In an absolutely thrilling side-by-side race , Mike Bowman made his best-ever pass at Bandimere Speedway and thought he knocked off eventual champ Carl Stevens Jr . Bowman went 5.912 at 249.03 mph , but it wasn ’ t quite enough against the red-hot Stevens , who went 5.880 at 246.21 to nip the defending winner by a mere . 007 in the side-by-side duel of the weekend at the World Series of Pro Mod .

“ I seriously thought I beat him ,” Bowman said . “ It was so close . What a great race . I was pulling on him and I thought I would catch him . It was an awesome race and I feel good about the weekend .”

The race had everyone buzzing on Thunder Mountain , assuredly standing as one of the highlights from a magical weekend . It denied Bowman a chance for a second straight win , but he still had plenty

to be pleased about . He went 5.985 to beat Derek Menholt in the first round , then improved to a 5.915 at 242.32 in round two to beat Jeremy Ray .

But just getting to the event was big for Bowman . His Chevelle got finished for the WSOPM just in time , as Bowman ’ s team spent several days at Jerry Bickel Race Cars getting the car put back together . It was an impressive display by the staff at JBRC and Bowman ’ s team , but there was an underlying theme behind it all .

“ It was really important that we not only make it here , but to also run well ,” Bowman stressed . “ We accomplished that , so I ’ m happy about that . It was super important to be here and I didn ’ t care what it took .”

The 2018 WSOPM was just as enjoyable for Bowman , who raved about the event even in defeat , building plenty of momentum for

what he hopes is a second win at the 2019 WSOPM .

“ The event was awesome . It was just as much fun as last year ,” Bowman said . “ It was a great event , a

great time and I ’ ll try to win it again next year . I wanted to put on a good show and I did that . I was leaps and bounds better than last year .”

- JOSH HACHAT DI

PHOTOS : JOE MCHUGH

The fans came from Canada and Mexico , with some driving 2,000 miles to watch Stevie “ Fast ” Jackson perform on Thunder Mountain . As usual , the fan-favorite delivered , doing it in a major way at the World Series of Pro Mod at Bandimere Speedway . Jackson won the Drag 956 / Nitrous Outlet burnout contest for a second straight year , winning the $ 5,000 prize after the buildup

for it reached impressive levels .

The only thing missing was an event win , as Jackson fell in the third round to eventual runner-up Danny Rowe , but Jackson delivered on every level and assuredly sent all his legion of fans home happy .

“ That means a lot to me ,” Jackson said . “ It ’ s about the people . When fans come out and put in that effort to watch me do what I love to do , there ’ s no better victory than that .”

On Friday , Jackson blasted through his burnout to nearly the 1,000-foot mark in his Bahrain 1 Racing Camaro , eliciting a wild round of applause from the fans who enjoyed every minute of the contest . Coming back on the return road , Jackson was beaming as he soaked it all in .

“ This is awesome . This is just as good as the race ,” Jackson said . “ The reason it ’ s so awesome is because

all them people up there ( in the stands ) were excited they came to watch drag racing . That ’ s what it ’ s about . It was crazy .”

Jackson went 5.984 in the second-round win against Jim Whiteley before falling to Rowe , but he left Denver in a much better place . Struggling since a crash in April at the NHRA Pro Mod race in Charlotte , Jackson had been unable to get things to click in his Shadow 2.0 Camaro , not qualifying at two consecutive NHRA races . But the team gained a great deal during WSOPM testing , something he carried over to win the U . S . Nationals in Indy .

That progress on Thunder Mountain was impressive to see , and Jackson couldn ’ t have been more pleased about the WSOPM , which took another giant step forward in year two .

“ We had a blast up here ,” Jackson said . “ Drag racing is an awesome sport because not everybody gets a trophy . Only one person gets a trophy . We learned a tremendous amount about our car and our program . This was invaluable data .”

- JOSH HACHAT DI