Drag Illustrated Issue 118, February 2017 | Page 34

DI WORLD SERIES OF PRO MOD
is the use of shakedown runs instead of quali-
fying sessions. The scoreboards won’t be
turned on until the final round, leaving fans
and teams to guess what the cars are running.
Why leave out the details – the incredible
numbers these cars are capable of producing
– when these performances are usually so heav-
ily promoted? you won’t know what one racer ran compared to
another. Usually when a lower qualified car faces
a higher qualified car, it’s a foregone conclusion
that the higher qualified car will probably win –
and it’s big news when they don’t. How cool is it
that we’re going to ensure that uncertainty exists
for every matchup?
Some people have asked why you’re holding
this race at a high-altitude track like Denver
as opposed to a track with ideal conditions.
For me, another way to build excitement is
to create some mystery. While it’s important to
control certain things, it’s also important to allow
there to be some imagination involved; to allow
people to wonder. I’m interested to see how the
fans will respond to really not knowing how fast
these cars are running until it’s time for the racers
to show their hands. We all know they’re five-
second cars producing 250-mph trap speeds, but Why did you choose Bandimere Speedway to
host the WSOPM?
Because Sporty Bandimere and everyone in-
volved at Bandimere Speedway believe in what
we’re trying to accomplish here. They share my
vision for creating a drag racing entertainment
property that involves a tight, concise show cen-
tered on Pro Mod drag racing. They also share
my belief that Pro Mod is a headlining attraction
Pro mod to pro street
– not an afterthought or show filler. The Bandi-
meres are my kind of people, and I couldn’t be
more excited to be partnered with them for this
event – and hopefully many more.
There are a couple sideline factors in the de-
cision. Denver is one of the most aesthetically
pleasing, magical dragstrips that I’ve ever been
to – and I’ve been to a lot of dragstrips. It’s so
picturesque. It’s a perfect venue for the WSOPM.
And the Bandimeres have a proven track record
of packing the stands at big
events. They have a great
promotional team with a
strong strategy.
Another thing, and this
was something kind of point-
ed out to me after the fact, is
that hardly any of these rac-
ers have any experience on
the mountain. You’re talking
10,000-feet of elevation. We
could’ve done this race at sea
level at a track these guys
have raced at before, but this
is more fun. No one knows
what to expect. The closest
these guys have been to rac-
ing on the mountain is maybe
Las Vegas. It will be very in-
teresting to see how everyone
handles the elevation.
The high altitude will
obviously affect the three
different power adder com-
binations differently. How
do you plan to combat that?
Obviously, I want to have a
hyper-competitive race, and
it’s very important to me that
we make the minor adjust-
ments to the established
NHRA Pro Modified rule-
book to account for the conditions. It’s critical
to make those adjustments to ensure we have a
level playing field between the nitrous cars, the
turbocharged cars and the supercharged cars. I
believe in a unified set of rules for Pro Mod, and
want to support what NHRA is doing by utilizing
their rule set. We will make extremely minimal
changes to the rules to account for the elevation,
and that’s DI it. DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
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34 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 118
Dirt