Anyone follow NHRA Pro-Mod? Turbo car making Waves....

[Blazer406]

I tuned in to watch eliminations for this past weekends race at Norwalk, OH. I don't usually catch pro-mods on..... but my DVR recorded it.... and I began to watch it......

Well.... a couple runs into round one.... this red 67 camaro comes up to the line.... announcer mentions "watch this turbo car"...... he goes on to talk about how it comes out of the gate "easy" .... but has driven around most by the time he crosses the finish! Most of the opponents yesterday he was out-trapping by at least 10 mph at the stripe.

Turns out the guys name is Brad Personett. I don't know anything about his combo.... only that it is turbo'd and Harry @ Precision Turbo is listed as his crew chief. Precision Turbo is one of his sponsers.... as is Big Stuff 3.

Here is yesterday's runs:

Round 1:
Brad Personett, Camaro, 6.020, 253.52 def. Melanie Troxel, Camaro, 6.062, 242.76

Quarterfinals:
Personett, 5.993, 251.95 def. Rowe, 6.322, 237.75

Semifinals:
Personett, 6.045, 250.46 def. R. Smith, 6.111, 232.19

Finals:
Musi, 5.981, 239.44 def. Personett, 5.996, 251.02

Although he didn't win..... he competed right up to the bitter end with a field normally DOMINATED by supercharged and nitrous cars. He did set the official "fastest" doorslammer run in Pro-Mod history with his 253.52 mph blast against Troxel in Round 1.

I looked him up on the net.... apparently he has made many of the top 10 "fastest" runs in pro-mod history. See list below. (List was not current to include this past weekends race)

Not sure how many races there have been since "the list" was updated, but he would have added a few new entries on the list.... and likely licked a few people off the list.

Ten Fastest Speeds

1. 253.28*********** Brad Personett Richmond 09
2. 251.34 * * * * ** Brad Personett Englishtown 09
3. 250.88*********** Brad Personett St. Louis 09
4. 249.49************Brad Personett Richmond 09
5. 248.84*********** Brad Personett Indy 09
6. 248.43*********** Danny Rowe Richmond 09
7. 247.88*********** Brad Personett Indy 09
8. 247.79*********** Melanie Troxel Richmond 09
9. 247.34*********** Raymond Commisso Gainseville 08
10. 247.11********** Rick Stivers Richmond 09

Anyway...... I thought I would share. It really makes me swell up with "turbo pride" that there is a turbo car (one) in a field full of nitrous and supercharged cars.... making some noise........ not all too different from when Buddy got kicked out of pro-stock when it appeared he was about to dominate the competition with his little turbo 6.......

Wonder if the Pro-mod boys are going to start crying foul?

 

[fitz3820]

I saw that too but don't usually follow the Pro-Mods. Cool stuff.

 

[John Wilde]

Hruska FTW!

 

[ijames]

I think they've been running that car for a couple of seasons now, maybe longer. Harry talked about some of the turbo tech they developed for it during his talk at Richard Clark's back in April - very cool stuff. Like a lot of turbo cars getting it to hook is all about smoothly bringing up the boost after the launch - they could spool faster but would just spin. Making four passes within 0.05 seconds at that level as the weather changes during the day is really getting it done! I've never seen it run in person but maybe one day ...

 

[turboc87gn]

You can thank mike moran for that....He started by making his doorslammer the first in the fives...Then he wanted to run now dufunct ihra pro mod.. They told him he could but he couldnt use an intercooler. Sooo he ran the car car on straight methanol to compensate..He started kickin asphalt and others followed suit...

 

[Blazer406]

You can thank mike moran for that....He started by making his doorslammer the first in the fives...Then he wanted to run now defunct ihra pro mod.. They told him he could but he couldn't use an intercooler. Sooo he ran the car car on straight methanol to compensate..He started kickin asphalt and others followed suit...

I knew Moran had been probably one of the first to "threaten" to have a turbo car that could compete side-by-side with the supercharged and nitrous pro-mod cars. I actually saw his car in person at one of the events several years ago..... still getting the kinks worked out. I believe it was a twin turbo 540 BBC..... at the time. I had seen some recent (within the past year or so) info that said they did get the car in the 5's @ over 250 mph...... seems like it was on his website.....however... he must not be competing this car regularly if-at-all on the NHRA circuit currently. He was/is definitely ahead of his time.

I have utmost respect for these guys.... like Moran..... Personett..... Ingersoll... etc..... that step up in class racing with something different..... and make it work for them. It just rocks!

 

[troGNman]

Awesome car!

Brad was a heavy hitter in the Pro Import series many years back driving some wicked fast Supras and a RWD Scion for Titan Motorsports. He made the jump to Pro Mod and is giving the big boys fits with his turbo car.

 

[Blazer406]

One interesting observation....... In an old article about Buddy and his "outlaw" pro-stock car..... he mentioned in the article that the main one "fussing" in the media about not letting Ingersoll run his car in pro-stock was fellow pro-stock competitor Rickie Smith.

In looking at the list and drivers that were in eliminations at Norwalk..... guess who is in that class...... you guessed it Rickie Smith. Assuming that is the same Rickie Smith that used to compete in IHRA Pro-Stock against Buddy Ingersoll....... I wonder if there is ever anything said (about outlawing Brad Personett) among the other competitors in Pro-Mod....... if one of them would happen to be Rickie Smith????

I guess I am a conspiracy theorist now.... LOL

 

[Bent6]

Yep - it was old "Tricky Ricky" himself that tried to burn down Personett at the tree. He likes to play staging games and knows a turbo car needs to get spooled up. He's also always been the biggest cry baby when he gets his tail spanked.

Brad set the MPH record for Pro-Mod and backed it up - had them all covered by almost 10mph. If history follows course, they'll either outlaw turbos, add a bunch of weight, or maybe even make him use boat anchors for parachutes. I've seen it happen too many times with the turbo cars in NHRA, NMCA, etc and since Pro-Mod is dominated by nitrous and blower cars I expect to see the same trend continue.

 

[novaderrik]

i wonder how much of the increased performance in the turbo cars is due to the cleaner aerodynamics of the car.. a short cowl hood is way more aerodynamic than a blower setup poking 2 feet out of the hood..

 

[gunslinger]

I wish that the NHRA and ESPN would cover Pro Mod more. I'd much rather see pro mod than pro stock bike.

 

[aminga]

i wish that the nhra and espn would cover pro mod more. I'd much rather see pro mod than pro stock bike.

+1

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Speaking of Buddy, has he posted lately? Know he was on here for a while earlier in the year.

 

[S2V6RACER]

Turns out the guys name is Brad Personett. I don't know anything about his combo.... only that it is turbo'd and Harry @ Precision Turbo is listed as his crew chief. Precision Turbo is one of his sponsers.... as is Big Stuff 3.

He is running BigStuff 3 engine management with 16 injectors and a 44 amp Magneto on that car.

 

[chasmat2316]

I wish that the NHRA and ESPN would cover Pro Mod more. I'd much rather see pro mod than pro stock bike.

x2

 

[Blazer406]

He is running BigStuff 3 engine management with 16 injectors and a 44 amp Magneto on that car.

Whoa!

Wonder what size motor? I had assumed something along the lines of a 632 ci BBC with at least twin 88's or maybe even twin 101's or so.......

It is definately a beast for sure!

 

[chopped39]

What ever happened to Annette Summers car. Wasnt she running a duttweiler twin turbo motor. That was one crazy chick. Real cool too.

 

[Scott231]

The NHRA is only running Pro Mod at a few of the National events this year. Accordingly, there are not that many Pro Mod races to cover. The class has been around for less than a decade. When I went to Las Vegas and got to hang out with John Gallina and Len Freeman at the strip for an NHRA event (maybe 5 years ago) Pro Mod was making an outing, but it wasn't "official" yet.

 

[Scott231]

What ever happened to Annette Summers car. Wasnt she running a duttweiler twin turbo motor. That was one crazy chick. Real cool too.

That was supposed to be a 3,000 HP car before Pro Mod had its start.

 

[RUQWKNF]

Brad set the MPH record for Pro-Mod and backed it up - had them all covered by almost 10mph. If history follows course, they'll either outlaw turbos, add a bunch of weight, or maybe even make him use boat anchors for parachutes. I've seen it happen too many times with the turbo cars in NHRA, NMCA, etc and since Pro-Mod is dominated by nitrous and blower cars I expect to see the same trend continue.

Hopefully it won't come to this. They have been working very hard for the past 2 years with the program. They have definitely made some waves in PM that's for sure. Setting the MPH record at the Norwalk event was a nice plus. I'm sure next year you will see more turbo cars show up for PM. As far as the who's who goes, here is our Hero card that we have for the events.

All of the pertinent information is on this card.

I believe the closest competitors mph I've seen in competition has been in the 247-248 range. The Camaro has gone 253.88 and still is the quickest and fastest turbocharged door slammer on the planet. The car is making somewhere in the neighborhood of 3100-3300 hp.
Here are a couple of my favorite pics from the past.

The teams next outting will be at Indy.

Patrick