NORTHEAST OUTLAW PRO MOD

Pro Mod Challenge V Aug . 18-19 . The season will wrap up back at MIR for the Supercharger Nationals Oct . 6-8 .

“ We ’ re really happy with the schedule we put together for this season ,” Mazzorana says . “ We get great attendance in both cars and spectators . We get good facilities , probably some of the best in the country . We get a great reception . We ’ re welcomed with open arms at these tracks . For example , our teams get standing ovations at MIR and Empire . The fans love to see us , so we like going back . At this point , we ’ re excited because I think the tracks on our schedule are some of the most noted in the country . The track prep is also some of the best in the country .”

Though the series has been in operation since 1992 , Mazzorana is dedicated to reaching even more new fans and welcoming more new teams to join the series in 2023 .

“ We ’ re excited about the 30 years we ’ ve had ,” Mazzorana says , “ but we ’ re also excited about the future because we believe we can compete with just about any club in the country . Our alliance with the Canadian group [ PMRA ] has resulted in a lot more Canadian cars racing with us .”

Always thinking of ways to grow not just NEOPMA , but Pro Modified racing in general , Mazzorana envisions a future where the various eighth-mile Pro Mod organizations work together to develop rivalries between the groups and drivers .

“ Maybe even start a series on a regional basis where you ’ d see PDRA compete against Mid-West and we would compete against NMCA , then the winners would advance to the next round , almost like a pennant race ,” Mazzorana says . “ I ’ d love to see something like that come together because I think the rivalry would be good for the clubs . I think it ’ d be great for the spectators . The tracks would like it because that kind of environment would attract fans , and I think it might bring in some new sponsors too .” DI

Kalitta Motorsports and DHL donate 750,000 meals to Feeding America By Elon Werner

The “ Drive for Purpose ” charitable program , which exceeded its original goal of 500,000 meals , was based on win lights recorded by Doug Kalitta , Shawn Langdon , and J . R . Todd at the Carolina Nationals in Charlotte , the Midwest Nationals in St . Louis , the Texas Fall Nationals in Dallas and finally , the Nevada Nationals in Las Vegas , along with fan and corporate donations . A check presentation was conducted Tuesday , December 6 , at the Feeding America Chicago office with Langdon , Todd , Bob Lawson and Luke Fath from Kalitta Motorsports , as well as DHL Executives Geoff Walsh , VP and GM of the Midwest U . S . Area and Nemer Abohasen , VP and GM of the Southeast U . S . Area .

“ We are thrilled we received support from our NHRA fans , some of our sponsors , and most of all the success on the track by Doug , Shawn and J . R . to support Feeding America and the Drive For Purpose Challenge ,” said Chad Head , Kalitta Motorsports General Manager . “ We were in the middle of our playoffs racing for the Top Fuel and Funny Car world championships , so drawing more attention to Feeding America by winning rounds on Sunday was awesome all the way around . DHL is a great marketing partner that not only has a great B2B relationship with our organization , but they do an amazing job supporting causes that are important to us and our fans .”

For every win light the drivers turned on during eliminations on Sunday , Kalitta Motorsports donated 2,000 meals to Feeding America and

DHL matched that donation . At the final race of the program , both companies doubled the donation amount to 4,000 meals each per win light .

During the Drive For Purpose , fans were also able to get involved by scanning a QR code on the back of each of the Kalitta Motorsports team haulers to make a direct donation to Feeding America .

Additionally , the NHRA promoted the initiative on their social media accounts and numerous times during the NHRA on Fox national television broadcasts . Each of the drivers and Kalitta Motorsports social media accounts gave updates throughout the four-race stretch to keep the program top of mind . “ It ’ s been great to be able to work together with a long-time partner in Kalitta on ‘ Purpose ’,” said Abohasen , who heads all the Social Responsibility efforts for DHL Express in the U . S . “ Our purpose is to take a bite out of hunger ! We started something amazing to bring awareness to the issue and partner with Feeding America in this great cause . We hope this will be the beginning of even more exciting things to come between DHL / Kalitta , on ‘ Purpose ’!”

The Drive For Purpose Challenge was part of a much broader program by DHL during the month of September that saw the company also raise funds for Feeding America that equated to a donation that was large enough to feed 2.6M people . DI

32 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 180