NITROUS RACERS PUSH THE LIMITS
IN FIELDS FULL OF BOOSTED CARS, NITROUS-ASSISTED DRIVERS STAND OUT
BY NATE VAN WAGNEN
> MATT DEITSCH
> JIM WIDENER
> DEITSCH
Over the last three years, the World Series of Pro Mod— and now DI Winter Series— rules committee has strived to maintain parity across the board for the several engine, power adder, and transmission combinations that exist in Pro Modified racing. It’ s an ever-evolving pursuit, and due to changing atmospheric conditions that favor one combo at one race and another combo at the next, a nearly impossible one.
The nitrous oxide combination is the one most often called into question. While there’ s no doubt that racers choosing to still run the combo are in the minority, those remaining few are as dedicated as ever to ensuring nitrous cars remain on the qualifying sheet, in the lanes on race day, and ideally, in the winner’ s circle on Saturday night.
Matt Deitsch, a longtime Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association competitor, was the only driver of a nitrous-assisted machine to qualify for the record-setting 32-car field at the opening race of the Winter Series, the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals. His 3.634-second pass at 206.61 put him and his Musi-powered’ 69 Camaro No. 21 on the sheet, then he took out Mid-West Drag Racing Series hitter Keith Goolsby on a holeshot in the first round. His electric post-race interview suggested he was going to be a star of the new series. Though he went red to Melanie Salemi in the next round, Deitsch had already put the nitrous combo on the map in the Winter Series.
“ It’ s really hard to run the nitrous combination right now, but the momentum we’ ve got and the guys in our corner keep us going,” Deitsch told
> TIM PAAP
138 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 194