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Second half of the NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge begins at St. Louis

NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge
Eighth annual NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals
Gateway International Raceway -- Madison, Ill.

by Mickey Schultz
Photo by Ron Lewis
6/23/04

he second half of the ten-race NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge, an NHRA exhibition class, begins this weekend at the eighth annual NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals.

New drivers, as well as many familiar names, have placed their names on the mid-season scorecard.

Perhaps the biggest surprise has been that of the Barrie, Ontario driver, Al Billes.

Billes, the veteran driver of the Stratford Motor Products '53 Corvette, is only one of two drivers in the Pro Mod class to have qualified for the eight-car field at all five events. The other driver is Von Smith, from Oak Ridge, Tenn., who drives the Conroe, Texas-based Tommy Lipar Racing '04 Mustang.

But the biggest surprise of all is that Billes has won three of the five events contested. Billes's first career win at an NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge event came at Gainesville in March of this year. Since then he has won at Bristol and the just completed event in Englishtown, N.J.

The other two winners thus far are veteran Pro Mod driver Mike Ashley, the New York mortgage-banker who won Houston, and Mike Castellana, from Westbury, N.Y., who took top honors at the spring Chicago race.

Both Billes and Ashley, in the Unique Performance/InfiNet Insurance Shelby G.T. 500E Mustang, an exact replica of the same Shelby G.T. 500E nicknamed “Eleanor” and featured in the blockbuster movie “Gone in 60 Seconds,” drive supercharged powered cars, while Castellana, behind the wheel of the Western Beef/Speedtech-backed '68 Camaro, is the sole winner in a nitrous car.

The youngest driver on the circuit, 20-year-old Zach Barklage from Eldon, Mo., is another pleasant surprise this season. Running on a limited budget, he has qualified for four of the five events contested thus far on the NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge, finishing runner-up at Houston and advancing to the semifinal round at Chicago and Englishtown.

The Barklage Racing team has not only improved their overall performance, they've improved their reliability. Plagued by engine problems last season, the team hired Darren Mayer to consult on engine building and tuning. He has brought much needed consistency to Barklage's program.

For the 2004 IHRA and NHRA seasons, the Barklage team gained product sponsorship from Goodyear Tire, Blower Drive Service, NGK Spark Plugs, Goodson Tools, Royal Purple lubricants, and Radical Graphics. RP Lumber of Edwardsville, Illinois signed on as a major associate sponsor. Barklage Drywall, owned by Zach's father, Mark, remains the major source of sponsorship, however.

"We have a very small budget compared to some of the teams we run against," Barklage said. "My dad pays most of the bills himself. We simply couldn't do this without the help we get from our associate and product sponsors. I really appreciate the faith they have shown in me and my team's ability and dedication. I'm going to try like hell to win a race for those folks and my teammates this year."

The No. 1 qualifying spot in the first five races all belong to supercharged cars. Fred Hahn, from West Seneca, N.Y., in the Jim Oddy-owned '01 Corvette, leads the pack with two No. 1's (Bristol and Chicago). Mike Janis, from Lancaster, N.Y., in a '63 Corvette, took the top spot at Gainesville and was runner-up at that event. Ashley grabbed the honor at Houston and also won the race while the hottest driver in the last half of last season, Von Smith, returned to form at last weekend's NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge event in Englishtown, N.J.

It should be noted that in an effort to level the playing field between supercharged and nitrous cars, NHRA lowered the blower overdrive for supercharged cars from 25 percent to 20 percent, effective at Englishtown. Only time will tell if this change has the desired effect.

The percent of overdrive is how much faster you can spin the supercharger than the crankshaft. So, 25 percent over means you're spinning the supercharger 25 percent faster than the crank. Anytime you take percentage away you reduce the speed of the supercharger, thus in essence reducing the boost. Boost equates to horsepower so you're reducing horsepower and performance.

With half the season behind them, the Pro Mod drivers must now step up their pursuit of the DRO/NMM Cup, which goes to the driver that has accumulated the most points under a system, now in its second season, established by Drag Racing Online and Nowling Motorsports Management.

Entering the NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge at this weekend's NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals the top ten in points are: 1.) Al Billes (1418 points), 2.) Mike Ashley (1128), 3.) Zach Barklage (815), 4.) Von Smith (622), 5.) Ed Hoover (617), 6.) Fred Hahn (616), 7.) Mitch Stott (615), 8.) Mike Castellana (507), 9.) Danny Rowe (303) and 10.) Mike Janis (208).
The NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals is unique in that both qualifying and eliminations are run in late afternoon and evening to beat the generally oppressive heat and humidity that St. Louis is noted for in June.

This weekend's qualifying schedule for all Pro Mod cars calls for two sessions on both Friday and Saturday at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Eliminations for all classes get underway Sunday at 4:30 p.m. All times are subject to change and reflect Central Daylight Time (CDT).

About AMS Staff Leasing:
Charles "Dave" Wood, Jr. founded AMS Staff Leasing in 1991 in Dallas, Texas. Growing to become the largest privately owned professional employee organization in the world, AMS is in the business of reducing insurance costs and the costs of the non-revenue producing tasks all businesses face on a daily bases. With a primary emphasis on the construction trades and other higher risk businesses, AMS provides an integrated and cost effective group of services such as workman's compensation insurance, general liability, complete payroll and tax reporting functions as well as many other safety and benefit programs. Well-managed services such as these are required in today's fast moving and ever changing business world. No company manages these areas of business better than AMS Staff Leasing.

Media Contact: Pro Mod Marketing Group

Jeff Burk—Autographix Motorsports Communication
E-Mail: AUTOGRAFX3@aol.com; Phone: 636-272-6301
or
Mickey Schultz—Dakota Marketing Group
E-Mail: mschultz@bellsouth.net; Phone: 770-476-8477