Words by Duke Ritenhouse
Photos by Chris Haverly and Geoff Stunkard
5/3/06
Jay Payne capped a dominating weekend with his fourth 6.0-second run of the competition, beating Joey Martin in the final round of the NHRA O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals on Sunday for his second win in three AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge presented by RPM Depot events this season.
Payne posted a 6.089 in the final to easily get by Martin's troubled 12-second run. Combined with his win at the season-opening ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville, Payne's win in Bristol on Sunday was more than enough to push him back to the top spot of the Pro Mod Challenge points standings. He leads second-place Danny Rowe, a semifinalist in Bristol, by 304 points, or roughly three round-wins.
Behind the wheel of his Brad Anderson-tuned '05 Stratus, Payne posted best runs of 6.087 in qualifying (to take the No.1 spot) and 6.063, 6.094, and 6.089 in eliminations. He also completed a rare sweep of all the major awards available at any Pro Mod Challenge race - event win, No. 1 qualifier, low e.t., and top speed - a feat last accomplished by Von Smith at the 2003 season-ender in Las Vegas. A complete sweep by a single driver has occurred only three times in the 52 Pro Mod Challenge events contested to date.
Payne's closest race of eliminations turned out to be his 6.06 to
6.22 first-round win over Burton Auxier on Saturday. On Sunday, he easily got past Rick Stivers' 7-second run in the quarterfinals, won at the starting line in the semi's on a Chip King red-light, then was never challenged by Martin, who was racing in his second career AMS/ RPM series final round.
Sunday's event win was the fourth of Payne's Pro Mod Challenge career (fourth on the series' all-time wins list) in six finals. His four round-wins at the Thunder Valley Nationals gives him 32 for his career, third-best in Pro Mod Challenge history behind two-time series champion Mike Ashley and Thomas Patterson.
Next up for the Pro Mod Challenge is a long break followed by back-to- back events. The series will resume its 10-event tour in June with events on consecutive weekends in Englishtown and St. Louis.
