4/17/2017
Keith Haney
Unique Mid-West Pro Mod Series to kick off inaugural season in St. Louis
The Mid-West Pro Mod Series kicks off its inaugural season with the Heads-Up Hootenanny event next weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park.
The Mid-West Pro Mod Series was founded by racers - Jeff Pierce, Billy Stocklin, Todd Martin, Jim Sakuvich, Keith Haney, Wes Buck and Dewayne Mills – as a way to promote Pro Mod racing in the center of the United States.
The series has many unique features that will be unveiled this weekend, namely the combining of all types of engines into one Pro Mod class.
"It's a series that was put together by racers in the Midwest," Haney said. "The east coast has a series out that way, and the PDRA is out that way. There's really not a whole on this side of the country, although most of the racers on this side of the country go to the east coast to race."
The rules are meant to balance the different types of engines – nitrous, turbo, screw, Roots, etc. – so the focus is on the racing and not on the numbers. Fans want to see good racing, Haney noted, and not big speeds.
"All they care about is that they're going fast, and it's a race," Haney said. "We've watered down the classes by breaking up the race cars. It's made it less desirable for people to watch Pro Mods because there's less trash-talking, there's less controversy.
"Fans want to see Keith Haney run Jason Scruggs or Brandon Pesz, or they want to see a turbo car run Brandon Pesz. The fans love race cars and they love a particular car."
Haney said the goal of the series is to get all cars as close in speed as possible, with a top pass in the 3.72-second range at the eighth-mile. Rules are meant to balance the different engines, but rules will be updated as needed.
"We can't let one combination outrun other combinations," Haney said. "This is not about who goes the fastest. This is not your typical NHRA, Outlaw race or whatever. If you look at No Prep races, half of them cars are slow. The fan doesn't care about that. They care about whether their driver or car wins.
"There are records being broken every weekend. And what does it get you? Not a damn thing."
The St. Louis race is the first of five events in 2017, with races at Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park on May 12-13 (the Throw Down in T-Town), Gateway on Aug. 4-5, San Antonio Raceway on Sept. 22-23 and Tulsa on Oct. 13-14.
In addition to Pro Mods, three additional classes will be run under the Mid-West Pro Mod Series umbrella: Radial vs. The World. MX235 and X275
.
The track promoters got together to have a points battle, with the champion winning $2,500 and a custom jacket, ring and hat.
Points, however, will be accrued to team owners and not drivers. Haney, for example, will drive his "Notorious" car at Gateway, but if someone else drives that car at another event, Notorious and Keith Haney Racing will still get the points.
"The owner of the team gets some recognition, not just the driver," Haney said. "It's something different to help team owners want to go out and buy cars and put drivers in them."
There are other interesting part of the Mid-West Pro Mod Series:
- A "Slammers" class for non-qualifiers and first-round Pro Mod losers
- Day-and-a-half shows
- Live feeds from BangShift.com
- Editorial coverage in "Drag Illustrated"
"The stuff that we're doing in this series is a way to change drag racing," Haney said. "And it quits putting it on the guy who has all the money."
The Slammers field will be filled after the first round, as non-qualifiers and first-round losers will still get a chance to race – as long as it's a 16-car field. Owners will have to buy back into Slammer field, at a cost of $250, and the winner gets $3,000. Points will also be rewarded, but they won't top second-round losers of the regular field.
One catch for the Slammers class: There is no true ladder. Racers will draw their competitors, so no one will know their opponents.
The Mid-West Pro Mod Series will complete their races in under two days, freeing competitors from burdensome travel expenses.
"You're not away from work," Haney said. "We're saving you money there, we're saving you money on travel expenses."
BangShift.com will do live feeds from each race, as well as videos of drivers trash-talking one another. "Drag Illustrated" will give the series editorial coverage for every race, and drivers have to be subscribers to the magazine to be eligible to run the series. "Drag Illustrated" will be on-site at each race.
"This series is a non-profit series," Haney said. "We get nothing, we beg nothing, we want nothing. We pay the race tracks to help with the payout when we walk in the door. We bring them live feeds, coverage in 'Drag Illustrated' and one tech (inspector). That's unheard of in drag racing.
"We're not trying to make a penny. We're just trying to put on a series to make it happen."
The Mid-West Pro Mod Series couldn't do this without the support of companies that believe in us:
Mid-West Pro Mod Series Sponsors: M&M Transmission, Jerry Bickle Race Cars, Extreme Brand Products, Menscer Motorsports LLC, Bankston Boys Racing, Pharris Motorsports, Sackuvich Motorsports, Race Car Fabrications, Atomizer Racing Injectors, Keith Haney Racing, Dave's RV, Aeromotive, Reher-Morrison Racing Engines RacingJunk.com, Gateway Motorsports Park, Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park, San Antonio Raceway, B&C Trailer Services, Suburban Chevrolet, Miami Chevrolet Buick GMC, Drag Illustrated, Bangshift.com and Grand Prix Auto Sports Center.
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