THE CHAMPIONS ISSUE
GALOT Motorsports Park Mad Mule
Jay Cox
At the start of the 2016 season , GALOT Motorsports Park announced the Mad Mule Pro Mod Series . The new series was designed to include turbocharged , nitrous-assisted and supercharged combinations and featured a tight eightcar field . The series quickly exploded with an average of 20 Pro Mods trying to qualify at each event with an average bump spot of 3.86 seconds .
For Smithfield , North Carolina native Jay Cox , winning the Mad Mule championship had special meaning . The Mad Mule championship series gave Cox the opportunity to win close to home and shine in front of all his hometown friends .
“ Number one – GALOT is my home track right in my backyard and I have never had a track like that to race at ,” stated Cox .
Cox was on a mission to win , and he did just that in the first Mad Mule event where he defeated three of GALOT ’ s Pro Mod entries – tractor puller John Strickland , young Ty Tutterow , and PDRA Pro Boost champion Kevin Rivenbark .
“ I wanted to win all of them . We set out to win all of them , but we went down there and ran the
GALOT cars all three rounds and it was hard ,” Cox explained . “ I knew that if you were going to win you had to be on top of your game .”
Momentum was everything , and Cox did what he needed to do to win a championship : win rounds ! When rain shortened the season , it was a battle of Jay Cox and GALOT ’ s own John Strickland . In the final race of the 2016 Mad Mule season , Cox used the early season momentum to gain one more round win than Strickland , narrowly crowning Cox the champion .
“ You can go run all these series you want to run , but when you come to GALOT you have the baddest blower cars , the baddest turbo cars , and the baddest nitrous cars . They are all competing for one eight-car field and to come out on top at the end of the night , that ’ s an accomplishment .”
After the 2016 season was complete , Cox was thrown a curveball when his primary marketing partner , Bryant Marriner , announced he would not return for the 2017 season . Like a true champion , Cox is now more determined than ever to rise to the top again .
“ We are seeking sponsorship and if we get some sponsorship we are coming wide open ,” stated Cox . “ My number one focus is to win that deal ( Mad Mule ) at GALOT again . It ’ s my home track and I want to represent GALOT well as a champion . I want to represent all the people who work so hard over there ; Dana [ Strickland ] and Mr . Earl [ Wells ].”
The 2017 Mad Mule Pro Mod Series will feature three events in March , July , and November . The rules will remain the same as last year and the Shootout will once again feature an eight-car field .
- CHARLES MYERS DI
PHOTOS : AJ PINDER , JOE McHUGH
IHRA STOCK DAN YOUNG // IHRA QUICK ROD DAVE SCHMIDT // IHRA HOT ROD DENNIS CLARK // IHRA SUPER ROD JACOB ELROD
86 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 117