Pro-Mods at the Mopar Nats

GTXJim · Post by **GTXJim** » Tue Jul 29, 14 8:02 pm

Reading some of the comments about Pro classes at the Nats, just trying to judge who likes pro mods, I am very bias as I crew on Andy Robinsons Camaro, and we had a brilliant weekend qualifying No 1, running a new PB in this car a 6.15 and winning the final, couldn't ask for more.
I also had my own car there but broke it on the Friday after my first run.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue Jul 29, 14 8:08 pm

Loved them!

Not so sure about the Top Sportsman as there seemed to be endless practice / Qualifying rounds and a large field, but I think it was a real coup getting the Pro Mods at the Pod and I hope they will be back...

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue Jul 29, 14 8:12 pm

I must say that I saw a stunning drive from Andy when it went wonky-bent and he got it straight and then got back on it again and won the race; the guy has some serious Kahoonas.

I did congratulate him and he said (at the time?) it was a new PB for the car. Just brilliant.

Les Szabo · Post by **Les Szabo** » Tue Jul 29, 14 8:14 pm

Well no need to guess what I voted, they are a good addition to the Nats in my opinion, they don't take up too much time and are thrilling to watch, second best to Fuel cars. Get rid of the stupid burnout competition off the track and then you can all have some more racing. And yes Andy has certainly got a handle on the chassis now. Bad Luck on yours Jim

1 notable performance from Top Sportsman was a stonkin PB and a first 7.94 for Brian Pateman's Firebird!!

Les

RW71 · Post by **RW71** » Tue Jul 29, 14 8:38 pm

The Pro-Mods and Top Sportsman are great, just not at the Nats thanks.

db · Post by db » Tue Jul 29, 14 8:50 pm

Love 'em

TW71 · Post by **TW71** » Tue Jul 29, 14 8:58 pm

I admire and respect them (all the classes) but the Mopar Euro nats is ONCE a year event only. It felt hijacked to me this year.

Yes, change the place of the burnout competition.

Mossy68 · Post by **Mossy68** » Tue Jul 29, 14 9:03 pm

I enjoyed the pro mods. Good to see a round of quick cars.

I do think though , that as it's the Mopar Nats ( not GM,Ford ...)
Perhaps Mopars should have priority in the rwyb ???
A lot of mope owners would have surely been tempted to get out on track this being the case. I certainly would have.

As for oil downs. That's racing !
Yeah , it takes a while to clean up , but enough of a worry blowing your motor / trans let alone a slippery , debris strewn track !

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue Jul 29, 14 9:44 pm

I have to say that the Pod crew were brilliant on Friday evening when there was a big oil down and the track was scheduled to shut at 19:00. They GLUED the track at 19:00 and ran ALL the cars through, including the RWYB cars.

Shakey would have shut the track 2 hours earlier and would had emptied the fire up lanes.

I personally thanked a couple of the Pod crew and as ever they were completely professional. You can't ask for more.

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Wed Jul 30, 14 12:44 am

Pete has it nailed about ProMod yes, top sportsman no. I heard the ProMod class costs the Euronats a pretty penny to host, so the line that it brings in the money is invalid, does any paying punter turn up to the Nats because there is a round of ProMod?

cadboy · Post by **cadboy** » Wed Jul 30, 14 6:14 am

It was good to see the ProMod and yes it does give the racing a little more than the usual RWYB cars.

But may be there were too many qualifier rounds for them.

I sure enjoyed watching them and a lot of people around us enjoyed it too.

Turnip · Post by **Turnip** » Wed Jul 30, 14 8:22 am

Pete wrote:Loved them!

Not so sure about the Top Sportsman as there seemed to be endless practice / Qualifying rounds and a large field, but I think it was a real coup getting the Pro Mods at the Pod and I hope they will be back...

There was 1 test run for the bracket race when the track opened on Friday then straight into eliminations. And 1 qualifying run Saturday evening for the quick 16, then the eliminations on Sunday

autofetish · Post by **autofetish** » Wed Jul 30, 14 9:04 am

Move the burn out comp to the drift box that's near bar.

All that track time wasted to see what I did at B&Q car park when I was 16

Pro Mods YES

Top Sportsman YES

RW71 · Post by **RW71** » Wed Jul 30, 14 11:46 am

RW71 wrote:The Pro-Mods and Top Sportsman are great, just not at the Nats thanks.

After writing this, I looked up the entry list for the Pro Mod and Top Sportsman rounds. Eight Pro Mod cars were listed, which in hindsight I would say is an ideal amount. In those numbers they make for an interesting element for spectators without taking up too much track time for the RWYB guys.
The Top Sportsman round had thirty one entries listed. That must add up to a lot of track time and pit space.
As for the burnout contest, let them have the drift area to do what they have to do.
As I said before, nothing against the Pro-Mods and Top Sportsman cars, I think they are great. It's just that having been to every Nats since the beginning and seeing it change over the years, maybe it's just me hankering for the earlier grass roots style of the event.
Still a great event though, and the best part is the people, no doubt about that.

latil · Post by **latil** » Wed Jul 30, 14 11:59 am

There will always be oil downs whatever is running. We don't always see what happens and it can be an annoying mystery as to why the track is shut,take the nasty fire suffered by Andrew Wright (BA racing) that happened on shutdown. Seen the vid on facebook.
Perhaps the the downtime was exacerbated by the extra attention to detail needed for the running of much faster cars than we normally see. 30 odd top sportsman plus the pro mods adds up to 40 very fast cars needing special attention to the track. Safety has to be paramount.
It also adds up one hell of a lot of RWYB cars not getting in their runs,which is what the event is meant to be about.