If there was a“ Top Performer” award for the driver who averaged the best performance over the course of the three days of testing, three shakedown sessions and eliminations, it would be hard to argue against presenting the award to Michael Biehle. He and his stunning Biehle Motorsports‘ 67 Mustang laid down lap after lap in the range of low-5.90s to high-5.80s, culminating with a semifinal finish.

Tuned by Pro Line Racing Engines’ Jamie Miller, Biehle kicked off eliminations with a 5.927 at 247.61 to defeat Jeffrey Barker, then made a major statement on his competition single in the second round when he lit up the scoreboard with a 5.877 at 249.12. Biehle repeated the performance, nearly to the thousandth, with his 5.879 at 246.17 over Rick Hord in the quarterfinals.

“ Jamie Miller and my crew had this thing lined out,” Biehle asserted

.“ They did a phenomenal job all week. We were able to go an. 87 in testing, so we had confidence and we knew what it could take. Starting out in the afternoon for the first round of eliminations, the track and the air were hot. We had to slow it down and run what we had to run to get by first round, which is why we came out with that 5.92. As the night went on and the air got better and the track cooled down, we were able to apply more power to it. The track was killer and we were able to go fast. That’ s all Jamie Miller. He’ s the man behind the numbers.”

The North Vernon, Indiana-based driver went even quicker- a 5.868 at 249.07- in the semifinals next to Carl Stevens Jr.’ s 5.863 at 245.90, though Biehle’ s-. 018 red light promised the win to Stevens at the starting line.

“ Jamie and the guys gave me a great car all weekend. I’ m the one that messed it up in the semis, but when you’ re trying hard you’ re eventually going to make that mistake,”

Biehle pointed out.“ I had killer lights( ranging from. 009 to. 037 in prior eliminations) all weekend, I just got a little too greedy.”

Such a finish at the World Series of Pro Mod has Biehle itching to return to Thunder Mountain to try for another late-round finish, but more than anything, he’ s just excited for the good times that come with the one-off Pro Mod race.

“ I wish it was next year already,”

Biehle said.“ I’ m ready to go back. It’ s a killer race- fun, awesome, great atmosphere. The competition is tough, too. We compete against a lot of those guys every weekend in the NHRA Pro Mod Series, but being up there on the mountain and not knowing what everybody is running going into eliminations brings a fun element to it. It’ s definitely a blast.”- NATE VAN WAGNEN DI

PHOTOS: JOE MCHUGH

Former NHRA Comp Eliminator standout Rick Hord threw his hat into the ring for the second annual World Series of Pro Mod as a firstyear competitor. Extensive preparation for the one-of-a-kind event had the Belle Isle, Florida, resident feeling confident that even if his“ Maximum Effort IV”‘ 16 Corvette didn’ t end up in the winner’ s

circle Saturday night, at least it wouldn’ t be for a lack of effort.

“ We spent quite a few weeks in the‘ think tank mode’, trying to figure out the mountain, the altitude, the air conditions,” Hord said.“ We brought some extra pieces that we’ re not used to running. We got here early in the week, did a lot of testing, and it took all three days to get the car where we wanted it to be. It’ s just

about making the effort.”

Hord’ s preparation paid off, as he wheeled his Xtreme Racing Engines-powered Corvette to a 5.92 at 232.23 to deny Chad Green the first nitrous-equipped round win in the opening round.

“ This format is a little different,” Hord said, referring to the scoreboards being kept off for testing and shakedown runs, then turned on for

eliminations.“ You have no idea what your competitor is going to run. You only know what you’ ve run in testing. That certainly makes for a lot of pit talk. I’ ve run against Chad Green on a handful of occasions this season- he’ s a great competitor- but we had no idea what he could do there.”

Hord and tuner Carl Stevens Jr. took the consistency approach for their second-round bout with the supercharged Camaro of Steve Matusek, who left the starting line just seven thousandths of a second too soon. Hord was ready for a race, though, with a 5.933 at 218.65.

A 6.018 at 198.20 wasn’ t enough to beat the low-of-the-round 5.879 pass from Michael Biehle in the quarterfinals, but Hord still found his way to the winner’ s circle, as he was quick to congratulate Stevens on his monumental victory.

“ We’ ve worked with Carl Sr. and Carl Jr. all year,” Hord pointed out.“ They’ re great people and they help us a lot. We work together in a collaborative effort. I think they’ ve learned a little from us and we’ ve certainly learned a lot from them.”

- NATE VAN WAGNEN DI