Car images credit: Marvin T. Smith

In September, Pro Modified veteran Dennis Radford made a post on his official driver page on Facebook that stated, “I treed, I out 60 ft him by alot, and I lost. Turbo cars sure can run the mph!!!!!!!!!”

At the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, Radford was paired up with Brad Personett and his turbocharged terror in the opening round of Pro Modified eliminations. Personett was the top qualifier, while Radford held down the bump spot. Looking to overcome the performance disadvantage, Radford did his job on the tree by grabbing nearly a tenth out of the gate, but his 854 cubic inch, nitrous-huffing combination just couldn’t fend off the 254 MPH blast through the back half from Brad’s ’68 Camaro.

Well, as the old adage goes; if you can’t beat them, join them. And in what has become a literal revolution in the class, Radford and many of his counterparts have done just that.

Although the news has been known for some time, Radford’s ’70 Duster was first spotted over the weekend, testing at the South Georgia Motorsports Park during the NHRA Division 2 Lucas Oil race in preparation for the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge opener this weekend in Gainesville. Gone is the monstrous 854-inch powerplant, replaced by a lesser cubed big block sporting a set of turbos out front. Noting the lack of an intercooler in the photos, one can surmise that Radford has opted for an alcohol-injection combination. With a handful of new turbocharged cars on the entry list for Gainesville, including Radford, Chip King, and Roger Burgess’ R2B2 entry, it should mark one of the more interesting events in Pro Modified history.