Dirt
‘ The Undertaker ’ is Back
Tommy Gray returns to winner ’ s circle at Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Challenge By Nate Van Wagnen
Tombstone ” Tommy Gray scored a major win at the inaugural Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Challenge at Empire Dragway in late July , earning his first Pro Mod win since 2018 . The Pro Mod veteran defeated New York ’ s own Melanie Salemi in a side-by-side 3.60-second final round .
“ I ’ ve had five other national event wins in my career , and that was close to a topper ,” says Gray , who won his first Pro Mod national event in 1994 . “ After all the adversity I ’ ve been through in the last year and a half , between getting injured and my crash last year and struggling , it was definitely a morale booster for me and my two guys . It ’ s just us three : Wayne Waldmann , Lonnie Pass and myself . I ’ ve been at it a long time , but gosh , we needed that .”
After qualifying No . 5 , Gray posted a 3.709 at 204.08 in his screw-blown “ Undertaker ” ‘ 18 Corvette to get a first-round win over Matt Guenther , who went red by . 0005 seconds and ran a 3.807 in his nitrous-fed ’ 69 Camaro . Gray dipped into the 3.60s with a 3.688 at 204.27 to eliminate Steve King and his 3.721 in the second round .
Gray recorded low elapsed time of the event , a 3.663 at 204.36 , in his semifinal win over Ken Quartuccio , who ran a 3.685 in his ProChargerboosted “ Serial Killer ” ’ 69 Camaro . The pass also gave Gray lane choice by just three thousandths of a second going into the final round against Salemi .
In the final round , Gray recorded a 3.664 at 204.36 to defeat Salemi ’ s 3.674 at 199.38 in her supercharged “ Purple Reign ” ’ 68 Firebird .
“ Melanie ’ s definitely a very good driver and Jon ’ s a very good tuner ,” says Gray , who thanked supporters and manufacturers like Carter Site Services , NGK Spark Plugs , Connelley Funeral Homes , Wyo Motorsports , and Ty-Drive . “ I knew it was going to be a race . I just tried to keep my head clear . As Todd taught us , run the racetrack one race at a time . That ’ s what we did the whole weekend . Fortunately , we had the best outcome on that run .”
Salemi was a serious contender going into eliminations as the No . 2 qualifier . She started eliminations with a 3.766 at 200.80 over Jack Grainy ’ s 3.949 . The Buffalo-based driver im-
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID HILNER AND VAN ABERNETHY
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