Team News
No major changes planned for PMRA Corvette Pro Modified of Derek Hawker
Third-year PMRA drag racer will run entire 2012 season starting in May
CORBYVILLE, ONTARIO (February 15, 2012) – “Right now the car is in 10 million pieces, but we’ll have it back together for opening day.”
Entering his third year of Pro Modified Racing Association competition, Derek Hawker said the Hawker Racing Corvette Pro Modified will not receive any major changes for the upcoming season.
“We are doing some upgrades to the supercharger,” he noted. “We have to try and run with the Joneses, but other than that, it will be pretty much the same deal.
Hawker placed sixth in 2011 PMRA Championship Point Award Series, qualifying in the tough field at most events, highlighted with a final round appearance against Kenny Lang in the third race of the six-race season. His 6.316-second pass was close, but Lang, an IHRA Pro Modified champion from Manitoba, nipped Hawker with a 6.035-second run.
Jay Santos to debut new Pro Modified in upcoming PMRA drag race season
Camaro to be lighter, stronger, and run with Lencodrive automatic
HALTON HILLS, ONTARIO (February 10, 2012) – With his first season of Pro Modified Racing Association racing behind him, Jay Santos will be taking to the track with a new car for 2012, another G-Force Race Cars built 69 Camaro.
“A good opportunity came along to sell the car and build a new one,” Santos explained. “The new car will be lighter with the use of titanium, and be able to race more competitively within all sanctioning bodies”
While the new car will be similar to his last car, Santos said the engine program will be improved to better fit the rules of the PMRA. In an effort to have a more consistent car, Santos
will retain the service of tuner and G-Force Race Cars owner Jim Salemi. Santos said he will also implement an auto shifter to shift the Lencodrive torque converter set up.
Rob Atchison returning to upcoming PMRA Pro Modified season
Former IHRA champ looking for good 2012 after first year learning curve
LONDON, ONTARIO (February 2, 2012) – One of Canada’s most successful drag racers will be returning to the Pro Modified Racing Association in 2012.
After his first PMRA racing last year, London’s Rob Atchison will be behind the wheel of the Atchison Racing Corvette Pro Modified, and said he hopes his short time last season will bear fruit.
“We’re going to try to make the next step up,” said the three-time IHRA Funny Car Champion, who believes the team has made the transition from the Alcohol-powered Flopper to a door-slamming Pro Modified. “We’ve made some changes, and I think I’ve learned how to drive the new car.”
Atchison was a dominate force in the IHRA Funny Car wars, winning 21 events, world records in elapsed time and speed, and the three titles in 2003, 2004, and 2005. With only 20 runs on the Corvette last year, he believes he has made the needed driving style adjustments.
PMRA Champion Vito Montesano “They all put in a lot of hard work and it paid off this year.”
MAPLE, ONTARIO (November 17, 2011) – For Vito Montesano, winning the 2011 Pro Modified Racing Association Marydel Homes Championship Point Award Series presented by Magnum Auto Parts, Patio Passport and Global Emissions Systems Inc. was a nail-biter right until the last race in the last event, but the Maple, Ontario-based driver held on to win his first PMRA championship.
And he won the title by a mere margin of only one point.
“This has been a great year,” said the driver of the 1969 Chevy Camaro Pro Modified. “We are very happy,” he continued. “Not only did we win our first PMRA race, we also won the championship. We are just ecstatic.”
In his second year of PMRA competition, Montesano stayed at the top of the points race throughout the six-race season, but it was close as second-place finisher Bruce Boland of Hamilton, Ontario, and third-place Eric Latino of Whitby, Ontario, whittled into Montesano’s lead. When Boland won over Latino in the final of the last race at Cayuga, the points were tallied, and Montesano won over Boland 1534 points to 1533.
Top Five for 2011 Bruce Boland and the B&B Team Willys
Number Two
HAMILTON, ONTARIO (November 11, 2011) – The most victorious driver in PMRA history came within one point of winning his fourth championship in the Pro Modified Racing Association Marydel Homes Championship Point Award Series presented by Magnum Auto Parts, Patio Passport and Global Emissions Systems Inc.
Bruce Boland, driver of the B&B Racing 1941 Willys Pro Modified, lost the title to Vito Montesano of Maple, Ontario. Boland tallied 1533 points to Montesano’s 1534 in a see-saw championship battle all season that was not determined until the last race of the final event.
“We started good and ended good,” noted Boland, who won the PMRA title through 2007-09. “We had some shifter issues midway through the season, or we would have made it.”
One of the original PMRA members since its inception in 2004, Boland has always started his season with a new race car, and 2011 was no exception, as he traded his 1963 Corvette in for a 1941 Willys, a car he said has been top-notch.
