Drag Illustrated Issue 149, October 2019 | Page 24

Hard Knocks Tyler Hard scores win as NEOPMA headlines Super Chevy Show at Maple Grove By Van Abernethy T he Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association traveled to Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pennsylvania, in mid-July to headline the heads-up doorslammer portion of entertainment that coin- cided with the Menards Super Chevy Show, which brought out a healthy roster of entries across several classes of competition. After a full day of qualifying on Saturday, the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mods squared off on Sunday to thrill fans with their final eliminations to see who would be crowned champion of the event. Picking up the action in the semifinals, Tyler Hard, who drove a ProCharged 1968 Camaro, pulled out the victory on one side of the ladder by driving around the 2018 Corvette of Dave Norris. Hard was behind early in the race as Norris was first out of the gate with a .064 reaction time, to a slightly slower .075 for Hard. Hard began to close the gap and pull away down track, stopping the quarter-mile timers with a 5.845-second pass at 246 mph. Norris was game and very much in the race with a 5.936 at 246 mph. The other semifinal matchup featured Chuck Ulsch behind the wheel of his roots-blown 1968 Camaro, taking on Gary Hood, who campaigns a nitrous-assisted 1963 Corvette. Ulsch left first, but promptly rattled the tires and wasn’t able to get back in the groove, while Hood cruised to vic- tory with a 7.12 at 195 mph. This would set up a showdown between Hard and Hood in the finals. Despite being outgunned in performance, Hood took a massive lead early by virtue of a well-timed holeshot out of the gate with a .037 reaction time to Hard’s extremely late .417 bulb. The early lead didn’t last long for Hood, though, as he rattled the tires just off the starting line and wasn’t able to get back in the race. Hard uncorked a 6.042 at 248 mph to hold off Hood’s 9.268 at 121mph. Hard, who is a two-time points champion of the NEOPM se- ries, has been noticeably absent from competition this season, as he’s worked tirelessly on a new ProCharger combination in the shop. “We kind of got a late start this year as we worked on the chassis and the ProCharger combination,” explained Hard. “In fact, this weekend here at Maple Grove was our first full quarter-mile pass with the new set-up.” The team is based locally in nearby Reading, with Hard re- siding in Harrisburg. “Between Kevin McCurdy and Patrick Barnhill, those guys have been a huge help and we couldn’t do it without them,” Hard added. Now that the combination is perform- ing as anticipated, Hard plans to finish out the remainder of the season with the NEOPM series, as well as a few other showings. As for Hood, the veteran racer left Maple Grove with his best finish within the ranks of the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod series after capturing his first- ever final round appearance. His decorated career dates back to the mid-1970s, when he competed in IHRA Modified Eliminator for many years before the joining the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod series four years ago. “It was a great weekend for us, and I just want to thank the series founder, John Mazzorana, because he puts a lot of work into this series,” commented Hood. The Maple Grove event was the fifth stop on a nine-race roster of events for the NEOPM series in this 27th year of its existence. The NEOPM series has races scheduled at New Jersey’s Atco Raceway, Capitol Raceway in Crofton, Maryland, and Maryland International Raceway in Mechan- icsville. The series will close out its season with a return to Atco on October 25-26. DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI 24 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com Issue 149 Dirt