PRO MOD

The Milan Pro Mod final featured a classic nitrous vs. blower showdown with Steve Vick's '68 Camaro going up against Mike Janis and his supercharged '63 Corvette.

Event winner Mike Janis (shown) and Ed Hoover ran identical 6.327-seconds
passes in qualifying, but Janis got the number-one slot because he went
226.96 mph to Hoover's 223.36 mph. (Photo courtesy of IHRA)

Vick got the jump off the start, but Janis reeled him by half-track and went on to post a winning 6.559 at 224.36. "This was for sure a tuner's race," Janis said afterward. "We got lucky on Saturday and went in with a soft tune-up and just kind of stuck with that. We went

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back to our old days of running match races. The rule change probably helped us out this weekend by backing the car down some."

STOTT FINED

That rule change, which reduced the blower overdrive permitted to 24.1 percent, also figured in getting Mitch Stott a hefty fine from IHRA. Apparently, some Stott crewmembers had been wearing "Insert new rule change here" signs on the seats of their pants, and then on Saturday, after the team's second consecutive tire-shaking pass, one of them expressed his opinion of the situation with an extended middle finger toward officials in the control tower. Stott's bank account was lightened by $5,000 for the offenses and he was placed on probation for the rest of the year, which didn't quite sit right with the points leader. "I was a quarter mile away going 200 mph when this happened," he complained.

SPIN CYCLE FOR ASHLEY

(Photo by Richard F. Long, courtesy of Harley Communications)

Number-eight qualifier Mike Ashley probably had the wildest ride of the weekend in Pro Mod when he purposely spun out his 1941 Willys in the shutdown area when his chutes failed to open after his final qualifying pass. "That was a combination of God protecting me and a little bit of driving talent," the New York driver said. "I didn't really want to run off the end of the track, so I started working the brakes and when it got down to it. I was able to turn the car around. It was an exciting ride, but I think I'll pass on the opportunity to do it again. We were very lucky."