If you missed it over the weekend, the NHRA E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod Drag Racing Series endured one of its most destructive days Sunday at the NHRA Heartland Nationals in Topeka, Kansas when four top-flight machines in the category were heavily damaged in three separate incidents.
Jeremy Ray’s horrific single-car crash kicked off the opening round of Pro Modified in grim fashion, but just two pairs later, following a lengthy clean-up, disaster struck again as door slammer racing veteran Todd Tutterow lost control of his Al-Anabi Performance machine and careened into the driver’s side of Steven Whiteley’s Camaro at over 200 mph.
#HeartlandNatsTodd Tutterow’s Pro Mod car got out of the groove and drifted right into Steven Whiteley’s car just past the finish line during eliminations at the Menards #HeartlandNats presented by Minties. #WildWednesday
Posted by NHRA on Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Tutterow, better on both ends of the racetrack—even despite the slowing 223 mph trap speed as he pulled the parachutes to regain control—was well out on Whiteley. Tutterow’s machine drifted left of the groove into the marbles and shot across the racetrack, making major contact with Whiteley’s J&A Service Camaro. As you’d expect with carbon fiber composite bodies, the initial impact tore the bodies free from the cars like wet toilet paper, even buckling the roof away from the chassis on Tutterow’s car.
Fortunately both drivers quickly emerged from the wreckage without injury. Ty Tutterow confirmed to Dragzine that their team will have a car prepared and ready for this weekend’s Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee. Sources indicate that Whitely will be back behind the seat of the Cadillac CTS-V he had piloted in previous seasons.
Jeremy Ray confirmed to Dragzine that he hopes to return at the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend.