Drag Illustrated Issue 149, October 2019 | Page 111

WORLD SERIES OF PRO MOD 2019
JB STRASSWEG
PRO STAR
SHOOTOUT
WINNER
■
The Top Dragster and Top
Sportsman community start-
ed buzzing when it was announced
that the two classes would race for
a historic $10,000 prize at the
World Series of Pro Mod this year.
The big money and high-profile
event drew 43 competitors from
nine different states, each fighting
for one of 16 spots in the Magna-
Fuel Pro Star 16 Shootout present-
ed by Menholt Auto Group.
NHRA Division 3 star JB Strass-
weg was one of those out-of-state
racers drawn in, but it wasn’t his
first World Series of Pro Mod ex-
perience. Strassweg watched the
inaugural event from the grand-
stands in 2017 and just knew he
had to bring his nitrous-fed Meyer
Distributing dragster out to Thun-
der Mountain.
“We came out and spectated for
the first year and were like, ‘That is
the coolest event we’ve ever seen.
If we ever get an opportunity to
race there, we’re absolutely going
to go,’” Strassweg said. “When Wes
announced that they were going to
pay what they paid to win, I’m like,
‘Oh my gosh, we absolutely have to
go.’ So we did it and I’m glad we did.”
Strassweg’s decision to make
SPORTSMAN
the trip to Denver from his home
in Evansville, Indiana, paid off in a
big way. He qualified No. 8 with a
6.292 at 210.34 in his Oakley En-
gine Performance-built 706ci-pow-
ered Undercover dragster.
The Division 3 championship
contender stayed in the high-6.20s-
low-6.30s range through elimina-
tions, first taking out San Diego,
California’s Steve Schneider before
knocking out Colorado residents Joe
Percoco and David Oenes en route
to the final round, where he met up
with EmiLee Novak.
It was nearly a heads-up race, as
Strassweg went .001 on the tree to
Novak’s .004. Both drivers broke out
on the top end, but it was Strass-
weg’s 6.288 at 211.63 on a 6.29 di-
al-in taking the win over Novak’s
6.269 at 220.66 on a 6.30 dial-in.
“The final was absolutely chal-
lenging,” Strassweg said. “Not that
any of the other rounds were any
less. EmiLee and I race together
in Division 3 and I knew she’d be
tough. I set up as close to perfect
as I was comfortable doing and
came out on the winning end of
it.” – NATE VAN WAGNEN
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
EMILEE NOVAK
PRO STAR SHOOTOUT RUNNER-UP
■
The World Series of Pro
Mod is more than just a race
for EmiLee Novak and her Fair-
fax, Iowa-based family. She’s been
coming to Bandimere Speedway
since she was eight years old, first
watching her older sister Ashley
compete at the NHRA Jr. Drag
Racing League’s Western Con-
ference Finals, then competing
herself. EmiLee and her parents,
Shane and Wendy, see the WSOPM
weekend as a vacation of sorts, tak-
ing some pressure away from the
situation and allowing EmiLee to
remain calm in the pressure-packed
eliminations with $10,000 on
the line.
Novak, who’s entered the Pro Star
16 Shootout all three years, exceled
on race day after qualifying her su-
percharged, American-built drag-
ster in the No. 10 spot. She had the
quicker reaction time (.006, .027
and .008) in the first three rounds
and ran 6.308 on a 6.29 dial, 6.309
on a 6.30 dial and 6.312 on a 6.30
dial to defeat Casey Tehle, Billy
Joe Verkler and Ross Gregory, re-
spectively.
The 22-year-old graduate stu-
dent had two years of WSOPM
data on her final-round opponent,
first-time WSOPM competitor JB
Strassweg, but Novak knew the Top
Dragster veteran had many more
years of general racing experience
that would make for a challenging
final round.
“Being at Bandimere racing JB
Strassweg in the final round? I
would’ve never in a thousand years
put myself in that situation,” No-
vak said. “I couldn’t have asked for
a better final round against a better
opponent. I look up to JB. He’s an
amazing driver. I was just honored
to even be in that final round with
him. I was happy regardless of the
turnout before the race even start-
ed. I honestly feel like I won that
weekend. I know I didn’t win that
final round, but it was such a re-
warding experience for me to have
those moments with my family and
the people I race against.”
The final round was a fitting end
to an incredible day of fast bracket
racing, with both finalists having an
equal amount of respect for each
other and an understanding that
either driver was capable of throw-
ing down a tight package.
“Having all those consistent,
good lights all weekend definitely
helped keep me calm and motivated
throughout the whole way,” Novak
said. “But that .004 against JB, I was
just as surprised as probably anyone
else. When you’re lining up against
someone like JB you know he’s going
to be on the ball, so you’ve gotta be
on the ball too. I was just proud of
myself that I did what I had to do.
It wasn’t everything, but I felt like
I did my job.” – NATE VAN WAGNEN
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
October 2019
DragIllustrated.com
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