Dirt
CAROLINA XTREME PRO MOD
After just missing out on qualifying in the
record-setting NHRA Pro Mod field in Gaines-
ville, Winters simply hoped to use the weekend
in Darlington to get his front-half numbers in
check at the eighth-mile race.
That meant trying to run in the mid-3.70s in
Darlington and that’s exactly what happened all
weekend. Winters ran 3.78 on both qualifying
passes, improving to 3.76 in the opening round.
He stayed there throughout eliminations, going
3.76 with a .006 reaction time to slip past Rini
in the semifinals.
In the finals, Winters left on Smith and put
together another 3.76 to cap off a consistent and
highly rewarding weekend.
“Right off the bat on Friday we hit a combi-
nation that got us close to where we wanted to
be,” Winters said. “Running those repeatable
numbers, that was pretty cool. We always like
running Rickie and to beat him off the line and
run quicker, that was doubly sweet. This does a
lot for our team and we’re hoping this is the start
of good things to come.”
Winters estimates the 3.76 runs would put a
quarter-mile pass around 5.74. It’s a step in the
right direction and with the early points lead in
the Carolina Xtreme Pro Mod series, he may find
himself at their next four races as well.
“We would like to try to do it,” Winters said. “It’s
doable to run some other events and try to win
the points championship. This was pretty cool
and hopefully we can keep this going.”
Along with Winter’s win, there were plenty of
highlights, too, including Cox running 3.692 at
202.98, putting the series on a good track head-
ing into the rest of its season, which includes
the Precision Racing Suspension/Residential
Concrete Services Spring Nationals at Union
County Dragway in late April and another stop
at Darlington in late May.
“The whole event ran smooth, and the quality of
racers and quality of racing was pretty spectacu-
lar,” Vanbeek said. “Darlington did an awesome
job, and one of the biggest comments I heard
from racers was they all enjoyed it was a one-day
show. Having a free test session for anyone who
purchases a tech card seemed to go over well and
the event was definitely as successful as it could
have been.”
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I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 144