Louis.

Two racers had a legitimate chance at the title, Donnie Little from nearby Columbia, Illinois and Edmund Hall who towed from Montgomery, Alabama all year to race in the four-event series. These two trying to win the championship at the last race of the series resembled the final rounds of a 12-round heavyweight Championship fight where both men had given it all they had for 11 rounds and then stood toe-to-toe in the last round fighting on heart alone.

Part of the problem for all of the racers was that this was the last race of their season and they, their teams and their race cars were a little tired and showing the wear and tear of a long season. Plus, both Little and Hall had raced the previous week at another Outlaw Pro Mod race held at the St. Louis track. In the end the outcome would depend on which racer rose to the occasion.

Despite some early mechanical problems, Little was able to put his nitrous oxide-injected '68 Camaro in the number one spot with a respectable 4.208/175.41 lap. He was followed by Dan Seitz's twin-turboed, 400-inch Ford at a 4.298/170.90. Edmund "Mr. Five Speed" Hall, who'd won the United Black Drag Racers Association's Quick 16 event on the track the previous weekend, didn't show on the qualifying list until the seventh spot, running a 4.336 which was a full tenth off his qualifying time (4.225) the previous weekend with his nitrous oxide-injected Pontiac. Anchoring the 16-car field was Jamie Hutchins' unique Pro Charger supercharged 1994 Chevy Corvette with a mechanically troubled 8.546.

The first round of eliminations indicated how worn out some of the cars and teams were as both Little and Hall singled into the quarter-finals. Little stepped up to the plate and ripped off a lap of 4.190/180.91, good for Top Speed and Low ET of the meet. On the other side of the ladder Hall, also on a bye-run, idled down the track with a pass of 9.152. After that round the teams had a couple of hours to prepare for the next lap as the track ran bracket cars incessantly, totally ignoring the drama going on in the Pro Mod pits.