Numerous drivers have proven over two years that experience at Bandimere Speedway isn ’ t necessary to do well at the World Series of Pro Mod . Jeremy Ray took that concept one step further this year , his first season in NHRA Pro Mod competition after years of eighth-mile racing in PDRA Pro Boost . The Lugoff , South Carolina , driver fired off two of the four quickest supercharged passes of eliminations . He started race day with a 5.983 at 238.13 over Scott Oksas ,

then improved to a 5.980 at 238.09 next to Mike Bowman in the second round , though it was negated by a red light disqualification .

“ It is different conditions and you have to adapt to it and make it work ,” Ray said of the challenge of racing on Thunder Mountain . “ I ’ ve never competed in a race like this with a $ 100,000 winner-takes-all prize . Wes ( Buck ) invited me to come and I told him I would be here , and I did what I said I was going to do .”

- NATE VAN WAGNEN DI

In making his World Series of Pro Mod debut , Marc Caruso was also making his quarter-mile Pro Mod debut . The PDRA Pro Boost standout converted his supercharged Caruso Family Racing ‘ 69 Camaro over from eighth-mile trim to a quarter-mile setup with the assistance of tuner Lee White and supercharger guru Al Billes . The Rochester , New York-based driver and his team tested rigorously in the days leading into the race . Caruso left on Carl Stevens Jr . in their opening-round bout , but Caruso ’ s timing plug came unplugged and slowed the Camaro to a 6.064 at 232.51 to Stevens ’

winning 5.93 . Still , merely being invited and proving his mettle on the quarter-mile was enough to satisfy Caruso , at least for now .

“ I was very impressed with what we were able to accomplish ,” Caruso offered . “ I had all the confidence in Lee White and our brand-new 4.9 Noonan race engine . Obviously , Al Billes is no stranger to what it takes to win races with his superchargers . He made sure that we had what we needed to go up there and be competitive . From what I was told and what we saw on the scoreboards , we were definitely competitive . Now I just can ’ t wait for next year .”

- NATE VAN WAGNEN DI

PHOTOS : JOE MCHUGH

Jim Whiteley has raced a lot and succeeded a lot on a number of different levels and in a number of different classes , most recently winning a NHRA Pro Mod race earlier in 2018 at Houston .

But even in his vast experiences and achievements , there is something special about racing at the World Series of Pro Mod .

“ I ’ ve been racing for 25 years and last year when we did this , it was hands down the funnest race ,” Whiteley said . “ Another thing , it was

at Denver . I love these folks over here and they treat us like we ’ re kings . They ’ re wonderful folks and the track is outstanding . It ’ s just , overall , the funnest race you could ever partake in and I hope they just continue to build on it .”

Whiteley has been one of the

WSOPM ’ s staunchest supporters , as his J & A Service business served as one of the event ’ s presenting sponsors for a second straight year .

That ’ s how much Whiteley believes in the event , while he also enjoyed some success on the track in 2018 . He took out Todd Tutterow , a driver many thought could win the race , in the opening round before falling to Stevie “ Fast ” Jackson a round later .

Whiteley remains a huge fan of the entire set-up of the WSOPM as well , from the scoreboards being shut off during the shakedown runs to Pro Mods getting the center stage in Denver .

“ I like the aspect of running qualifying and you ’ re not seeing what the other folks are running ,” Whiteley said . “ That aspect is really , really neat and doing it for Wes ( Buck ) is pretty cool . He ’ s worked to put this together and put a lot of time in to pull it off , and he does a great job . There ’ s several things like that , but the biggest thing is it ’ s a little different .”

- JOSH HACHAT DI