The third annual Pro Mod vs. Fuel Altered Showdown was held over the 4th of July weekend at North Star Dragway in Denton, Texas.  This two day event is unlike any other and is the only place you’ll see a field of 30-plus Pro Mods and Fuel Altereds doing battle side-by-side as the gloves come off in this outlaw-style affair.  Fuel Altereds had taken the victory in the past two events, but a strong crop of Outlaw Pro Mods invaded North Texas looking to kick the Outlaw Fuel Altereds off the podium.  Event promoters had put in countless hours of preparation for this epic clash of the fastest cars in the southwest.  The time had come and the racers and fans were ready for what would prove to be a spectacular spectacle of horsepower.

Names like Brandon Pesz, Brandon Lewis, Gaylen Smith, Eric Clark, Steve Wiley and more represented the doorslammer side with a seventeen-car field of Pro Mods.  Multi-time OFAA series Champions Jimmy Jones and Bobby Marriott along with Terry Brian, defending series Champion John Broussard and many more made up a seventeen-car field of altereds looking to defend their crown.  The fields were even at seventeen apiece, but only the top twelve in each field would qualify after three sessions.  Those top twelve in each class would then be paired up Pro Mod vs. Fuel Altered in an immense twenty-four car first round line-up.  Buckle up; it’s going to get crazy in Texas!

Friday night hosted two rounds of heads-up qualifying with a Pro Mod in one lane and Fuel Altered in the other.  After two completed rounds, Pro Mods represented four of the top six elapsed times, led by Brandon Pesz’ 3.85 at 192 followed closely by Brandon Lewis’ 3.86 at 203 mph.  Gaylen Smith posted a strong 3.88 at 189 mph and Steve Wiley’s 3.92 at 189 mph rounded out the top performing Pro Mods on Friday night.  Fuel Altereds picked up the top spot with Terry Brian’s low elapsed time of the night, a 3.80 at 196 mph.  Eric Buchanan was the second quickest altered with a 3.88 at 170 mph and seventh through tenth quickest passes were occupied by Jimmy Jones, Donnie Massey, Ken Singleton and Mark Billington for the Fuel Altered side.

Friday’s qualifying action was topped off by exhibition runs from Tammy Gatlin in the “Black Ice” Jet Dragster as she posted the quickest run of the night with her 3.77 at 212 mph.  Ronny Young capped off the night with a header flaming pass under the lights in the famed “Blue Max” Nostalgia Funny Car as teams serviced their cars back in the pits for a big day on Saturday with a third and final qualifying session and eliminations set to kick off a six o’clock.

A capacity crowd filled the facility at North Star Dragway and the stands quickly filled as the call went out to bring the cars to the lanes for their final qualifying attempt.  Before the cars fired, everyone in the facility was treated to a very special aerial drop-in from Dana Bowman.  Bowman, a retired Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army, lost both his legs in a training accident as a part of the Army’s elite parachuting team, the Golden Knights.  Bowman became the first double amputee in history to re-enlist in the U.S. Army and is a true American hero.  This was Bowman’s second appearance at the Pro Mod vs. Fuel Altered Showdown and yet again delivered an emotional landing into North Star Dragway with the American Flag in tow to kick off Saturday’s festivities.

The bump spot in Pro Modified was a 4.60 heading into the final qualifier while the Outlaw Fuel Altered bump was set at a 4.10.  The Pro Mod field was in reach, but with hot conditions and track temperatures in the 130’s, the Fuel Altered bump was likely out of reach for those outside looking in.  True to expectations, some bumping in and out was seen in the Pro Mod field as Jay Ligon wheeled his blown 1934 Chevy truck to a 4.50, which bumped Dennis Hendrix from the top twelve doorslammers.  Despite their finest efforts, Shawn Davis, Darren Inman, Dwayne Muensterman and Perry Dunn joined Hendrix below the bump spot in Pro Mod.  Eddie Roach had a mid-track engine damaging backfire during final qualifying in his nitrous-assisted 1963 Corvette and first alternate Dennis Hendrix was inserted into the quick twelve Pro Mod ladder.

Nick Poloson, Anthony Whitfield, DoDad Burton, Jim Phillips and Raymond Dawson were all outside looking in headed into the final qualifying round and unfortunately no improvement was made by either driver to secure them a spot in the quick twelve Fuel Altered field.  Mark Billington, in his first appearance with the Outlaw Fuel Altereds, blasted to the number two qualifying spot with a 3.83 in the final qualifying round but burnt some pistons on the run which opened the door for Nick Poloson to slide into the field as the first alternate.  Clint Cross suffered mechanical damage as well, which brought second alternate DoDad Burton into the top twelve Fuel Altered chart as the ladder was now set for a wild twenty four car first round of eliminations.

All first round winners would return for the second round of twelve.  The two quickest winners from that second round would advance straight to the final in this semi-Chicago style affair.  In the first round it’s all about the win light, but in round two you had to lay it down big if you wanted a golden ticket to the final.  The call went out to bring them to the lanes for the biggest first round of Pro Mods and Fuel Altereds ever seen in history.

Eric Buchanan started the winning for the Fuel Altered side as his 3.87 at 185 mph knocked out Harry Crane’s nitrous-assisted Pro Mod Camaro, which was off pace at a 6.02.  Nick Poloson tallied another Altered win with a 3.89 at 191 mph, defeating yet another nitrous assisted Camaro, his victim being Doug Morales.  Steve Wiley notched the first Pro Mod tally in a lucky round, winning with a 4.68 over Doyle Smith, whose career-best 3.84 was wasted by a red light on the starting line.

Top qualifier for the Altereds, Terry Brian, was out next and thundered to a 3.80 at 179 mph to knock out Eric Clark’s 4.18 in his blown 1963 Pro Mod Corvette, which was in its competition debut after completion just a few weeks prior.  Bob Alexander muscled his blown first gen Camaro to a Pro Mod win with a 4.01 at 178 mph over Mary Reep’s quicker-but-losing 3.96 at 179 mph.  Bill Doucet evened the record with a Pro Mod win in Clayton Pool’s 1948 Willys as his 4.15 at 164 held off a close battle with DoDad Burton’s 4.18 at 179 mph.  Halfway through the first round it was an even tilt with Pro Mods and Fuel Altereds both claiming three wins.

As the opening round of eliminations continued, Jay Ligon snuck past a red-lighting Ken Singleton to put the Pro Mods in the round record lead as Ligon’s 4.50 won over Singleton’s quicker 4.03.  Donnie Massey evened the score with a nice 3.90 at 183 mph to take out James Satterwhite’s 4.35 as the last standing nitrous-assisted Camaro was now out.  Gaylen Smith wowed the crowd with a stellar 3.88 at 190 mph to move into the second round with his blown 1957 Chevy Pro Mod as he defeated Donny McSwain’s close 3.94 at 188 mph.

Brandon Lewis rolled out next in his blown 1957 Chevy Pro Mod and his 4.07 slid past John Broussard’s 4.00 as Broussard went red on the starting line, the third red light for the Fuel Altereds.  Bobby Marriott pulled off an upset for the Altereds as he took out Pro Mod top qualifier Brandon Pesz after Pesz had problems on the starting line and Marriott’s 4.09 at 177 advanced to round two.  In the final pair, Jimmy Jones evened the round record at 6-6 using a 3.93 to defeat Dennis Hendrix’s 4.67 as six Pro Mods and six Fuel Altereds were now ready to turn it up for a round two battle for a trip to the final.

Kicking off round two, Donnie Massey backed up his 3.90 from first round with yet another 3.90 at 183 mph to defeat Jay Ligon in the first pair as Ligon went red in his blown Pro Mod truck.  Terry Brian threw down his fourth pass in the 3.80 zone with a 3.83 at 194 mph to Doug Morales’ 4.14 as Morales was brought in as the quickest losing Pro Mod after Bob Alexander broke in his round one win.  Nick Poloson lit the scoreboards with a 3.92 win over Bill Doucet’s 4.38 as Fuel Altereds took the first three wins of the round until Brandon Lewis powered past Eric Buchanan.  Lewis’ powerhouse 3.85 at 204 mph held off Buchanan’s close 3.88 at 173 mph.

With two pair left in round two, Terry Brian’s 3.83 and Brandon Lewis’ 3.85 were the quickest two winning elapsed times with some heavy hitters still waiting their turn at the track.  Steve Wiley and Jimmy Jones were out next and Wiley took home the win here with a nice 3.89 at 190 mph to Jones’ red light, but Wiley’s 3.89 came up short for a ticket to the finals.  In the final pair, Marriott pulled to the beams against Gaylen Smith.  Smith took a slight starting line advantage but lost the blower belt at half-track while Marriott lit the boards with a 4.01 at 178 mph to take the round win.  Terry Brian and Brandon Lewis held strong as the two quickest winners and were now set to duel it out in the final round, Pro Mod vs. Fuel Altered style in Texas.

Between round entertainment was provided by continued passes by the “Black Ice” Jet Dragster and the “Blue Max” Funny Car with additional exhibition runs from Fred Farndon in the “Play It Loud” Nitro Funny Car, coupled with an awesome fireworks show between round two and the highly anticipated final round, which was rapidly approaching.

Lewis and Brian brought their cars to life to wrap up the 3rd Annual Pro Mod vs. Fuel Altered Showdown in a classic final round between a pair of cars that had lived in the 3.80s all weekend.  Brian rolled through the water and at the hit of the throttle problems were clear as the tires didn’t spin and Brian was forced to shut-off with transmission failure.  Lewis got the signal for a solo pass and looked strong as he left the line, then broke loose at half-track coasting across the finish line to a 4.92 at 101 mph.  This marked the first Pro Mod win in event history and brings the record to Fuel Altereds 2 – Pro Mods 1.

“This event is the most fun we have every year,” says winner Brandon Lewis.  “We know exactly where we’ll be every 4th of July weekend because this race is just so cool to be a part of.  My team battled through the weekend and I am very proud of the whole group, without them this car wouldn’t have performed the way it did.  I wish we would have had a side-by-side final, I was aiming for a low 3.70 pass as I’m sure Terry was, but to pull out a win for the Pro Mod side here this weekend means a lot and we’ll be back next year to defend it, you can bet on that.”

There were a total of thirty five three-second passes at this year’s event, by far the most in its three year history.  A stout thirty-four car field did battle for position with strong support from both sides.  The drag racing fans of North Texas were treated to a stellar weekend and next year will surely bring more of the same as the friendly Pro Mod vs. Fuel Altered rivalry is in full swing.