Andy Jensen scores $ 50,000 Pro Modified victory By Nate Van Wagnen

Jensen qualified No . 15 , netting a first-round match with No . 2 qualifier Melanie Salemi , who coasted to a 6.114 , while Jensen ran a 4.219 at 138.03 to get through a wild first round . In the second round , he used a holeshot advantage and a 3.748 at 200.68 to get past Chris Russo and his 3.664 at 206.73 . Jensen grabbed an even bigger advantage on the starting line in the semifinals and managed a 4.078 at 184.77 to end Mike Decker Jr .’ s three-year streak of Yellowbullet Nationals victories . Decker fought his way to a 4.355 at 126.96 .

“ The Deckers are tough ,” Jensen said . “ They have the best equipment in the world and they have the best tuner [ Todd Tutterow ] in the world in their back pocket , so obviously there ’ s a lot of pressure to try to beat that guy . Had he gotten down the track , I wouldn ’ t have beaten him . I hate to say I beat him because I really didn ’ t . Neither one of us did very well , but to cross the finish line before him was pretty gratifying .

“ That whole Decker crew are always super nice to me ,” Jensen continued . “ They ’ re great people . Even after I won , he was a gentleman . He said , ‘ Go out and finish it , buddy .’ He ’ s a top-shelf guy to race with .”

Jensen went into the final round against relative newcomer Bubba Greene , who was having a career-best weekend in his screw-blown Corvette tuned by Pro Modified legend Scotty Cannon . Greene used a pair of mid-3.60-second runs to take out No . 1 qualifier Jim Halsey in the second round and former Outlaw 10.5 standout Chuck Ulsch in the semifinals . Both drivers ran into issues in the final round , though , and Jensen made it to the finish line first with a 4.236 at 154.60 . Greene coasted through to a 6.624 at 68.54 .

“ It was down a hole in the burnout so it didn ’ t

burn out very good , then when I was staging the car , it wouldn ’ t even build a reasonable amount of boost , so I don ’ t know if I have a bad injector , bad coil , bad spark plug , or maybe a broken valve spring ,” Jensen said . “ It ’ s something minor , but it didn ’ t leave for shit and it just kind of muttered out of the hole . I basically just drove it down the racetrack and I got to the other end first . I had a mechanical issue of some sort in the final , so to win , I was like , ‘ You gotta be kidding me .’ But we ’ ll take it .”

Jensen builds his own engines using CN blocks , CFE SBX heads , Jesel / Manley valvetrain components , a Moroso oiling system , JE pistons , MGP rods , and a custom intake from HRE . The Camaro , which was a former roots-blown NHRA Pro Mod , also utilizes a Ty-Drive unit with a Neal Chance converter , Haltech electronics , and Atomizer injectors .

Jensen was thrilled to win the race for his team , but as the engine builder and tuner , he was disappointed that the race wasn ’ t won on sheer performance alone .

“ I ’ m not going to say we went down there and kicked everyone ’ s asses because that ’ s not the case ,” said Jensen , who thanked longtime partners like Precision Turbo and Powermist Fuels . “ We got some lucky breaks , and when the track got tricky and it became a pedal fest race , I was ready . I ’ ve been driving an ill-tuned race car for quite a few years . I ’ m not very good at tuning one , so I ’ m pretty decent at pedaling a race car because I do a lot of it . My ability to pedal an ill-handling race car is what won us that race . And , of course , my crew not quitting .”

The $ 50,000 payday will go a long way for a budget-minded team like Jensen ’ s , but he insists the funds won ’ t go entirely into fresh parts and fuel for the next race .

“ That payday was obviously a big boost for my team ,” said Jensen , who credited his wife , Tiffany

, Mark Mont , Frank Tank , and Uncle John , as well as longtime friend Kevin McCurdy and PTP Racing ’ s Patrick Barnhill for the tuning help . “ I ’ m going to share that with them because if it wasn ’ t for my crew , I wouldn ’ t be there . They work tirelessly year after year , most times being disappointed , and they never give up and they never ask for a penny , so I ’ m going to share my winnings with my crew because they deserve it and I wouldn ’ t have it without them .”

Jensen also praised everyone who came together to present the Yellowbullet Nationals , including promoter Monty Mikho and track owners Jim and Cathy Halsey .

“ This race win is the most celebrated of my career , but I feel more humbled than excited about it ,” Jensen said . “ Yes , I built the car , took it to the race , and sat behind the wheel , but without the fans who spent their hard-earned money to watch us race ; without the track operator who works his ass off to provide a constantly improving facility ; without the promoter who seeks sponsor money and creates an entertaining event that thousands – even kids – look forward to every year ; without everyone ’ s effort , there would be no race to win , so the celebration belongs to more than just the race winner .”

In addition to Pro Mod , the Yellowbullet Nationals featured several other heads-up and bracket racing classes . Nick Lacerenza took the Pro 275 win over Blaine Johnson , Josh Niermann won in Limited Drag Radial over Joe Newsham , and Connor Hartsock won in Ultra Street over Bill Trovato . Joe Albrecht picked up the 8.50 Index victory over Nick Tucci , Craig Walls was victorious in Warriors Outlaw over Jacob Naumann , Dylan Ammons collected the 10.0 Index win over Dennis Salvatore II , Don Teague defeated Vince Fourcade for the Top Sportsman title , and John Voshell Jr . took the Pro Dial win over Anthony Capirose . DI

PHOTOGRAPH BY TARA BOWKER