Drag Illustrated Issue 139, December 2018 | Page 22

Elite
16
Randy Merick
makes history with
$50,000 victory
he biggest single-event paycheck in eighth-mile Pro
Mod racing history was made out to Randy Merick Nov. 3, after
the Missouri-based driver outlasted a star-studded field in the
inaugural Elite 16 event presented by Elite Motorsports and the
Mid-West Pro Mod Series (MWPMS).
Merick qualified his supercharged, Larry Jeffers-built ‘79 Corvette fourth
before making it past three-time NHRA Pro Mod champ Rickie Smith,
former ADRL Pro Extreme champion Frankie Taylor and NHRA Pro Mod
winner Joe Baker. He then outran former U.S. Nationals winner Eric Dil-
lard in the $50,000-to-win final at the famed Texas Motorplex, near Dallas.
22 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 139
T
BY IAN TOCHER