of the quickest runs of the weekend , but it did not come easily , and it nearly didn ’ t happen .

Latino appeared to be just another name on the list of 11 drivers who wouldn ’ t qualify for the 16-car Pro Mod field until he squeaked out a 5.855 in the third and final session . He edged out Chip King by one thousandth of a second to qualify for the quickest field in NHRA Pro Mod history .

“ We are upside-down with this car ,” Latino admitted Saturday afternoon . “ We struggled all week through testing and I wanted to give up . This morning , I hated this whole car and this engine combination . But we just kept working the transmission and working the clutch .”

Latino and his Northstar Battery 1969 Camaro lined up alongside Jackson in the first round of eliminations . Transmission problems prevented Jackson ’ s supercharged Camaro from backing up from the burnout and ultimately handicapped the newsmaker after second gear . Meanwhile , Latino laid down a 5.779 at 256.49 mph in what was loosely described as a message sent from Al Billes , Latino ’ s engine builder and supercharger provider , to Jackson ’ s crew chief , Mark Savage .

“ As soon as Al knew we were running ‘ Stevie Fast ’ and Mark Savage , who was Al ’ s student before he went out on his own , Al came over and said , ‘ Boys , we need to show the student that the teacher still knows more than the student knows .’ We worked on a tuneup and the car went 5.77 at 256 ,” Latino recalled .

A dramatic first-round win from the sixteenth spot wasn ’ t enough for Latino , though . He came back on Sunday afternoon to lay up a 5.727 at 256.36 in the second round . It wasn ’ t quick enough to overcome the significant holeshot and 5.758-second pass by Troy Coughlin ’ s turbocharged JEGS . com Corvette , but it was more than enough to reset the NHRA Pro Mod elapsed-time record . The race was also the quickest side-byside pass in class history .

“ We shocked ourselves ,” Latino said of the record performance . “ We struggled with the car earlier in the weekend . Ran the . 77 and thought that ’ s all we ’ re going to do , but then we put the same tuneup in it and it went 5.72 .

“ This car is new to us . We ’ ve made 22 hits on the car and didn ’ t make it down once – made one fluke shot in Orlando , went an . 87 at 252 and we

were excited .”

In addition to the efforts by Billes and Latino ’ s faithful crew members , he credited the sponsors and parts providers who aided in the substantial turnaround from admittedly disappointing finishes in 2016 to a record performance at the first race of 2017 .

“ We ’ ve just been trying new stuff ,” Latino revealed . “ JRi Shocks has been behind me since 2013 – we have the latest trick shocks on this car and it helped us a whole bunch . People think of headers as just bent pipe stuck in the car , but Kooks Headers built us a couple different sets of headers to run on the dyno up at Al Billes ’ shop over the winter , and that ’ s made a difference .

“ The components inside this car are top-notch . NGK spark plugs , Kendall oil , PAC springs , Manley valves , Diamond pistons , Total Seal piston rings , and MBE cylinder heads . I don ’ t care if anyone knows ; it was a big secret – we ’ re the first Pro Mod guys to run a Leanders clutch . We worked with Jorgen [ Leanders ] at preseason testing in Florida and got some professional advice from him . And here we are – 5.72 .”

Another impressive aspect of Latino ’ s Gainesville performance , while it didn ’ t necessarily affect the numbers on the timeslip , was the positive attitude maintained by both driver and crew through

eliminations . No one moped when they lost on a holeshot , nor did they grumble when NHRA tech officials showed up to inspect the McAmis-built Camaro after the record run .

“ The yellow-and-black boys came over and tore us down , went through the motor , blower , transmission and clutch – everything passed . We actually took videos and pictures with them all around the car saying , ‘ Please find something ’ – which they never did . I ’ d rather they do that than just let me put the car away and have people wonder if we ’ re legal or not ,” Latino reflected .

The incredibly promising numbers recorded during the season opener has Latino confident in his ability to run with the championship-caliber cars this season . He ’ s planning on running at least the first eight races on the 12-race NHRA J & A Service Pro Mod schedule , while his attendance at the final four events will depend on his position in the championship points standings . Latino can ’ t help but feel like he ’ ll be in the mix all season long , and his competitors feel the same way .

“ You know what was cool ? Mike [ Rees ], who is one of Troy Coughlin ’ s car chiefs , at the end of the track he said to us , ‘ Boys , I have this warm , fuzzy feeling that you guys are going to be a pain in our butt all year .’ And I said , ‘ Absolutely we ’ re going to be .’” DI

PHOTO : ROGER RICHARDS

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24 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 119