WORLD SERIES OF PRO MOD 2018
PHOTOS : JOE MCHUGH
BRANDON PESZ
While many of the 26 World Series of Pro Mod drivers had over a month to prepare since their last race on the NHRA Pro Mod tour , the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Norwalk in June , the same cannot be said for Brandon Pesz . The Texas Pro Modified veteran and his Frankenstein Engine Dynamics ‘ 58 Corvette were on-track in St . Louis at the Mid-West Pro Mod Series race just seven days before WSOPM race day .
Adding to Pesz ’ s busy schedule for WSOPM Race Week was the fact that his car and the ‘ 69 Camaro driven by teammate Justin Jones still had to be converted over from their screw-blown MWPMS trim to NHRA-legal trim with a roots blower . Oh yeah , and they were being switched to electronic fuel injection with FuelTech ECUs .
Pesz had mocked up the hoses and fuel lines before St . Louis , then installed everything once he arrived at Bandimere Speedway . All this was in addition to standard eighth-mileto-quarter-mile changes , including transmission ratios , rear end ratios and converter pumps .
With EFI and FuelTech on the cars for the first time ever , Pesz and Jones made a couple planned early shut-off runs during testing before completely unleashing the supercharged beasts on Friday .
“ During the shakedowns , I went 6.08 on the first quarter-mile pass ,” Pesz said . “ Came back for the last run on Friday and went 5.96 . It went 3.89 to the eighth-mile , which was really good . I was very , very happy with that run since it was only the second full run with EFI .”
Armed with the data from two quarter-mile laps , Pesz went into eliminations with a conservative tuneup to record a 6.05 at 234.33 and beat his first-round draw , Aaron Glaser . A consistent 6.058 at 234.98 followed in the second round alongside Harry Hruska ’ s 6.183 at 241.28 , though such a consistent lap wasn ’ t exactly planned .
“ Harry was struggling a little bit , but at any moment he could run low ET of the event , so I didn ’ t take him too lightly ,” Pesz explained . “ I just kind of missed it on that run . I thought the sun was still going to be out when we ran , but the sun started going away and the track got really tight . Hell , I lost four hundredths at the 60-foot just because it dead-hooked the tire . I ran better out the back and it equaled another 6.05 .”
RICK DISTEFANO
Pesz took advantage of his quarterfinal competition single to load up an aggressive tune-up for the semifinals . Adding 8 points of ratio to the transmission helped Pesz pick up two numbers to the 330- foot mark over his 5.96 pass from Friday night . He clicked it off early to save parts .
Given the performance gains out of the gate , Pesz was fired up for his semifinal match with California ’ s Danny Rowe . His Corvette , however , was not so fired up . Multiple attempts to start it proved futile . Rowe and his Jimmy Rector-led team waited patiently on the starting line , but they were eventually given the “ single ” cue from the starter .
“ I felt I ’ d run a . 93 or . 94 in the semis against Danny Rowe , then it didn ’ t start . That still hurts ,” Pesz
admitted a month after the race . “ The jumper wire for the starter just pulled out of the weather pack fitting and it wouldn ’ t start .”
As frustrating as it was to be stopped in the semifinals by a loose wire , Pesz was deservedly pleased with the performance of his Frankenstein / Imperial Construction Corvette .
“ The most rewarding part was that we got the EFI to work out that quickly ,” Pesz said . “ That doesn ’ t happen very often , showing up to a race with a major change like that and having it go up and down the track without issues . Obviously I went there trying to win , but I would ’ ve been happy if it ran a 5-anything and if it ran at least 3.95 to the eighth-mile . We overly exceeded that , so it was very gratifying .” - NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
Making the tow in from Calgary , Alberta , Canada , was Rick Distefano and his shimmering ‘ 70 Camaro known across the West Coast as a strong turbocharged contender . After encountering issues during testing , Distefano went into his first-round race against Steve Matusek feeling slightly apprehensive . Still , the Canadian driver was fired up for the experience of racing at the World Series of Pro Mod .
“ This is an awesome , awesome race - the most fun I ’ ve had in a long time , even with all the problems we ’ ve been having ,” Distefano said . “ This reminds me of the street racing days . You don ’ t know who you ’ re going to race , you don ’ t know what they ’ re running , and it pushes everyone a little harder . It ’ s almost like playing poker . I know I don ’ t have aces , but I ’ m going to bluff as long as I can .”
Distefano wasn ’ t able to show his hand against Matusek , as the turbocharged Camaro didn ’ t build up boost and bump into the stage beam in time . Distefano was timed out and the tree dropped on Matusek ’ s side of the track , sending him on to a single victory .
- NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
October 2018 DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 87