Drag Illustrated Issue 149, October 2019 | Page 94
WORLD SERIES OF PRO MOD 2019
Oksas and tuner Jeff Pierce
were feeling confident after
making a string of strong
passes during pre-race testing.
Pierce quickly found the
sweet spot on Oksas’ twin-
turbocharged ’67 Mustang and
gave the Californian driver all
the horsepower he needed to
pull off the $100,000 victory.
every respect.
“It’s just pure excitement,” Oksas
said. “This is just giant. I’ve busted
my ass for 10 years doing this Pro
Mod stuff, I’ve worked so hard and
I can’t believe I’m standing here, I
really can’t. To win this, it’s always
been a passion of mine to win some-
thing like this. I can’t even describe
it. It’s just overwhelming, it’s crazy.”
Just a few months ago was the
last time Oksas thought about being
done with racing. He blew up an
engine right as the team was test-
ing before racing at the NHRA Pro
Mod event in Topeka, frustrated
with more dollars down the drain.
Something kept driving Oksas,
though. He couldn’t stop, believing
his moment was coming. Oksas had
seen the difference Pierce’s exper-
tise had brought and he was con-
vinced there was a light at the end
94 | D r a g
“THE PEOPLE PROBABLY HEARD
SCREAMING INSIDE THE CAR AS I
WAS TURNING OFF THE TRACK.
I WAS PRETTY PUMPED UP.”
of the tunnel.
He might not have been expecting
a $100,000 spotlight shining solely
on him, but his love of the sport –
and what it meant to his family –
was too much too ignore.
“Right before Topeka, I thought,
‘This is stupid. I’m spending so
much money.’ But it was just deter-
mination and the love of the sport.
I just love it,” Oksas said. “I would
have so much more money if I didn’t
do it, but I just love to do it. I’ve been
racing since I was 16 and when I set
my goals to do something, I have
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
to do it.”
By the time Oksas arrived at
Bandimere Speedway for the sec-
ond time, things were decidedly
different than his debut at the
WSOPM in 2018.
He had hired Pierce to join a team
that included Roger Rompal, who
is the car chief, and Keith Howard,
and the difference was immediate. It
was Oksas’ admission that someone
else needed to be making the tuning
calls other than him that made the
difference.
It’s been his car and his opera-
tion since day one, but the successful
businessman viewed the addition
of Pierce – and handing over the
tuning reigns – as a smart busi-
ness move.
“I install water heaters, that’s
what I do. I don’t race cars for a liv-
ing, but Jeff does,” Oksas said. “All of
this is because of him and my guys,
not me. I tried to tune it for years
and years, and didn’t win anything. I
just worry about driving now.”
Oksas joked they “don’t let me
even touch the car now,” but he’s
fine with that and that confidence
was evident the moment he arrived
on Thunder Mountain. He boldly
claimed he was coming to win the
race and the $100,000 prize, and
then went and made a series of in-
credible passes in testing.
That set the tone for the weekend
and it was on from there. Leaning
Issue 149