Nick Schroeder wins inaugural pro 10.5 Challenge

By Nate Van Wagnen

Even though “ Quick Nick ” Schroeder hadn ’ t been on 33x10.5-inch slicks since mid-2022 , he quickly accepted his invitation to compete in the inaugural Pro 10.5 Challenge during the WSOPM . With a massive field of Outlaw 10.5-style racers set to compete for the $ 25,000 prize , Schroeder knew he had to be a part of it and did whatever it took to get from his shop in Delaware down to Bradenton Motorsports Park . That included selling a dump trailer that he typically uses for his concrete business , but his gamble paid off when he defeated rookie Dan Norris in the final round .

Schroeder in his screw-blown “ Ruby ” 2006

GTO struggled to get down the track in testing . He started to get the track surface figured out while also re-establishing his own combination as qualifying began , but he only managed a best of 4.054 at 190.54 to qualify No . 14 out of 24 cars that attempted to qualify for the 16-car show . Schroeder has been well into the 3-second zone in PDRA Pro Street trim , so he felt he was off pace going into eliminations .

“ I try to keep a notebook with all that stuff in it , so I knew everything was back to the way it was , but I swear , every time you put one of them things back to where you thought it was , it doesn ’ t work the same ,” said Schroeder , who last ran his car with a radial setup . “ I kind of knew we would struggle a little bit , I just didn ’ t think we would struggle that bad until Saturday , I guess you could say . Not 100 % happy with my performance down there , but it was enough to win .”

The 26-year-old ’ s luck started to turn around at the chip draw on Saturday night when he drew No . 15 qualifier Richard Reagan , who had a best of 4.111 in qualifying . Neither driver made a pretty run when they paired up on Sunday , but Schroeder was away first and won with a 4.638 at 174.71 MPH to Reagan ’ s 6.401 .

“ I knew those guys had been struggling and I had been watching them ,” said Schroeder , a 2021 DI 30 Under 30 honoree . “ He runs pretty close to where I used to run , so I knew if I treed him and went down the track , it would be a good race . I think I just really got lucky with some of my chip draws because if I ’ d have pulled somebody like [ Ty ] Kasper or [ Bill ] Riddle first round , I

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