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Pro Mod photo blog

As I said in my doorslammer blog, door cars are one of my favorite categories today. It is also one of the fastest growing categories in drag racing. While the IHRA is certainly going through a difficult time right now, the popularity of this category really started with this sanctioning body. The development of the Pro Mod class took on a life of its own as fans quickly fell in love with these wildly distorted replicas of our favorite cars from generations gone by. It began with a plethora of home and shop built fibreglass creations featuring every style and body shape imaginable with outlandish paint jobs that took your breath away.

Today, this class has evolved in to a highly sophisticated, big buck category where unbridled individual innovation and creativity has been left behind, replaced with cars fabricated by professional, highly specialized builders. There are less and less body styles as teams have determined that specific bodies like the '53 and '63 Corvette and '68 Camaros and Firebirds are the most aerodynamic. And as more money and focus has flowed in to the Pro Mod class, and the race to be the fastest and baddest door car on the planet has increased, so has the technology and costs to run these machines. This has spurred on new sub-classes. The IHRA and NHRA have very strict rules with regards to car weights, engine specs, fuel, etc. and this has proven to be too restrictive for some. New organizations like the ADRL are allowing a more open, run-what-you-brung policy and the car/engine/fuel combinations are even more extreme and volatile. For those who can not afford to run with the big boys, new door categories have been growing as well. Top Sportsman, Doorslammers and many others prefer the flexibility of dial-in racing so that they can build a car that is a little easier on the pocket book and still compete on race day. For me, I like them all. But after several years away from drag racing, it was a beautiful, sunny day at MRP featuring Pro Mods that recaptured my interest and I have never left the sport since!

2007 West Coast Pro Mod champ Joe Delehey switched from a Pro Mod pick-up to the beautiful '68 Camaro body. Interesting paint on this car as the stripes are designed to look like concrete, Joe's real business when he is not racing. A nice shot of Joe performing a strong burnout at MRP Another shot of Joe with the laundry out at the IHRA Edmonton Rocky Mountain Nationals. Another strong Canadian Pro Mod team, this time out of Ontario. Carl "Big Dog" Spiering has long been a serious competitor and has won several IHRA Pro Mod National events. This late afternoon photo from Edmonton has Carl pointed straight in to the sunset during a smokey burnout. Carl at the top end in Edmonton. Carl and his former sponsor Eaton Cutler Hammer really understood how to market around racing and were responsible for staging the greatest Pro Mod race ever at MRP. The stout 16 car field included Scotty Cannon, Rick Distefano, Glen Kerunsky and many others and resulted in a showdown like no other before or since. Carl set the track record at an amazing 6.032 seconds. puff of smoke comes off of Gary Mason's rear tires during a launch at MRP. This is not usually the sign of a good run as clearly traction is being lost. Four more West Coast Pro Mod '63 Corvette bodied Pro Mods. Lethbridge Alberta's Ross Hogenson hit the 60' mark at MRP with the wheels way up. He loves the traction and air at this facility. California's Rod Pearce look the same on the launch at MRP. Brian Lane heats the hides at MRP. The paint on this car is almost identical to Vogt's car A new car and a resulting 2008 West Coast Pro Mod Championship for Dan and Tim Vogt. The sleek, red Corvette body is framed by tire smoke in this shot at MRP in June The same run, but this time the car launches hard at MRP. It is absolutely baffling to me, given the quality of the MRP facility and the fantastic turn out and performances of the cars visiting it, that the stands are not routinely filled during major events. A NOS stand-out Pat Stoken has become a serious threat wherever he goes. Previously Pat ran the West Coast Pro Mod circuit but has been running the IHRA Pro Mod circuit more recently. A photo of Kenny with the parachutes out in Edmonton. Kenny Lang is one of the many teams carrying the JET Equipment and Tools banner and we, along with all Canadians, congratulate the entire team for their outstanding accomplishment. One of my favorite 2008 shots. These next four shots are actually a sequence from me and SpeedZone editor Dean Murdoch. The first three are Dean's and they highlight round one at Edmonton. Kenny was way late, and went the timers kicked in at 30 feet, the wheels came way up and stayed up for close to 200 feet based on the sequence. This one is Dean's favourite Pro Mod shot for the year. He said he gets lucky once in a while, and the reason he cycles his camera is for shots like this. The last two (from different angles) shots look like they were shot at exactly the same time (based on the guard wall advertising). Canadian Kenny Lang, out of Winnipeg made history last year, capturing the IHRA 2008 Pro Mod World Championship. Many Canadians have tried and come close before, but Kenny, along with legendary Canadian tuner Al Billes were the first to achieve this lofty goal. Shown here with the wheels up at the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals