PRO MOD

In Pro Modified, Mike Bell of Asheville, NC, drove Roy Hill's 1966 Ford Mustang through the timers in 6.046 seconds to better the 6.050 second IHRA record set two months ago by Steve Bareman. Bareman was the No. 2 qualifier at Rockingham.

Hill's earlier announced plans to make a final competitive ride at the World Finals were nixed by his doctor. However, Bell's performance managed to mollify the disappointment. Unfortunately, Bell wasn't able to follow Millican's lead, losing in the semifinals to eventual winner Mike Janis.

The win over Bell set up an all Eaton final as Janis in his Eaton and Aeroquip (an Eaton Brand) sponsored '05 Dodge Stratus squared off with Carl Spiering and in his Eaton Cutler Hammer '63 Corvette. Janis was first off the line with a 0.096 reaction time to Spiering's .129 and Janis slowly pulled away for the win, posting a 6.135 elapsed time at 234.61 mph to Spiering's 6.173 at 231.87.

"You had to figure this was our weekend. Who else should win but a team going for their 13th national event win with a spider on their car on Halloween weekend," said Joe Janis, the team's cylinder head specialist. The Janis car is known as "Widowmaker."

The Janis team will have a new car for 2006, although the team hasn't decided exactly what it will be. "We have several R&D projects in place right now but, we need to compile some more data before we are set with our '06 plans," Mike said. "One thing that I can say for certain is that we will have a new car. The new car fits more into our sponsors marketing plans."

The 2006 Torco Race Fuels Pro Modified Shootout will be contested during the Torco Race Fuels Northern Nationals Aug. 11-13 in Martin, Michigan. The unofficial standings for the '05 season are: 1. Carl Spiering; 2. Mike Castellana; 3. Jim Halsey; 4. Mike Janis; 5. Scott Cannon, Jr.; 6. Shannon Jenkins; 7. Quain Stott; 8. Steve Bareman; 9. John Russo; and 10. Harold Martin.

PRO STOCK

In Pro Stock, 2005 series champion Steve Spiess dropped the record to 6.364 during qualifying only to have former champion Robert Patrick steal it away during eliminations with an incredible 6.360 second effort in his Purvis Ford-sponsored Mustang. Four other drivers also ran in the 6.3's for the first time in their careers: Rick Jones (6.378/217.04), John Nobile (6.388/218.55), Jerry Haas (6.389/217.60), and Dan Seamon (6.397/217.00).