Drag Illustrated Issue 152, January 2020 | Page 84

[ PRO BOOST ]
Kevin Rivenbark
A
s the 2016 world cham-
pion in PDRA Moroso Pro
Boost, Kevin Rivenbark
had no problem dealing
with the pressures of chasing a champion-
ship in the PDRA’s quickest and fastest class.
But this season was assuredly different than
the dominant season when he won six races
and his GALOT Motorsports teammate, John
Strickland, won the other three races on the
then-nine-race schedule.
No, this season was a fight with arguably
the most competitive Pro Boost field in PDRA
history. Rivenbark had to contend with rook-
ie Kris Thorne and his twin-turbocharged ’16
Corvette, as well as outgoing champion Tommy
D’Aprile in his Al Billes-tuned, roots-blown ’69
Camaro. Plus, Rivenbark switched over to a
ProLine-prepared ProCharger combination for
2019 after several seasons with a roots blower.
The move paid off in a big way.
“When [ProLine Racing co-owner Eric] Dil-
lard and I first talked about this, I thought it
was a great thing,” Rivenbark remembers, “but
he said, ‘Don’t have any great expectations – I
don’t know what’s going to happen.’ It definitely
turned out a lot better than we could’ve ever
expected. And I was glad because Mr. Wells
would’ve never let me live it down.”
Rivenbark is referencing Earl Wells, who
along with his wife, Peggy, owns GALOT Mo-
torsports and the team’s GALOT Motorsports
Park in Benson, North Carolina.
“I want to thank Mr. Earl and Peggy Wells
for giving John and I the resources to be able
to do this,” Rivenbark said. “Without them, psh,
we’d be lucky to have Jr. Dragsters.”
Outside of PDRA competition, Rivenbark put
radials on his ’69 Camaro and won a $101,000
payday at Sweet 16 2.0 at South Georgia, provid-
ing a major boost to motivate the Steve Petty-led
team going into the PDRA season. Rivenbark
started his championship season with a win
at GALOT at the season-opening East Coast
Nationals. He didn’t win again until the Fall
Nationals at Darlington, though he notched a
runner-up finish at the Northern Nationals.
Rivenbark was locked into a tense battle with
Thorne, who beat him in the Ohio final, going
into the World Finals at Virginia. Thorne needed
to gain a good bit of ground on Rivenbark, but
Strickland in his similar ProCharger-boosted
GALOT ’69 Camaro put a stop to that with a
strong 3.63 to Thorne’s 3.65 in the second round.
“In 2016, we won all the races and I didn’t
have as much pressure on me then as I did this
year,” Rivenbark explained. “It came down to the
wire in Virginia. As Mr. Wells would say, John
picked up my slack and took out my competi-
tion, so I have to thank him for that.”
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
By Nate
Van Wagnen
Jimmy Ålund
84 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
FIA PRO STOCK
//
Sandro Bellio
FIA TOP METHANOL
Issue 152
Champions
The Champions of 2019