Dirt
Pro Mod racer still believes
in the category’s roots
By Lisa Collier
T
he term “Pro Mod” has come to
mean many things in recent years. So
many, in fact, that it’s easy to forget
what embodied Pro Modifieds in the
beginning. For diehards like Ric Fleck, however,
there is only one way to effectually “Pro Mod”. It’s
not just about the power adder utilized or h ow
fast one can get down the track, although many
Pro Mod teams have narrowed it down to exactly
that. No, for racers like Fleck, Pro Mod means
embracing the look as much as the performance.
His 1941 Willys, a body style made famous by
early Pro Mod pioneers like Scotty Cannon and
Tommy Mauney, is as fun to watch for its flashy
paint scheme as it is for it’s on track performance,
which, by the way, is stout in PDRA’s Pro Boost
this season. Fleck currently sits third in GALOT
Motorsports Pro Boost points with semi-final
appearances at the last two events.
“For me Pro Boost, hands down, is the best
class there is,” Fleck remarks. “If you look at
the finals last year in Virginia, the entire field is
within seven numbers of each other. From 3.79
to a 3.86 out of 16 cars, even with the difference
of the turbo cars and the blower cars; that’s really tight. That tells ya’ something. It’s really a
good tuners race. There’s enough rules in place
to keep everybody competitive, but not too many
rules so that you can’t
stand out.”
Fleck has always
had a love of cars and
racing. In high school
it was dirt track. After moving to South
Carolina from Pennsylvania with the Air
Force, Fleck began
toying around with
his street car.
“I put a ProCharger on my street car,
which was a Trans Am.
It was actually during
9/11 that I was putting
it on, so I’ll always remember exactly when
it was. The first time I took it to the drag strip
after that I was hooked.
“My first race I went to see Pro Mods run Mike
Ashley at the time had his Gotham City themed
cars with their wild paint schemes and airbrushing. I just thought that was the coolest thing. Seeing all the blower and nitrous cars, that was it
for me. I said, ‘That’s what I’m going to run one
of these days.’”
Fleck stayed true to his word and eventually
began running Pro Mod. It was actually an unfortunate turn of events that led him to his cur-
rent Willys. At the time, Fleck was running his
‘07 Corvette in outlaw events. One fateful trip to
South Carolina’s Greer Dragway in 2014 would
end Fleck’s tenure with his Corvette and open the
door for him to revitalize the body style that first
piqued his Pro Mod interest. “After I wrecked the
Corvette I immediately began looking for another
car. Kevin Mayer owned this Willys and was getting out of racing. I always liked the Willys body
style to begin with. To me, it epitomizes Pro Mod
look – wild body styles, wild paint jobs. It was
a Tommy Mauney car so I knew it was a good
chassis and I jumped on
the opportunity.”
Fleck made the switch
from his ProCharger
setup to a Chuck Ford
blower to complement
the Under Pressure Performance engine and
began competing with
PDRA Pro Boost. Now,
he and his Flex Racing
Team, comprised of crew
chief Devin Barrick, Doug
Price, Chris Krug, Charlie Dooley, Kevin Siverd,
and Ronnie Honeycutt,
are standard fixtures at
the events and one of the
most fearsome teams in
the class.
“We really appreciate what Mr. Earl Wells
[owner, GALOT Motorsports] has done for Pro
Boost,” Fleck emphasizes.
“What he’s done in sponsoring the class has been
great, as well as the new
facility he’s given us to
race at. He’s put together
a top-notch team. If you
want to be the best you
have to beat the best and
racing against guys like
Todd Tutterow, Kevin
Rivenbark and John
Strickland, it doesn’t
get any better than that.
That’s why we’re here. We want to race guys
who are on top of their game, because it shows
if you can beat those guys, you’re on the top of
your game.”
Although GALOT Motorsports teammates
Kevin Rivenbark and John Strickland have dominated this season and currently sit number one
and two in points, respectively, there still remains
time for Fleck to “beat the best”. In an effort to
do just that, Fleck has implemented some midseason changes to his Laserform Machine-backed
Willys. He recently tested a new transmission that
he’ll debut at the PDRA North South Shootout
at Maryland International Raceway.
“The PDRA is the best organization anyone
can possibly race in, by far,” Fleck adds. “The way
they treat the racers, the fans, and everyone, in
general, is top notch. I can’t say enough about
the Scruggs and Franklin families for doing what
they do. I would encourage anybody running a
Pro Mod that can fit into these classes to come
out and run the PDRA at least one or two times.
Then they’ll understand why we travel the way
we do. You’re going to run on great tracks, with
great people and great safety equipment and have
a great time doing DI
it.” DI DI
DI DI DI DI
48 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
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Issue 111
PHOTOS: MIKE CARPENTER, DRAG ILLUSTRATED ARCHIVES
Ric Fleck’s Pro Mod Passion