Pro Line Racing at NHRA Unleashed

Last Friday and Saturday, the NHRA Unleashed event at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Adel, Georgia featured a handful of big hitters in Limited Street, X275, and Outlaw 10.5. Some of them included Tim Lynch, Steve Petty, Kevin Fiscus, Stevie "Fast" Jackson, Danny Lowry, Jason Enos, Amanda "Puddin" Long, and many more! They planned to put on a show for the crowd, and they delivered!

Kevin Fiscus, the current Drag Radial world record holder, came to Unleashed thirsty for another win, coming off of his last victory at Rockingham Civil Wars. During Friday's qualifying session, Kevin secured the #2 spot with a 4.50@178mph behind #1 Stevie Jackson. In eliminations, Fiscus breezed his way to the finals where he was paired against Stevie "Fast". Kevin saved the best for last taking the win with a 4.49@178mph to Stevie's 4.67!

Meanwhile, in the X275 class, Jeff Kyle was busy setting low E.T. in each round of competition. He qualified #1 with a 4.98@154mph, and ran consistent 4.90's throughout the eliminations. In the final race, Jeff went 4.98@153 to Jeff Wallace's 5.05!

Outlaw 10.5 racing was dominated by three drivers, all of which get their power from the PLR 670! In qualifying, Tim Lynch took #1 with a 4.23@187mph, Danny Lowry was #2 with a 4.27@185mph, and Jason Enos went 4.39@187mph! The semi-finals set up an epic, side-by-side race between Tim Lynch and Jason Enos. Tim went 4.41 to Enos' 4.43 with almost exact reaction times. Tim escaped elimination by a hair.

He later faced Danny Lowry in the final. Danny shook his tires and Tim took the victory with a 4.38@191mph.

First place winners in these NHRA Unleashed events receive the sought after Wally trophy. We'd like to congratulate Kevin, Jeff, and Tim (and their corresponding crews) for their achievements so far this year!

Coby Rabon at Carolina Dragway

Coby Rabon brought his PLR 670ci powered Pro Mod Mustang to Carolina Dragway last weekend. The Automatic Pro Mod class is growing fast and the competition is getting intense! We made a video highlighting some of the action. Enjoy!

Lynch, Fiscus Win at Rockingham

The Holcomb Motorsports Civil Wars at Rockingham Dragway was the center of outlaw drag racing last weekend. We anticipated this race since the day it was announced because we knew it would bring some of the North and South's best drivers together to put it all on the line.

Kevin Fiscus, driver of the Pro Line BBF powered 2002 Drag Radial Ford Mustang and the current 1/8th mile Drag Radial world record holder (4.33@180mph), made the long trip from Florida to North Carolina. The trip proved to be worth it. He started the weekend with a 4.60@176mph and a 4.57@175mph to take the #1 qualifier in the True Ten 5 class. In his 1st round bye run, he went 4.59@175mhp. He then knocked off Josh Gross with a 4.70. Amanda "Puddin'" Long stood in his way, but his 4.66@176mph run kept him in for the final against Keith Szabo. Szabo left the line first but his 4.69@169 wasn't enough as Fiscus drove around him with a 4.57@177mph! We're thrilled to see Kevin and his crew take home their first victory of the year and can't wait until the next time he's in action.

The Outlaw 10.5 class featured 5 Pro Line Racing customers: TJ and Tom Kasper, Jason Enos, Danny Lowry, and Tim Lynch, all of which are owners of the PLR 670ci engine. With a cast like this, records and personal bests were sure to fall.

TJ Kasper, of Gil Christy Motorsports, had a superb qualifying session. He went 4.27@191, 4.27@184, and his new best 4.182@187.81mph! Jason Enos made it all the way to the 2nd round of eliminations by beating Brian Penna with a 4.33@187mph. He faced Tim Lynch in round 2 but spun his tires and ended the weekend early. Tom Kasper of Gil Christy Motorsports was consistently fast with a 4.27, a 4.26, and a 4.22@189.26mph! He made it to the semis and came very close to taking a win against Lynch. Danny Lowry, of Griffin, GA was very hard to beat, as usual. He made several 4.20 passes including a 4.27, 4.24, 4.28, and his new personal best a 4.189@186.87mph!

Tim Lynch was the man to beat all weekend. He reset the national Outlaw 10.5 1/8th mile record with a 4.143@197.36mph!

He made some other great passes including a 4.16@196 and a 4.19@195! All of his efforts paid off in the end. Tim faced off against Danny Lowry in the final round. This was a side by side drag race to the end. Tim went a 4.24@188 to beat Danny's 4.28@184 for the win. What an awesome weekend! A new world record and two new drivers in the 4.1X club! Congratulations to all of the racers and owners!

Joe Gauci Wins Pro Street Shootout

As our engines continue to spread around the world, we get more opportunities to bring news and results back home to you. One of our Australian customers, Joe Gauci, once again showed his dominance in the Modified Street Blown class at the Pro Street Shootout in Willowbank, Queensland.

His blue Ford Cortina is fitted with a Pro Line Racing 370ci SBF and twin turbos. He started the weekend of right by qualifying #1 with a 7.58@194mph! Joe's performance was consistently fast throughout the weekend. During the first round they had a small electronics failure but still went an 8.24@170mph and won their matchup. In the remaining rounds he went mid to low 7.50's, which no one else could touch. Joe took home the victory and made it look easy.

Dillard and Petty Drag Illustrated Article

Lowry Wins Shakedown at Palm Beach

The 1st annual Shakedown at Palm Beach looked to be a beautiful 2 day race. However, the weather didn't cooperate and the rain extended the race to Sunday. This race showcased some of the top cars and drivers in doorslammer racing.

The Outlaw 10.5 class was full of heavy hitters, such as Tim Lynch, Tom and TJ Kasper, Danny Lowry, and Jason Enos. All of these drivers get their power from the PLR 670ci engine and they occupied the first 4 qualifying spots!

Danny Lowry, of Griffin, GA, qualified in the #4 position with a 4.27 at an amazing 191mph! In round 1 of eliminations, Lowry went a 4.41@184mph on a bye run. Round 2 matched him up with the always dangerous Rob Wells. Danny turned it up a notch with a 4.34@183mph and a .006 reaction time to take the round! In the semi-finals, he downed Craig Pio with a 4.35@184mph.

The final round of eliminations placed Lowry against Scott Filkins and his 68 Dodge Dart. Once the tree showed green Danny was gone. He went a 4.33@183mph to Filkins' 4.28. Danny's .004 reaction time won him the race on a holeshot!

Congratulations to Danny and his crew for their first win of the year! 

Eric Dillard Wins at SGMP

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia race at South Georgia Motorsports Park proved to have all of the action and excitement that we expected. Donald Long put together another race that didn't disappoint.

Pro Line Racing had a very successful weekend with Kevin Fiscus becoming the first Drag Radial car in the .30's and running a 4.33! Dave Hinzman runner-upping the Outlaw Drag Radial class and Eric Dillard winning the the Radial vs. the World class.

Eric Dillard made the trip down to SGMP early to test the Berry Motorsports 1991 twin turbo PLR 632ci BBF Mustang. During his first test pass, a broken transmission sidelined the car until race day. Once the race started, Dillard took the #2 qualifying spot with a 4.41@189mph! He sailed through eliminations and finished the night with another 4.41 against Scotty G and his nitrous Camaro. His lowest E.T. of the event was a 4.40 and the Berry Motorsports Mustang was a model of consistency. What a great way to kick-off the new race season.

SGMP Pre-Race Test Session

We are on site at South Georgia Motorsports Park attending a test and tune session for Donald Long's long awaited race, The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia. As more cars begin to roll in for testing, we are realizing that the competition is going to be fierce! With a large purse for the victor and bragging rights on the line, you can bet  that this race will be one to remember!

Some notable test passes include, Tim Lynch and Steve Petty's Corvette going 4.20, 4.20, 4.18 and 4.15@187mph! which tied their fastest run ever at E'town last year. Jere Etheridge came out and went a 4.52@173mph and Kevin Fiscus shocked everyone by running a 4.45@178mph on drag radials. That's just shy of the current record which currently stands at 4.40. 

Check out the video of these runs and stay tuned for more as this race weekend unfolds.

Update:

Kevis Fiscus just went 4.43@177mph! Keep it up Kevin!

Kevin continues to impress with a new record, a 4.39@179mph!

This test session has turned out to be a shootout! Fiscus says that a 4.39 wasn't enough and he blasts out a 4.33@180mph!

R2B2 Pro Mod News

recently shared an interview with Eric Dillard regarding the R2B2 turbo Pro Mod program.

Hard Work Pays Off

By Ian Tocher

When driver Eric Dillard rolled into Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR) with crew chief Steve Petty late last month, they probably were not the first choice among the gathered R2B2 Racing hands expected to make news in the extended test session.

After all, with Melanie Troxel also making laps for the Atlanta-based team in both a nitro Funny Car and a supercharged NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod, plus blown Pro Mod veterans Ray Commisso and Al Billes, turbo Pro Mod master Brad Personett, and, of course, team owner Roger Burgess on the PBIR grounds testing each of their R2B2 mounts, the competition for attention would be tough.

And at first it looked like the pair from Woodstock, GA, would just be making another few sorting-out passes, as they opened with a couple of tire shakers in a new ’53 Corvette built by R2B2 employee Jim Geese and carrying a twin-turbocharged, Pro Line Racing-built AJ 481X Wedge motor backed up by an OEM Turbo 400 transmission and fitted with a Pro Torque converter.

But on the last day of January the combination finally gelled as Dillard delivered a 5.88-second pass at exactly 255 mph, unofficially the second-fastest run in NHRA Pro Mod history behind only Personett’s 255.39 at the U.S. Nationals last September. That made everyone sit up and take notice until the next day when Dillard dropped the E.T. to 5.86 and then to 5.83 at just over 254 mph.

"I haven’t aborted a run and we’re more excited about that than anything else,” said Dillard, a co-owner at Pro Line, where Petty leads the company’s research and development efforts and serves as its primary tuning consultant. 

Remarkably, prior to beginning testing in the R2B2 Corvette, Dillard had made only five quarter-mile passes in a Limited Street car and had never before driven a “big-tire,” tube-chassis car.

“We started testing six months ago, but about the first four test sessions we had a lot of issues with the car and couldn’t even run it, so we really started testing the Monday after the (NHRA) national event in Charlotte; that was the first test session where we really got to make a lap,” he said.

Still, their first decent runs came very early this year at PBIR and resulted in a series of 6.13, 6.12, 6.11 and 6.09 passes, topping out at approximately 246 mph.

“We’ve actually been working on the Pro Mod deal for about two years now,” Dillard said. “We started with Coby’s (Rabon) car and then we met Roger (Burgess), he’s local to us, and we got the opportunity to go talk to him and show him what we can do and a year ago he gave us the go-ahead and now we’re finally getting it to all come together.”

And then, after four years of blown Pro Mod competition on the NHRA trail, Burgess strapped into the new, twin-turboed Vette Feb. 9, and promptly laid down a solid 5.95-second pass followed by a 5.92, both times going through the traps at 254 mph.

Obviously impressed, Burgess met later the same day with Dillard and Petty to let them know the new R2B2 plan is for him to take over the car for its competition debut Mar. 10-13, in the 42nd annual NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville, Florida, and he’ll drive it the rest of the year with Petty as his tuner.

The hard-working newcomers to the team won’t be left out of the mix, though.

“He (Burgess) is actually going to build me a new car in the R2B2 chassis shop and we hope to bring it out by the middle of the year and Steve (Petty) will be crew chief on that one, also,” Dillard said.

"Roger said he appreciates what we’ve done for him, so now he’s going to build us a ride and we’ll finish out the year with it and then take it from there."

"I’m really excited, man, I can’t stop smiling. It’s just that you always dream of something like this and now that it’s here we’re just trying to enjoy it."

~Drag Racing Online~

Andrew DeMarco Goes 7.22@193

The NMRA Super Street Outlaw class is about to have a new front-runner, Andrew DeMarco. In his 1986 turbocharged small block Mustang, he attended a test session at Palm Beach International Raceway this past weekend.

After several impressive runs, Steve Petty and Andrew were able to get the car to go 7.22@193mph! If this were an official race, it would have broken the current E.T record which stands at 7.33.

We, here at Pro Line Racing, couldn't be happier for him and we look forward to seeing what his recently rebuilt 414ci motor can do!