Drag Illustrated Issue 149, October 2019 | Page 112

WORLD SERIES OF PRO MOD 2019 SPORTSMAN GREG LAIR QUICK STAR SHOOTOUT WINNER ■ A betting man proba- bly wouldn’t have put his money on a naturally aspirated, clutch-equipped entry to win the $10,000-to-win MagnaFuel Quick Star 16 Shootout present- ed by Menholt Auto Group. Such a combination isn’t ideal for the high-altitude conditions of Ban- dimere Speedway, but Greg Lair in his monster-motor ’15 Camaro persisted through the challenges he faced to take the big check back home to Canyon, Texas. Lair, who owns a Buick and GMC dealership in the Amaril- lo area, qualified No. 8 in the Quick Star field, which saw 33 cars attempt to qualify for the main shootout. That alone is an accomplishment, as Lair’s Son- ny’s Racing Engines-built 903ci powerplant utilizes four carbu- retors without a power adder, while many of his competitors run nitrous-assisted or boosted engines. Plus, Lair uses a tri- ple-disc Ram clutch hooked up to a Lenco transmission whereas the rest of the field uses torque converters. “We run a big motor with no water in the block,” Lair said. “We have to chill the motor and do the clutch and set the air gap between rounds. We were taking weight off between rounds. It’s a lot more challenging than just checking the weather. “We had to take the Lenco out and change gear ratios in the transmission,” Lair continued, “and gears in the back end to get everything to where the mo- tor would work up here on this mountain just because that’s the only way we can make it work. We have nothing to add to it. What we’ve got is what we’ve got.” The 2018 and 2019 Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Top Sportsman event champion was on his game in eliminations, cutting the better light in all four pairings. He ran a 6.915 on a 6.91 dial over JJ Heber, a 6.894 on a 6.89 dial against No. 1 qualifier Mick Snyder, and a 6.963 on a 6.89 dial to defeat Mark McDon- ald in the semifinals. He upset local favorite Mike Candelairo in the final round, running a 6.883 at 200.44 on a 6.90 dial-in along- side Candelairo’s supercharged ’57 Chevy and its 6.283 at 227.50 on a 6.33 dial. “That’s the fastest it’s ever run up here,” Lair said of his final-round performance. “Every run we’re just trying to run as fast as we can. Last night we had a 1.02 60-foot, which is probably the best it’s ever run here. We’re just racing. We’re speed freaks.” – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI MIKE CANDELAIRO QUICK STAR SHOOTOUT RUNNER-UP TONY STARK ONE CURE SHOOTOUT WINNER ■ After winning the five- round Top Dragster portion of the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway just a few weeks before the World Series of Pro Mod, Lakewood, Colorado’s Tony Stark was feeling confident going into the weekend. He knew he would need a solid performance to qualify for what was shaping up to be a stout field in MagnaFuel Pro Star, but he felt like his supercharged, OnTrack Performance-backed Undercover dragster was up for the challenge. Over the course of three qualify- ing sessions, Stark worked his way down to a 6.687 at 180.40, putting him four spots shy of the incredi- ble 6.511 bump spot for the 16-car MagnaFuel Pro Star 16 Shootout presented by Menholt Auto Group. That wasn’t the end of Stark’s WSOPM weekend, though. Stark raced in the One Cure Shootout, which was added to the event line-up to accommodate the No. 17-43 qual- ifiers in Pro Star and the No. 17-33 qualifiers in Quick Star. Stark started eliminations with a first-round vic- tory over his wife, Kari Stark, before defeating Adam Chioda, Sammy Gonzales and Mitch Mustard on his way to the final round. He also had a single in the third round. In the final round, Stark watched as Ethan Conyers took off first in his 8.08-dialed ’62 Corvette Super Gas car. Stark had the better light - .019 to Conyers’ .036 – and ran a 6.716 at 185.97 on his 6.70 dial-in. Mean- while, Conyers posted an 8.107 at 166.31 in his runner-up effort. “I was a little disappointed that I didn’t quite have enough to get into the main deal, but I’m pretty happy that I was able to get triumph in the ‘B’ field, per se,” said Stark, who thanked his friends for pitching in to help and offering parts to bor- row. “We did nothing but work on this car all day. It was a hard-fought win – taking valve covers off every lap, breaking parts – it was rough, but this has been a heck of a month so far.” – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI 112 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com Issue 149