10th Annual IHRA MOPAR Canadian Nationals - Diversity big ingredient of PMRA Pro Modified success

Diversity big ingredient of PMRA Pro Modified success

With only three multiple winners since 2004, no team has dominated in series

Grand Bend tradition continues at 10th Annual IHRA MOPAR Canadian Nationals

GRAND BEND, ONTARIO (July 16, 2009) – When Joe Boniferro won the PMRA Labor Day race at the Grand Bend Motorplex in 2007, he became the first driver in the history of the Pro Modified Racing Association to win more than one event.

Boniferro, of Niagara Falls, Ontario, also won the first race at the Grand Bend Motorplex in 2006.

Since its inception late in 2004, the PMRA has held 22 events up to its most recent at Cayuga Dragway in June of this year.

Winning the first PMRA race, held in May of 2005, was Carl Spiering of Jordan Station, Ontario, taking out Al Billes of Barrie, Ontario, in the final.

Mike Stawicki from Medina, New York, presently holds the records for most wins in the popular Pro Modified Series with four victories. He won his first race at Cayuga in 2005, then won twice at Cayuga in 2008, and took the title at Dunn Tire Raceway Park (formerly Lancaster), also in 2008.

The veteran G-Force Race Cars Camaro driver also holds the quarter-mile elapsed time record with a 6.049-second posting, at Cayuga last year, and holds the eighth-mile top speed record with a 184.23-mph posting, taken last year at New York International Raceway Park.

Spiering holds the eighth-mile PMRA time record with a 3.970-second run at Cayuga in May of 2008. Mark Nielsen of Brantford, Ontario, is the holder of the quarter-mile speed title with a 237.30-mph lap which he ran at Cayuga in September of 2008.

The only other PMRA driver to date to win more than one event is two-time PMRA Champion Bruce Boland. This native of Hamilton, Ontario won in 2005 at the Lancaster race, and took the most recent event at Cayuga.

Various engine combinations are allowed in Pro Mod racing, but the majority of the cars feature superchargers over nitrous-powered and turbocharger-powered entries. And this holds true in the PMRA, where all races have been won by blower cars except for one event, when Matt Guenther of Livonia, New York took the nitrous-powered Guenther Racing 1941 Willys to a victory at Lancaster in 2007.

The PMRA has prided itself not only on a great variety of race cars, but on a great number of event winners. No one team has dominated the series over the years, and this has provided interesting and exciting racing for the fans.

The PMRA added a new dimension to its program in 2009 with the introduction of the Quick 32 Sportsman Series.

Touring together with the PMRA at most venues, the Quick Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts provides racing in the Top Dragster and Top Sportsman classes, and then pits the top car in each class to declare an event winner.

Although still in its first year, the Quick 32 Series has become very popular, and is proving to be a great complementary series with the PMRA.

The 10th Annual IHRA MOPAR Canadian Nationals will be round seven of the 11-race IHRA 2009 series, and will feature a full contingent of Professional and Sportsman teams.

The PMRA Challenge presented by Motorsport 1320 will hold its qualifying and elimination runs throughout the weekend with the IHRA Professional categories, including a round during the popular “Night of Fire” session held Saturday evening July 18. This action-packed night will also feature professional qualifying in Top Fuel, Pro Stock, Pro Modified and other special racing, including a 200-mph Jet Motorcycle, a Top Fuel Bike, an Alcohol Funny Four Car Match Race Saturday night and the Xtreme Machine Jet Truck.

Two qualifying sessions for PMRA competitors will be held Friday, July 17, with the professional categories at 3:00 and 7:00 p.m. and at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. The fourth and final qualifier will be held during Saturday’s 7:00 pm “Night of Fire,” and eliminations are scheduled to get underway Sunday, July 19, at noon.

For information about the 10th Annual IHRA MOPAR Canadian Nationals at the Grand Bend Motorplex, call (519) 238-7223 or visit www.grandbendmotorplex.com

For more information on the PMRA Challenge presented by Motorsport 1320, contact Bruce F. Mehlenbacher at Bruce@PMRA.ca

About the Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA):

The Pro Modified Racing Association, www.PMRA.ca, was organized late in 2004, started racing operations in 2005, and is entering its fifth year of operation in 2009. The PMRA is a self-governing organization with input from its teams, and adheres to the technical and safety rules as outlined by the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). The series has event venues in Ontario, Quebec, and New York State.

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, and 12, and the South-western Ontario track of the Grand Bend Motorplex at the 10th Annual MOPAR Canadian Nationals July 17 to 19, the Stratford Spectacular Hot August National presented by Ideal Supply & NAPA Auto Parts August 8 and 9 and on September 5 and 6.

Cars in the PMRA capture the true spirit of hot rodding, and the class is one of drag racing’s most exciting and colorful classes, offering a diverse group of race cars with different types of 2,500-horsepower supercharged, nitrous powered and turbocharged engines.

Combining classic body styles and modern equipment, constructors are permitted, within established rules and parameters, to modify and enhance the cars in both appearance and performance. The cars are fuelled by gasoline or methanol, propelling them down the quarter-mile in low six-second times at over 200 miles per hour. The PMRA provides drag race fans the opportunity to see, hear, and experience the popular Pro Modifieds, known as "the world's fastest door slammers".

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.

Photo Credit: Joe Barrett - Drag Racing Inc. - www.dragracinginc.com