Jones, Ayers, Scott, & Vedros all secure victories at XRP.
/Ferris, TX - (July 16, 2019) The Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Pro Mod Series (MWPMS) came to show Texas how pro mod is done and gave them Jeff Jones taking his first MWPMS victory when he defeated Todd Martin in the finals.
“For more years than I can remember I have loved drag racing, the people within drag racing, and everything about drag racing. Xtreme Raceway Park event reminded me yet again how amazing the drag racing community is. The huge crowd, the atmosphere, it was all overwhelming. Add that to the tire-ripping action we had, and I would say that it was one of the best events we have ever had,” stated series Founder Keith Haney.
Xtreme Raceway Park (XRP) in Ferris, TX welcomed all of the MWPMS classes. We saw Race Star Wheels Top Dragster, Top Sportsman, X275, and of course Summit Racing Equipment Pro Mod. This was an event that saw some serious points shakeup in certain classes as well. Some were able to climb, and some seem to plummet. Add that to the fact that Shawn Ellington (Murder Nova), Dave Comstock (Daddy Dave), Fabian Bell (Godzilla), & NHRA Star Chad Green, all came through the gates to play in the Pro Mod field, and this was a great recipe for success.
Pro Mod is the feature class for MWPMS and this weekend was certainly not a disappointment. We had a full 16 car field in pro mod, which was headed up by the current points leader, Aaron Wells with what we have to say is a stellar 3.689. The heat was brutal all weekend, so to see both he and Chad Green in the .60’s was quite impressive.
Eliminations kicked off on Saturday night with all 16 of our competitors making the call. The Imperial Construction, Larry Jeffers built Corvette was not going to be stopped on the way to his first victory. Jeff Jones is a regular on the MWPMS tour, and it was just a matter of time before he secured the victory. The task was certainly not an easy on though. First round matchup had him facing off against Jeffery Cummins Jr. Once he was able to get around Jeffery, he had a date with Fabian Bell, who brought his no prep car to the event, and in fact defeated NHRA Chad Green in the first round. That is where his luck ran out though. It was Jeff moving on to the semi-finals. In the semis, Jeff was matched up with the nitrous beast of Jim Sackuvich. Jim is another regular on the tour, but it was Jeff moving on to the finals. Waiting in the other lane was Todd Martin, and his beautiful Mustang. Todd’s road to the finals included defeating Wayne Roberts, Jon Stouffer, and Jeff Jones’ son Justin Jones, before earning the opportunity to take a lane with Jeff. When the tree dropped it was Todd that left first with an .033 to Jeff’s .048 but at the stripe it was Jeff’s 3.70 at 201 to Todd’s 3.72 at 202. It wrapped up a great weekend for the Jones family, as well as Jeff’s car chief Cole Pesz, who has taken over and was able to lead the team to victory in his first solo event.
“This weekend was amazing to say the least. It was a great showing for our entire team. My son Justin went to the semi-finals, and I was able to secure the win. It allowed us to both move closer to Aaron and his points lead. It was also my first MWPMS victory, along with a first victory for my car chief Cole Pesz, which we could not be happier about.” stated Jeff.
X275 is some of the best heads-up racing in the country and have more places to race throughout the year than any other heads-up class. Names like Kenny Hubbard, Shane Heckel, Ayers, etc. When you are racing 2000+ horsepower cars on a tiny tire, you just never know what can happen. It usually comes down to the car that can keep going A to B each pass, and not always the car dropping huge numbers. It was the hotrod owned by NFL Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Winner Fletcher Cox, along with his right-hand man, Shawn Ayers that came out on top at the end of the day. They were able to be consistent and make passes that would get them into the next round. The finals had Shawn and Chris Shortridge facing off. While it was Shawn that took the victory, it was also a great weekend for the Shortridge team. Fletcher and Shawn have shown that they continue to dominate when they come out and play.
Race Star Wheels Top Dragster is always exciting, and you add to the fact that there were some seriously fast hotrods on the property, it was a mixture for explosive action. One of the biggest heavy hitters, Jimmy Sackuvich, unfortunately had damaged some parts and weren’t able to make the call for round one. A shocking turn of events saw the #1 qualifier not able to make the call either. Steve McDermott Sr. had a parts failure in qualifying, and it was a snapped crankshaft. Obviously, nothing that could be repaired, which really left the door wide open. It was Ron Scott that stepped up and took full advantage of the breakage. He worked his way to the final round and faced off against Chad Broom. Ron took the victory over Chad and was the first one to come up and get in the elusive winner circle.
Top Sportsman could be described as a heavy weight boxing match each and every round. It has been the Earl Folse and Bob Gulitti show all season, but not this time. In fact, we witnessed both the number one in points and number two in points suffer first round exits. This meant that Earl and Bob were going to have to sit and watch as other competitors creeped up on their points lead. The finals were going to be a tough throwdown between Snyder and Vedros. It was a stellar run for both as Vedros ran a perfect 4.78 on a 4.78 dial while Mick ran a 3.95 on a 3.94 dial. It was tight up top too as Mick had an .018 light to Vedreos’ .023 light.
The weekend wrapped up with the Slammers class. This is open to all pro mods that either didn’t qualify or lost in the first-round pairings. It turned out to be a rematch of a grudge race we saw earlier in the weekend, and a brawl between two nitrous breathing monsters. In the left lane it was NHRA star, and Texas native Chad Green. Rolling into the right lane, it was MWPMS Founder Keith Haney. In something that had to be seen to be believed, it was Keith who tree’d Chad by dropping a trip zip .000 perfect light on Chad. Literally a flinch behind was Chad with a .002 green. When the boards lit up, it was Keith’s 3.726 to Chad’s 3.841. So now the two of them are 1 and 1 in their heads up matches.
We look forward to seeing everyone at the next stop on the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Pro Mod Series tour. Next up is St. Louis as part of the Street Car Super Nationals. Come see the excitement August 1st-3rd at Worldwide Technologies Raceway in Madison, Illinois. You can visit www.midwestpromodseries.com for rules and details.