Daniel Pharris Racing Pro Mod And RVW At U.S. Street Nationals

If you want to advance your racing program leaving your car on jackstands or begging for rules to be changed on the internet won’t cut it — you have to get out and race. Daniel Pharris is ready to do just that by putting some laps in behind the wheel of Andrew Alepa’s C7 radial tire monster and his own Shelby Mustang Pro Mod to get ready for 2018 at Bradenton Motorsports Park during the U.S. Street Nationals.

Getting data early in the year is what can set the table for success and Pharris understands how critical this testing is. For several seasons Pharris and his team have made the trek to Florida to get their winter testing in and it has paid off. The team has already had Alepa’s Corvette out for some late season testing and plan on using the U.S. Street Nationals to address issues found in the most recent session.

Pharris is going into this race looking at it as a springboard for both teams into 2018.

“Our goals at every event are the same — be better when we pull out of the gate than when we pulled in. With Andrew’s car, build on the testing success and continue to make fast, consistent laps in preparation for Lights Out 9 just a few short weeks later. The Pro Mod had a tough season in 2017 but after a late-season test, we have found a few things that we can hopefully build on in testing and during the U.S. Street Nationals,” Pharris says.

Pulling double duty might seem like big challenge, but Pharris has surrounded himself with a great team on his Pro Mod to make the job easier.

“Andrew has assembled a great program there where all I have to do is walk over, put my seat belts on and do my thing behind the wheel. The teams behind the scenes are what makes my job much easier but I still like doing most of the engine maintenance on my car, as I’ve done for years,” Pharris explains.

Being able to race both cars at the U.S. Street Nationals will provide Pharris with valuable seat time in each of the cars. That type of experience is so valuable you can’t put a price on it and Pharris is well aware of that. Since both cars share the same engine and staging process there is little adjustment for him when he does strap in.

However, getting to race two cars at the same event does have its challenges, Pharris explains. “Rushing back from a run with one car and jumping into another will be a challenge, especially if we are lucky enough to get both cars into the late rounds. With being two different styles of cars, there will be a little downtime for track preparation to change it over from slick to radial prep so that will buy us some time.”

Getting both cars out at the U.S. Street Nationals will not only provide data, it is going to help the both the Pro Mod and Corvette advance towards their goals for next year.

“With the Pro Mod, our goal is to find our stride with that car and make a run at the Midwest Pro Mod Series, possibly hitting a PDRA or NMCA event along the way to gain more data. With the Alepa Racing team, of course, the goal is to be competitive and run up front. We’ve been close a number of times at Donald’s events and ended up winning the Outlaw Street Car Reunion in 2017. Our end goal with that car would be to win one of Donald’s events and be in the running at the Sweet 16 event in March with the $101,000 payout. Andrew puts a lot of faith into me to get the job done behind the wheel and we’ve assembled a team around the Corvette that will be tough to beat when we’re all on top of our game.”

Being able to shake off the rust earlier in the season at the U.S. Street Nationals will help Pharris stay ahead of the competition and find some speed going into the busy months. You can see Pharris take to the track at Bradenton Motorsports Park during the U.S. Street Nationals RIGHT HERE on SpeedVideo January 26-28. This broadcast is brought to you by presenting sponsor Mickey Thompson, along with ProCharger, Comp Cams, Strange Engineering, FuelTech, and Royal Purple.