NHRA Pro Mod
Rickie Smith
No matter how many times Rickie Smith thinks he ’ s done racing , he just keeps coming back for more . The North Carolina drag racing legend has made multiple attempts at retiring from the seat of his nitrous-assisted Camaro , including after he won the 2015 PDRA Pro Nitrous world championship . Those who know Smith best knew better – he wasn ’ t going anywhere .
Sure enough , Smith kicked off the 2016 NHRA J & A Service Pro Mod season with a win at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville , Florida . He followed up his season-opening win with a runner-up finish at Houston and another win at Atlanta . A pair of number-one qualifying efforts and a second runner-up finish at St . Louis also helped Smith secure his third NHRA Pro Mod championship in four seasons .
“ We only have 10 races and when you only have 10 races you can ’ t get behind as it is hard to catch up ,” said Smith , who was also the NHRA champion in 2013 and 2014 . “ Luckily , we got off to a heck of a run this year . We went to three finals and won two of them and that got us a good cushion . We kept making rounds and just trying to be consistent on Sunday .
“ I was going to retire three years ago because I was ready . But you hate to quit when you are winning and doing this good . I know I ’ m going to have to quit one day but you can always quit , but you can ’ t always keep winning .”
The King , North Carolina native is prepared to keep winning in 2017 as he will debut a 2017 Camaro at the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals , March 17-19 . A fresh Pat Musi Racing Engines bullet will be between the frame rails , and a new look will be applied to the skin of the Jerry Bickel-built hot rod . Smith has shed the familiar red-and-white IDG scheme in favor of a vibrant , colorful wrap to reflect the rebranding of Hagemeyer-IDG into Vallen Distribution Inc . - NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
SCDRA SUPER COMP RYAN DIOSDADO // SCDRA NO ELECTRONICS CHRIS DAVIS // SCDRA STOCK / SUPER STOCK KEN ETTER
January 2017 DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 107