Drag Illustrated Issue 125, September 2017 | Page 63

poker faces that began to converge
around the starting line. With no
runner-up prize, no qualifying or
participation points to soften the
blow of defeat, the severity of the
event’s format had finally hit home
as the Matusek and McKune inched
towards the staging beams.
WITHIN A MATTER of hours, the
dream of Pro Mod’s biggest payday
an other-worldly well-prepared
racing surface, buzzing atmosphere
and bustling crowd was incredible
side-by-side drag racing. For a class
long since defined by shimmy-and-
shake, the on-track action was rep-
resentative of a brand of drag racing
that had seen unrivaled evolution
- all but two of the opening stanzas
resulting in a razor-thin victories
for Matusek, Mike Janis, Steven
cars had already recorded sub-six-
second times.
“We didn’t win the event, but
winning that first round - that was
everything to us,” tuner Mike Ja-
nis Jr. admitted to me, speaking
of the pairing of his father Mike’s
top-flight NHRA Pro Mod