In one of the most impressive driving performances of the race, 19-year-old Zach Barklage showed the Pro Modifieds the way home in his wildly painted 2002 Pontiac Grand Am. He had the most consistent car all weekend. After qualifying laps of 6.52/216.17; 6.59/222.65; and 6.52/220.06, Barklage mowed down Vince Portera's Corvette, and followed with a semi-final 6.490/219.94 to 6.38/219.76 holeshot (duh!) win over Scott Ray in the CARQUEST '63 Corvette.

This set the stage for Barklage and one of the sport's real hard triers, Loren Braseth (photo below) of Minneapolis. For those of us who have been around a while, Braseth's weekend was seen as a payback for a racing career that has pretty much produced nothing in the way of wins. In the early 1980s, when he lived in Brooklyn Center, MN, Braseth's Monza was a regular at the first few NHRA NorthStar Nationals, and if there were 21 Pro Stocks at Brainerd, he would be invariably the 21st car.

At Cordova, he skronked Bill Graziano's Nova with a 6.73/205.47 and then used a 6.86/202.39 to cuff Jeff Elam in the "Bad Boyz" '67 Camaro. He tried hard in the final against Barklage with a .039 to .140 lead at the start, however, despite his best of the weekend (and maybe career) 6.67/200.02 in his '94 Lumina, Barklage powered by for a 6.54/217.91 win.

During the rounds of action, I got to power around the facility launched by $1.50 Icehouses and sub sandwiches that were anything but Italian. (What is it with my farming brethren in the Midwest? Italian sandwiches don't have nacho sauce on them. Italian sandwiches use oil and vinegar and a variety of salamis and cheeses.

This would have been cutting edge at the 1955 World Series.
We still think Eric Larson's Chevy is super cool. A straight front
axle, moon tank and a sign on the back window that said
"A-arms suck." (photo by Magic Photos)