That's all in one weekend!!

Well, racing has started with all guns blazing. Our Pro Line Racing teams got into the groove this past weekend.  Here are the highlights of two major race events, being the Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals at Orlando Speed World Dragway and NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem held at Bradenton Motorsports Park!

Highlights

Bahrain 1 Racing's Justin Bond – in only his fourth ever contest Pro Mod race, Bond debuted his brand new, Procharged PLR Raised Cam Hemi 1969 Camaro and set a new benchmark for Pro Mod, recording a 5.623 at 253.14 mph. It also qualified him in the No1 spot at the World Doorslammer Nationals at Orlando Speed World Dragway. He put away Steve Matusek and El General going through to the Semi-Finals, where he was eventually beaten by Todd Tutterow.  

Biehle Motorsport's Michael Biehle II – at the same event, Biehle continues to impress with his driving skills, taking out Stevie Fast with a marginal win in Round 1 and beat Jason Scruggs, who qualified in 2^nd spot, to the finish line in Round 2 earning himself a place in the Semi-Finals.  In the semis, Biehle went down to eventual winner Alex Laughlin but came away pleased with his results.

Rudolf Motorsport's Jeff Rudolf – meanwhile at the NMCA Pro Mod event in Bradenton Motorsports Park, Jeff Rudolf blew the front tire on his twin-turbo PLR Raised Cam Hemi 1969 Camaro SS causing Rudolf to have to pull some pretty spectacular driving skills.  He kept it from rolling onto its lid, but the Camaro suffered some cosmetic injuries that meant they weren’t able to front for Q2.  However, a truckload of people helped out the team so they were able to get back in Q3 and eventually qualified in number 9 spot recording a 3.797 at 215.55mph. Rudolph and team picked up a first round win against Tom Blincoe with a 3.76, but was eventually defeated by Eric Gustafson in a very close race 3.67 to a 3.74, only a .026 margin of victory thanks to Rudolph's .027 reaction time! 

Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals – Orlando Speed World Dragway

Monday, March 2^nd – the PLR teams of Biehle Motorsports, Artivinco Racing and Q80 Racing had a frantic test session over 3 days, making over 50 test runs between them.  When it came time to qualify they were joined by the Bahrain 1 Racing team of Justin Bond and Khalid Balooshi, and Kris Thorne Racing.   Thorne took possession of his brand new combination only days before and hadn’t even tested beforehand.

Qualifying was fast and furious, will little time between rounds. In Q2, the racing newsreels around the world were frantic when Justin Bond recorded the quickest time ever in NHRA Pro Mod history with a 5.626 at 254mph AND stepped it up slightly in Q4 with 5.623 elapsed time!  The final qualifying sheet had most PLR teams in the quickest Pro Mod field of all time and amongst the most successful Pro Mod teams.

On Sunday the weather was generally warmer.  Eliminations started late morning and our team continued to impress.

E1 Results

• Justin Bond (5.733) def. Steve Matusek (6.493)
• Q80 Racing Team (5.694) def. Rick Hord (5.801)
• Michael Biehle (5.738) def. Stevie Jackson (5.739)
• Frigo (5.713) def. Snider (5.699) – holeshot win with a .044 to a .104.

E2 Results

• Justin Bond (5.673) def. Q80 Racing Team (7.940)
• Michael Biehle (5.730) def. Scruggs (6.408)
• Alex Laughlin (5.825) def. Sidnei Frigo (10.008)

E3 Results

• Todd Tutterow (5.709) def. Justin Bond (5.687)
• Alex Laughlin (5.704) def. Michael Biehle (5.731)

The final round saw Alex Laughlin (driving for Caruso Family Racing) take the win over Todd Tutterow with a 5.67 to a 6.32 elapsed time.

51st Gatornationals - NHRA Pro Mod Powered by FuelTech

We now look to this weekend, Friday, March 13^th through to Sunday, March 15, when these teams fight it out again, competing in the NHRA Pro Mod presented by FuelTech USA in the 51^st Gatornationals in Gainesville Florida.