Billy Harper Takes NEOPMA Pro Mod Win At Maple Grove

(Mohnton, PA. 8-27-2016) The Annual “Rumble At The Grove” with the NEOPMA Pro Mods kicked into high gear returning to Maple Grove for a single day points outing for this high powered group of racers. The organization was met on Saturday morning with a clear forecast and oppressive heat upwards of 94 degrees. A smaller than normal field was on track to work towards the end run to the back half of the NEOPMA Pro Mod points championship. With Kevin McCurdy leading all others, Dwayne Wolf and Fredy Scriba are in a position to challenge McCurdy for this title at this point in the schedule.

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A brief Friday test session proved positive and the track was tight for stout numbers in the sizzling heat for the AM qualifier.

Qualifying Results:
1: Billy Harper 6.024 @ 242, fresh off his 2016 IHRA Championship would set the stage posting both top ET and high MPH after two sessions. The wicked black Sonny’s Racing Engines powered Dodge Viper looked formidable and quite happy in the heat.
2: Kevin McCurdy 6.055 @ 238. McCurdy drove the McAmis Camaro to a strong number as the blower car struggled to get that extra HP in the super-heated air.
3: Fredy Scriba 6.089 @ 235. Scriba had the candles lit on this pass as he drove through tire shake rowing gears into a strong placing in the ladder, The “Sorcerer” Vette was happy and all 903 cubes of nitrous fed Fulton was like music to the fans ears.
4: David Norris 6.097 @ 235. Norris and his team put down some great passes to finish in this spot. The blown “Millerstown Parts Group – MPC” Camaro was easily moving down the track and definitely had more in it.
5: Steven Assenmacher 6.298 @ 221. Steven put the Fulton 738 through the traps on a blistering run; this car is one of the quickest legal 738’s in Pro Modified.
6: Tyler Hard 6.405 @ 232. Last year’s NEOPMA Points champion was struggling with tire shake on both passes. Hard drove through leaving two thick lines nearly the length of the quarter mile.

7: Allan Juhasz 6.651 @ 207. Allan has been gaining ground on this new car. One of the smallest engines of the series racers it’s been a struggle to get all the wanted power into a full pass but he has a strong set of tools at his disposal in the tuning area.
8: Angela Ray 6.802 @ 143. Coming of a stellar win at Capitol Raceway last month running consistently in the high five seconds, the blown Hemi decided to give up a head gasket and torch the head ending her day.
9: Dwayne Wolf 10.563 @ 86. One of the strangest things that could happen did for this strong running team. On its qualifying pass after a great session in the 6.0’s testing Friday Night, Saturday didn’t end well for the team. Making a pass the rear four link broke completely as it spun the motor it knocked the blower off when the driveshaft launched. It took every bit of Dwayne’s driving skill to keep the car off the wall and safe in the center of the track (Video Below)

Round One Eliminations:
With both Dwayne Wolf and Angela Ray out of the race Billy Harper would take his single and end with an early shutoff 6.310 @ 180 into the next round. Steve Assenmacher would come to the line against Dave Norris. Assenmacher had a data sensor failure in qualifying and had to wing the clutch set up shaking the tires hard on the launch as Dave Norris connected well in the heat of the day taking his win 6.168 @ 232. Allan Juhasz 6.626 @ 211 would turn on the red light giving up his chance against a screaming solid 6.047 @ 238 pass by his opponent Kevin McCurdy. Fredy Scriba would also get a bye run as Tyler Hard couldn’t make the call. Scriba shut it off early with an 8.10 @ 137.

Semi Finals:
Billy Harper would really “Kick it up a notch” having to face a strong Dave Norris. Norris and Harper were almost dead even on the tree when the big “Sonny’s 903” started inhaling enormous amounts of nitrous all Norris could do is watch as Harper ripped across the beams with the first five second pass of the day 5.918 @ 242 as Norris fell behind 6.179 @ 231. The second nitrous vs blower pairing would be Kevin McCurdy and Fredy Scriba. Again both cars were nearly identical on the tree as both were streaking to the 132oft finish line Scriba lost all power as the scoop was launched in the air from a dropped valve. Scriba crossed the line 6.189 @ 208 and Kevin McCurdy was already pulling his chutes after a phenomenal 6.028 @ 238.

Finals: The final round would pair two IHRA winners together. Kevin McCurdy had recently won the IHRA Presidents cup and as of this writing Billy Harper has taken the IHRA points championship already. McCurdy has been into the fives and air was a little better as we were into the night. The track had come around quite well and we expected a battle. McCurdy was out first with a .014 light to Harpers also great .022 as both headed to mid track McCurdy began to get up on the tires and drove through the traps with a losing 6.027 @ 238 as in the other lane the mean black Dodge Viper had already taken the win and set the new Maple Grove Raceway track record with an astounding 5.859 @ 244!!

Congratulation to the whole team of Billy Harper on a strong showing and new record.

Dwayne Wolf’s Awesome Save

Billy Harper Sets Maple Grove Pro Mod Track Record Drag Racing Video by George Watters

NEOPMA Major Manufacturer Sponsors: American Racing Headers, Star Transporters / Renegade (Bernie Cochran), VP Racing Fuel, MSD Ignitions, Stupid Fast Tee Shirts
NEOPMA Associate Manufacturer Sponsors: ATI Performance, Penske Shocks, Goodyear Racing Tires, Ram Clutches, Neal Chance Converters, Vanishing Point Race Cars, Precision Turbo, HPL Synthetic Motor Oil
NEOPMA Supporting Club Members: Brian Hard “Hard Racing”, Jim Barker “Barker Racing”, Fred Scriba “Scriba Welding”, “Pappas / Marinis Racing Team”, Fifi Montroud, Craig Pio “Pio Racing”, Dave Hance “New York Motorsports”

NEOPMA Officials:
Event Directors… John Mazzorana President / CEO, Rocco and Joanne Micciolo VP, Mark Tinari VP, Ray Staley, Mel Jones.
Photography / Web Site / MEDIA Relations, RPM Magazine … Mark Tinari VP, Tara Bowker of Black Rock Photography “Official NEOPMA Photographer”
Announcer and Tee Shirt Sales… “Rockin Rob” Cherkas and Caity Lady
Videos and Interviews… Jimmy Biggs