CLASS VETERAN CLINT SATTERFIELD IS AMONG
THE NUMEROUS PRO MODIFIED RACERS WHO’VE
SET ASIDE THEIR TYPICAL POWER ADDER OF
CHOICE TO DIP THEIR TOES IN THE CENTRIFUGAL
SUPERCHARGER WATERS THIS SEASON.
throaty, deafening roar overcomes the Darlington
Dragway starting line as John Strickland and
Kevin Rivenbark bring their ProCharger-boosted GALOT
Motorsports ’69 Camaros to life and rip through the
water box. It’s the Pro Boost final round at the PDRA
Carolina Showdown presented by ProCharger, and it’s
the realization of the GALOT team’s dream they had late
in 2018 when looking for a combination that would put
them on the leading edge of the competition while also
offering a more manageable program.
In the first all-ProCharger final in PDRA Pro Boost
history, Strickland scored the victory over Rivenbark, the
defending world champion. Strickland used a holeshot
advantage and 3.668 at 202.16 mph to finish ahead of
Rivenbark and his 3.684 at 203.71. It was their first time
meeting in a final round since their dominant 2016 season
when Todd Tutterow oversaw their roots-blown program.
Even with the success the duo had with the roots
combination in 2016, they were looking for something
different in 2019 and beyond. As it turns out, ProCharger’s
brand of centrifugal superchargers was exactly what
they needed.
“I enjoy the ProCharger a lot more than the roots,”
Strickland says. “The roots was really strong out of the
gate, then always kind of laid over and you felt like you
wanted to throw your foot out the door and give it a little
push out the back. This thing, from start to finish, it
just feels like it pulls all the way through. It’s so exciting,
especially on a pass like that [3.66]. It holds you back
the whole time.”
Strickland and Rivenbark are just two drivers of the
many across numerous categories who have turned to
ProCharger and Vortech, ProCharger’s biggest competitor
in the centrifugal blower arena, for a power adder that
offers valuable qualities in classes ranging from high-level
Pro Modified racing to fast bracket racing.
Racers using every other power adder – nitrous oxide
injection, turbochargers, roots blowers and screw superchargers
– have made the switch to centrifugal blowers,
which prompts some big questions. Why? How has the
centrifugal supercharger, which was first conceptualized
at its most basic level in the early 20th century, started to
take over drag racing? Why are so many racers making
the switch? What’s next for the platform?
To get the answers to these questions and more, Drag
DragIllustrated.com
83 Drag Illustrated