MIKE DECKER JR .

if they ’ d wait on them to change converters . The roles were reversed when Decker Jr .’ s car wouldn ’ t stay running after the team replaced a lifter that was damaged in the semifinals .

“ We changed crank triggers , we changed boxes , that wasn ’ t it ,” Decker Jr . said . “ We had to diagnose the problem , so Hollywood was on the phone with Todd [ Tutterow ] trying to figure it out . It ended up being the flywheel . We put a flywheel in it in about 20 minutes . Pulled the transmission , pulled the flywheel , put another flywheel in , and had it running . Chuck would ’ ve waited there all night , and we would ’ ve waited for him .”

With both cars buttoned up , the two teams rolled to the staging lanes for a final-round battle for the $ 31,000 prize . Decker Jr . was away first , allowing him to win on a holeshot with a 3.672 to Ulsch ’ s 3.65 .

“ I was ecstatic ,” Decker Jr . said . “ I looked up at the scoreboard and I ’ m looking at the numbers – while I ’ m still in the gas , mind you – and I see we went a . 67 to a . 65 . I was like , ‘ Man , look at that .’ Very thankful . Very grateful . I thank the Lord above for giving it to me . I ’ m grateful for my guys . On Hollywood ’ s car , we had the head off of that thing three times this weekend . It ’ s not like it was a walk in the park . They definitely put the work in and got the job done .”

Decker Jr . praised John Mazzorana and the NEOPMA team , as well as Royce Miller and the MIR staff , for hosting the season finale .

“ I thank Northeast for putting that race on and making that race what it was . We had some good cars there ,” Decker Jr . said .

Decker Jr ., who won the last two NEOPMA championships , will not wear the No . 1 next year . Derek Ward , who walked away from a highspeed crash in the opening round of eliminations , clinched the 2023 championship in the all-supercharged class . The series started the season with two classes – one featuring screw-type , roots , and centrifugal superchargers and another pairing nitrous and turbo cars . NEOPMA later merged the two classes back into one midway through the season .

“ We want to congratulate Derek Ward on winning that championship ,” Decker Jr . said . “ He deserved it . Derek put the work in this year and he put a lot of testing in . Well-deserved for his team . I hope he has a speedy recovery .”

The NEOPMA and its racers have battled rainouts all season , including the season opener at MIR , which was originally scheduled as the 31st anniversary celebration . The season finale wasn ’ t without its rain delays , and the weather cooled off considerably , but the series was able to cap off the celebratory season as planned .

“ We had great racing – almost every race was door to door ,” said John Mazzorana , founder and president , NEOPMA . “ The only depressing part was Derek Ward crashing . We wish him a quick recovery . Otherwise , it was a wonderful race . We were hoping for more cars , but the cars we had were all top-notch . We had a good fan turnout despite the weather . We handed out around 200 small American flags to the fans , over 20 bigger American flags and a handful of Canadian flags to the racers . We tossed 31 or so t-shirts into the stands . We gave out our $ 31,000 reward . Everybody was very happy . It was a good , fun race .” DI

50 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 185