Drag Illustrated Issue 152, January 2020 | Page 91

Champions
By Ian
Tocher
Ja n u a r y 2 0 2 0
AARON WELLS
Mid-West Pro
Mod Series
A
ll four 2019 season
championships for the
Summit Racing Equipment
Mid-West Pro Mod Series
(MWPMS) belong to family-based teams as
Aaron Wells prevailed in Pro Mod, Randy Mat-
lock won the X275 Drag Radial title, Earl Folse
took Top Sportsman honors and Dan Phelps
secured the Top Dragster title.
“Each one of our championship-winning
teams represents the family-friendly atmo-
sphere we like to promote and enjoy,” says
Keith Haney, MWPMS owner and competi-
tor. “And I know it can sound like a cliché to
say we’re all one big family at the racetrack,
but sometimes that’s really the best way to
describe things. I’m proud of what the Mid-
West Series represents and very proud that
each one of our 2019 champions exemplifies
those values.”
Based on the strength of four No. 1 starts
and two wins with MWPMS this season, Wells
wrapped up his first national championship
early in October, then punctuated the accom-
plishment one week later with another big vic-
tory in the inaugural Atomizer Racing Injectors
MWPMS Invitational, a non-points race held
within the NHRA national event at the Texas
Motorplex, near Dallas.
“The car’s consistency was great all year
long,” Wells says of his Jerry Bickel-built, screw-
blown ‘67 Mustang GT 500. “We had basically
a semifinal or better at every race, so I really
couldn’t have dreamed of a better season. It’s
been kind of like a fairy tale where nothing
really went wrong.”
With his mother and father, Becky and Steve
Wells, by his side at the track and wife Charity
at home with their kids, Tyler and Kenzie, Wells
freely admitted he couldn’t succeed in racing
without their help and support.
“I have to especially thank my wife, who is
basically a single parent most of the week be-
cause I’m always busy working on the car, the
number of hours that it takes,” he says. “She is
an exceptional person. I don’t know that I could
do what she does.”
He also credited engine builder Darren
Mayer, along with tuner Travis Cannon for his
success, as well as crewman Tanner Allison
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