After Gators Crash, Janis Ready For zMax Return With Fresh New Look

Less than one month ago, veteran Pro Modified competitor Mike Janis was crawling from his battered and bruised supercharged Ford Mustang after a harrowing high-speed crash at the conclusion of a qualifying run down the Gainesville Raceway quarter-mile, during the annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals. Janis, one of the most respected and feared racers in the pit area, was unharmed in the incident but the same couldn’t be said for his race car after a roof-first impact with the guardrail at over 200 miles per hour and a subsequent upside down slide through the shutdown area.

While Janis’ weekend at the Gators had an unfortunate and costly end, a full month lie ahead to get the car back into fighting shape for the second event on the NHRA Pro Modified schedule – the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at the zMax Dragway in Charlotte, NC. Such a swift turnaround is plenty attainable, but the JAN-CEN Racing crew certainly had their work cut out for them.

In the days and weeks that ensued leading up to the Charlotte event, the Lancaster, New York racer received an outpouring of help from not only his crew, but close friends in the racing fraternity and the sponsors and manufacturers with which he’s associated to get back on track and in contention for the championship.

The result is a fresh and revamped race car – complete with a new white paint scheme with black striping.

“We couldn’t have gotten back on the track if it weren’t for the help of a lot of people. First and foremost, thank you to my crew for working countless hours getting everything ready to go again. A very big thank you to Dan Page Race Cars for getting this car back to us in just over two weeks – simply amazing the work that went into this,” said Janis.

“Our good friend Dave Lawler drove over a 2,000 mile round trip to drop off and pick the car up from Dan Page Race Cars in New Hampshire. Jim Geese from R2B2 Race Cars had one of the only Mustang bodies in stock in the country and he packed it up and got it shipped out to us,” said Janis, adding, “we also have to thank Scott Jahren Custom Paint, who turned the paint job out for us in less than one week’s time. I also have to thank Firecore Spark Plug Wires, Diamond Pistons, Total Seal Piston Rings, Nick Carleton Headers and Line 2 Line Coatings for getting us everything we needed to get back on track.”

Along with a new-look race car, Janis also picked up sponsorship support from Flying Hammer LLC for this weekend’s event in Charlotte. Flying Hammer, owned and operated by Clark and Tom Olson, is a full service hot rod and race car fabrication facility located in Iron Station, NC that specializes in sheet metal fabrication, repair and customization on old and new cars, trucks, and race cars, along with full chassis construction.

“Clark and I go back over 30 years and for him and Flying Hammer LLC to step up in this rebuilding phase and time of need; words cannot express how thankful this team truly is. With their support we are now able to attend this race in Charlotte and try to put a Wally not only back in Elma, NY, but also on the shelf in North Carolina,” said Janis.