“ Tricky ” Rickie Smith roasts the slicks in his nitrous-fed , Musi-powered Parkway Ford ’ 22 Mustang in the final

Pro Modified qualifying session at the NHRA Carolina Nationals . Smith , who hails from King , North Carolina , qualified third in the 25-car qualifying order on the strength of a 5.735-second pass at 254.14 MPH , which stood for top speed of the event . He suffered an upset first-round loss to rookie Travis “ The Carolina Kid ” Harvey , who went on to win the event in his NHRA Pro Mod debut . Earlier in the year , Smith entered Comp Eliminator at the Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway because Pro Mod wasn ’ t contested . He qualified No . 1 , setting the quickest E . T . in class history , and went on to win the event , proving an old dog can learn new tricks .

Photograph by Rick Belden zMAX Dragway | Concord , North Carolina | Saturday , September 21 st , 2024

November / December 2024 DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 21