Mike Thielen Dabbles in Outlaw Eighth-Mile Pro Mod
“ The atmosphere has been awesome . The fans are great , and everybody ’ s excited . People want to get in the pits , and I ’ m letting them come in and look at everything ,” said Mike Thielen , leaning against his trailer ’ s canopy .
The WSOPM proved tough competition for all racers , including Thielen , who did not qualify in the close field of 32 cars in his supercharged Glacier Aviation ’ 69 Camaro .
“ It ’ s a drag race at the end of the day , and we ’ re quarter-mile [ racers ]. People are coming here on this playground with eighth-mile cars , and we ’ re not used to it with this setup . We ’ re a little behind the curve , but we ’ re here to have fun , and we came here to win ,” Thielen confessed as he was preparing for another round of qualifying . – KAYLA ZADEL DI
Randy Weatherford Can Take the Heat
Randy Weatherford made no bones about the insanely competitive atmosphere at the WSOPM .
“ It ’ s a pressure cooker – right now , we ’ re all cooking ,” Weatherford confessed after qualifying No . 23 and then getting paired up with Mark Micke in round one . Weatherford beat Micke and drew Manny Buginga for round two . Buginga was no match for Weatherford and his ProCharged WS Construction ‘ 22 Camaro as he crossed the line first with a 3.687-second lap .
“ We want it . We ’ d love to go home with this thing ,” exclaimed Weatherford when asked about the chance to win the WSOPM and the $ 100,000 prize . “ It ’ s the damn trophy . It ’ s bragging rights . It ain ’ t got nothing to do with money . It ’ s who ’ s got the most badass hot rod here .”
Weatherford ’ s winning ways were cut short when he ran into the buzzsaw of two-time PDRA Pro Nitrous world champion Jason Harris in round three . – KAYLA ZADEL DI
130 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 182