Meltdown at Texas Raceway

Text by Celeste Smith ~ Photos by Chris Graves

Gene Hector's brough out his old Corvette and proceeded to win the race at Texas Raceway.

Well, this month we were not dodging rain or lightening strikes on Friday but we were trying to dodge the heat. Mother nature has been relentless with the heat and Friday night Pro Mods was no exception. 15 teams melted into Texas Raceway in Kennedale, America hoping to come away with the crown but only one team would do that. Here's how everything unfolded:

After a top-end crash during a test session in Topeka, KS while attending the ADRL race, Ken “Bad Bird” Thomas wounded the bird beyond immediate repair so they started trying to figure out what they were going to do in order to defend their points lead at the upcoming Texas Raceway TOPMA race the following weekend.  Most of the Thomas Motorsports team headed home Friday night and began taking the “bad bird” apart on Saturday & Sunday.  Monday morning they were at LenMar Motorsports to pick up the ’67 Mustang previously piloted by Grant McCrary with a twin turbo charged power plant between the frame rails.  Once Gaylen and the guys removed the turbo charged motor, Ken and Susan loaded up the Hell Hoss Mustang and headed back to Mt. Pleasant where the endless nights began. 

Ken and the crew worked day in and day out fitting the AJ Wedge headed motor between the frame rails of what now is the “Bad Hoss” Stang.  Friday rolled around before they knew it and they loaded up the Bad Hoss Stang and headed to Texas Raceway in hopes of defending their title.  After putting a few finishing touches on it, Ken headed to the starting line to set the wheelie bars and try to corral this HOSS down the 1/8 mile racing surface.  To everyone’s amazement, the Bad HOSS Stang cruised right down the center of the lane clocking a 3.98 at almost 180 mph on a check-out pass before qualifying.  The team was jumping for joy and knew their hard work & tireless nights had paid off.  Now it was time to qualify with the rest of the cars and see what happens. 

Mr. Consistency clocked another 3.980 at 181 mph to take the pole position.  The number 2 qualifier was Gaylen Smith with a 3.995 at 189 mph.  This team has really stepped up their performance this year and that’s why they are leading the TOPMA points now.  The number 3 spot was held by Gene Hector with a 4.021 at 179 mph in the OLD Small Block Mafia car.  This ole girl is not ready to be put out to pasture yet, guys.  Breaking into the top ½ of the field is veteran nitrous racer Doug Riesterer with a 4.027 at 183 mph.  Doug has had some unfortunate luck this season but the car seems to be performing better than ever now.  The number 5 spot was held by Frankie the “Mad Man” Taylor with a 4.193 at only 155 mph.  This team is not normally in the bottom ½ of the field but Frankie and Paul have been struggling to find the sweet spot that this C5 monster Corvette likes on this track.  They’ll get it figured out.  I haven’t seen this team struggle long. 

While Steve Wiley is getting the Texas Grim Reaper back together after torching one side of the motor earlier this year, Jimmy Hector comes to the rescue to let Steve keep his points position alive and he holds the number 6 spot with a 4.199 at 173 mph.  Michelle Wilson normally runs the skinnies while competing in the Extreme 10.5 class at all the ADRL events but she dusted off the big tires to come play with the big boyz and claimed the #7 position with a 4.291 at 168 mph (Girl Power!).  Rounding out the top 8  is David Baldwin driving the Butler Motorsports ’63 Corvette and he clocked a 4.344 at 163 mph to claim the number 8 position. 

Just missing the field was Jackie Deaver who had been working through the night to get his nitrous entry ready and only got one shot at qualifying for the top 8.  Jackie made several changes on the car and needed the first run to help get the “Underdawg’s Revenge” into the top 8 but father time wasn’t good to him as he barely made it for the 2nd qualifying attempt.  He’ll be ready for next week, you can count on that.  Other drivers on hand that didn’t make the field were Chuck Poindexter 4.741 at 147 mph, Randy Rencher 4.863 at 149 mph (new member – Welcome), Kevin Hargett 5.638 at 111 mph, Rickey Cate 6.136 at 76 mph driving a new entry while his motor is getting fixed, Chuck Nuytten 8.171 at 112 mph (Nice save Chuck) and Steve Gorman 9.659 at 73 mph.

Ken Thomas brought out the Hell Hoss and it lived in the threes and lasted until the finals falling to a Gene Hecotr holeshot.

First Round:

Doug Riesterer (W) 4.024 at 182 mph (.015 RT)
Frankie Taylor (RU) 3.939 at 189 mph (.146 RT)

Frankie finally got the Corvette to go down the track under power but Doug gets a huge holeshot advantage and takes the win.

Gene Hector (W) 4.124 at 159 mph (.033 RT)
Steve Wiley (RU) 4.759 at 111 mph (.033 RT)

Both guys had identical reaction times, but Steve Wiley encountered traction problems and had to abort the run while Gene cruises his "OLD" car down track and takes the win.

Gaylen Smith (W) 3.993 at 190 mph (.083 RT)
Michelle Wilson (RU) 4.332 at 145 mph (.037 RT)

 Despite her starting line advantage, Michelle couldn't hold off the hard charging HEMI HELL FISH Cuda driven by Gaylen Smith.

Ken Thomas (W) 3.963 at 182 mph (.074 RT)
David Baldwin (RU) 4.332 at 162 mph (.072 RT)

Both cars left virtually the same but the newly acquired Bad Hoss Stang driven by Ken Thomas was on a mission tonite and claims the victory with yet another stellar pass.

Doug Riesterer made the trip to Kennedale lasting until the semis running low fours.

Semi Finals:

Ken Thomas (W) 3.991 at 181 mph (.056 RT)
Doug Riesterer (RU) 6.456 at 69 mph (-.058 RT) Red Lit

I'm not sure if Doug saw the red light and lifted or if he had traction problems but this LenMar sponsored entry -vs- LenMar sponsored entry was won by Ken Thomas in the "BAD HOSS" Stang.

Gene Hector (W) 4.004 at 180 mph (.017 RT)
Gaylen Smith (RU) NT

As soon as Gaylen unclutched the Hell Fish, the "drive train" (Quill shaft) in the blower let go and he was dead in the water coasting to a stop mid track. Gene had a great reaction time and never looked back.

Finals:

Gene Hector (W) 3.981 at 179 mph (.021 RT)
Ken Thomas (RU) 3.949 at 183 mph (.084 RT)

Congratulations to Gene Hector and the Small Block Mafia crew for their victory (in the back-up car). Your win was long overdue.

Congratulations also to Ken & Susan Thomas and the Thomas Motorsports crew for your STELLAR outing after working day and night getting things ready in less than a week. I applaud you guys. At the end of the night, Gaylen & Ken are now tied for 1st place in the TOPMA point chase. Game On.......LOL.