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PATTERSON, VICK - BOTH WIN IN PRO MOD
Thomas Patterson and Rickie Smith were in the lanes and
ready to settle the Pro Mod final at Bristol Dragway Apr. 28, when the
rains came and washed away their plans. Instead, they had to wait a
week to stage their race during the second round of qualifying for the
AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA
Southern Nationals presented by Pontiac at Atlanta Dragway.
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| Thomas Patterson scored one for the
supercharged side in his blown 1963 Vette by beating Rickie Smith's
nitrous-assisted Viper in Atlanta for the rain-delayed Bristol Pro
Mod title. (photo by Jeff Burk) |
Paterson seized a .021 advantage off the green light,
then went 6.217 at 226.77 mph to defeat Smith's career-best 6.267 at
223.88.
"Everybody was warning me about his (Smith's) starting
line tricks, but they don't bother me or my car," Patterson stated.
"We've run so many outlaw races that we've already seen it all and our
car is set up so it can sit there all day. He tried to make me wait,
then hurry me in, but I just ran my own race."
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| Steve Vick, from Mocksville, NC, survived
from the final qualifying spot to win the Pro Mod final in his nitrous-boosted
1968 Camaro. (photo by Ian Tocher) |
On Sunday, Patterson again made it to the final round,
where he again faced a heavy hitter from the nitrous ranks. That time,
however, Steve Vick put up a 6.292 on the scoreboard to Patterson's
6.353.
"We were praying to the air gods all day," the victorious
Vick said, referring to the warmer, more humid air that favors the nitrous
entries.
SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE
Don "Mr. Magoo" Sosenka provided at least temporary proof
that there's still a place for the independent racer in big-league drag
racing by qualifying 15th in the 16-car Top Fuel field, then going all
the way to the semis in Atlanta.
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| With only an advertisement painted on
his car to raise awareness of dystonia -- a neurological movement
disorder that his wife Lana is afflicted with -- Don Sosenka says
he pays his own way to go Top Fuel racing "just for the fun of it."
(photo by Ian Tocher) |
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