NEWS, RUMORS, AND OBSERVATIONS FROM GAINESVILLE

AMS Pro Mod Challenge

Words and photos by Jeff Burk

SHANNON JENKINS IS THE MAN...AGAIN!

The winner of the first AMS Pro Mod Challenge was none other than Shannon Jenkins driving Mike Castallana's Western Beef backed '69 Camaro. Jenkins is known for his ability to get a great reaction time when he needs to. He needed it and got it in the finals at Gainesville against Mitch Stott. Jenkins used a stellar .416 reaction time combined with a 6.338/222.29 and buried Mitch Stott's 6.281/226.32 despite Stott's respectable .491 reaction time. (Photo courtesy AMS Pro Mod Challenge)

Stott (photo) would have had to run a 6.251 to get to the stripe in front of Jenkins.

DON'T GIVE UP ON NITROUS POWER JUST YET

Just a short while ago everyone was predicting that soon the nitrous Pro Mod would become extinct and would be replaced by supercharged Pro Mods. Some prominent tuners and racers have said all along that in hot weather and with the right track conditions, nitrous cars would be competitive with blown cars. The combination of blazing hot temperatures, a blazing hot (125 degrees on Saturday) track surface and high humidity proved them right at Gainesville. Four nitrous cars and four blower cars qualified at the Gators, and with the help of a holeshot by master drive Shannon Jenkins over Mitch Stott in his blown 'Vette, the nitrous cars picked up right where they left off in 2001...with an NHRA National Event win!

ASHLEY'S FORD TUNE-UP IS GOOD... VERY GOOD!

The Mike Ashley team had a great weekend. Ashley drove his ex-Al Billes '53 Studebaker to a second place qualifying spot in the elite eight car AMS Pro Mod Challenge. New tuner/crew chief Chuck Ford tuned Ashley's Mike Janis-built, supercharged, 526 ci Alan Johnson-style wedge motor (Agent 1320 inadvertently called this engine a hemi) to a 6.301/222.73 in qualifying for the elite eight-car field. No one should be surprised with the performance that Ford was able to deliver for Ashley. A Chuck Ford tune-up delivered the first ever sub-four-second eighth-mile time a couple of years back when a car he tuned ran a then other-worldly 3.98 in the eighth-mile.

HOOVER SAYS HE'LL HAVE TWO, TOO

Ed Hoover confirmed that the events that transpired at Gainesville convinced him and his team owner Paul Trussell to have two completely different cars with two powerplants and drive train combinations for the 2002 Pro Mod season. Despite the fact that he has a couple of Mike Janis engines and a new Tommy Mauney car on the way, Hoover told DRO that he would keep the Õ63 ÒVette with the Gene Fulton motor fresh and ready to run in the trailer and take it to every event.

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