Dirt
5.676
Seconds
Fredy Scriba blasts quarter-mile
nitrous Pro Modified record
By Van Abernethy
P
ro Mod racer Fredy Scriba raised
eyebrows at Maryland International
Raceway during the season-opening
Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod series event
on April 13 when he thundered down the quarter
mile to the tune of 5.676 seconds at 250 mph,
which stands as the quickest pass in history for
a nitrous-assisted doorslammer.
Scriba admits that his new 1969 Camaro built
by Jerry Bickel Race Cars probably has more left
in it, but he’s reluctant to say just how much.
“The conditions at MDIR were certainly ideal,
but it’s likely to slow down as summer approach-
es and it starts getting hot,” says Scriba, who
began driving Pro Mods in 2000 during his
senior year of high school. He only took delivery
of his latest Camaro in late summer of 2018,
and has put very few runs on the car, which
features a 959ci engine from Pat Musi, and is
anchored by a manually shifted Liberty 5-speed
transmission with a Ram clutch. The car weighs
2,450 pounds in its race-ready trim within the
Northeast Outlaw series.
While the team was pumped at the recent
performance, Scriba downplayed the accom-
plishment by pointing out that few organizations
allow an engine of this magnitude to be run on
the quarter mile.
“This is basically a PDRA-type engine that
we’re using, so that’s probably a contributing
factor to why we ran a 5.67, because there’s only
a handful of people who have an engine like this
that race on the quarter mile,” explains Scriba,
who is a two-time points champion of the North-
east Outlaw Pro Mod series. By contrast, NHRA
continues to implement a 903ci limit for nitrous
oxide-assisted vehicles within that sanction’s
Pro Mod division.
Scriba’s impressive numbers from the season-
opener landed him in the No. 3 slot on the quali-
fying sheet behind Steve King’s 5.62 at 259 mph,
followed by Dave Norris, who stopped the clocks
at 5.66 at 251mph. Both King and Norris utilize
screw blowers as their power-adder of choice.
The Northeast-based Pro Mod series has long
championed diversity within their rule books,
allowing no less than five different combina-
tions including nitrous, roots blowers, screw
blowers, turbochargers and ProChargers, all
competing within the same field of cars. Scriba
intends on running the entire Northeast Outlaw
series, as well as select PDRA events that are
close to home.
“We take racing seriously, but it’s still a hobby
to us. We try to stick to around 12-14 events per
season at the most, since we’ve got kids and have
family stuff to do,” he adds. “I want to thank
my crew: Stephen Schultz, Steve Schultz, Doug
Groff and my dad, Fred Scriba.”
Hobbyists or not, this team always shows up
with a fast hot rod and Scriba’s season-opening
performance got noticed in a big way.
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
Rodger Brogdon adds cash,
exposure for Comp Eliminator racers
By Josh Hachat
Y
ou’ve got to spend money to make
money” has been a principle Rodger
Brogdon has followed in business and
it’s served him well. He brought that
mindset in 2019 to the Division 4 Competition
Eliminator category and it’s proven to be just as
successful there.
He put $150,000 of his own money to the
purse for the class in Division 4, putting the
“spend money to make money” approach on an
impressive track. The number of competitors
has grown considerably through the first two
races, the sponsorship has helped Brogdon’s
businesses and he’s pleased to see the impact
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it’s had on the racer’s bottom line.
“The point I’m trying to make is if you make it
worthwhile for the racer to go, at least covering
some of his expenses, it’s beneficial,” Brogdon says.
“I think, overall, the payout right now is poor in
all classes, not just Competition Eliminator. You
have to spend money to make money. I’m prov-
ing it’s working in this class and it would work
in all the rest of them, too. The racers will make
it worth your while. It’s a successful strategy. It’s
not rocket science.
“In general, racers are taken advantage of be-
cause of their passion for the sport,” Brogdon con-
tinues. “But it needs to change. They don’t need to
take advantage of racer’s passion for the sport, and
that’s exactly what’s happened. Passion can only go
so far. It’s a shame the racers don’t get paid more.”
Brogdon, though, is making sure that won’t
happen for Competition Eliminator racers in the
Issue 145
Spend Money to Make Money