Drag Illustrated Issue 149, October 2019 | Page 115

WORLD SERIES OF PRO MOD 2019
PSCA XTREME DRAG RADIAL JOINS
WORLD SERIES OF PRO MOD SHOW
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The Premier Street Car
Association made its World
Series of Pro Mod debut in 2019,
featuring the Xtreme Drag Radial
class. It was an exciting last-minute
addition to an already stacked event.
“Sporty Bandimere contacted me
approximately three weeks before
the race and asked if we would con-
sider doing it,” says PSCA founder
Mel Roth. “He got back to me a week
later and said, ‘if we can put it to-
gether, let’s do it.’”
Roth says teaming up with the
WSOPM was a great opportunity for
everyone to showcase the class on
the big stage, and resulted in records
both on and off the track.
“The racers getting to race in front
of huge crowds is something they’re
not used to,” says Roth. “Overall, with
the track prep, the 26 cars entered
– which was the biggest XDR field
we’ve ever had – the guys were able
to shine and break the class records,
and the rest is history.”
The most unique car on the prop-
erty undoubtedly belonged to Bran-
don McBride. The Denver native
brought out a 1974 Nissan Skyline,
boasting a 509ci 481X motor with
twin 88mm turbos. But most nota-
bly, the Skyline is right-hand drive,
meaning McBride sits on the oppo-
site side of the car.
After struggling in qualifying,
McBride entered Saturday sitting
No. 14. But on race day, he put to-
gether four straight passes in the
4.70s, culminating with a 4.78 in a
final-round win over Lance Knigge,
who spun at the hit. The win netted
McBride a $5,000 payday and the
title of first-ever XDR champion at
the WSOPM.
“I haven’t won a race in a couple
of years, so it was awesome,” says
McBride. “I got really close to the
left wall, but I stayed in it because I
really wanted to win. At the top end,
my dad, my sister and my brother-
in-law came and picked me up; it
was a huge party.”
It was a sweet ending for a driver
who’s faced a lot of adversity recently.
“I have done nothing but strug-
gle the last two years,” says McBride.
“For the first round of eliminations, I
just did a crazy 4-link change, shock
change, and tune-up change. It hon-
estly shocked me it went down the
track. I literally, from that point on,
didn’t touch the tune-up for the rest
of eliminations.” – CRAIG COOK
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October 2019
DragIllustrated.com
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