Jason Kalso ready and prepared
for 2009 PMRA season

Michigan Pro Modified team will compete with 1971 Barracuda

CLARKSON, MICHIGAN (March 25, 2009) - When Jason Kalso gets into his 1971 Barracuda-bodied doorslammer at the start of the 2009 Pro Modified Racing Association season, he will be fully qualified to compete in the popular Pro Modified division.

Kalso, of Clarkston, Michigan, spent most of 2008 learning how to drive, race, and setup the new car, along with participating in the mandatory licensing sessions. After several full-track passes at Cayuga Dragway over last season’s September 20-21 weekend in two rescheduled PMRA races, he will be ready to take on the rest of the PMRA teams for the upcoming year.

Kalso admitted he has had a great deal to learn since he started building the car. He has raced for six years, but notes that driving a Pro Modified is quite different from his 9.50 Bracket racer.

“This has been two years in the making,” he said. “And it’s a whole other world.” Along with father and crew chief Terry Kalso, the team has patiently built a race car and taken the baby steps necessary such as launching and half-track passes in order to get ready for some 225-plus mph runs down the quarter mile. Jason’s wife Stacy is also an integral part of the team, and supportive of his racing career.

Others on the Kalso Motorsports team include Jason’s mother Deb, Mark Roberts, and “Small” Paul Miller.

“Everything has been a first for us,” he continued. “First year, first car, first motor, everything.”

The pale yellow Barracuda sits on a G-Force Race Cars chassis, and Kalso added that G-Force’s Jim Salemi has been a big help to the new team with advice, set-ups, and sharing expertise. There have been several trips between Michigan and G-Force’s shop in Western New York, and the trips have been valuable, according to Kalso.

The car is powered by a rare five-inch bore, 525-cubic inch Chevy engine from the shop of Pro Modified veteran Mike Stawicki. A Lenco three-speed transmission is couple to the engine, and a DMPE supercharger sits atop the Chevy powerplant.

The PMRA will compete at several drag strips in 2009, including dates at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, Ontario, starting with the season opener on May 16 and 17, June 13 and 14 and the season-closer on September 19 and 20, at St. Thomas Dragway in Sparta, Ontario on July 11 and 12, and the South-western Ontario track of the Grand Bend Motorplex at the 10th Annual MOPAR Canadian Nationals July 17 to 19 and on September 5 and 6.

Several of the PMRA events will be run in conjunction with the Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts, www.Quick32.ca, offering fans a great show of drag racing.

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