(5-4-2010) MADISON, Illinois – Danny Rowe piloted the Sterling Bridge ’68 Camaro to a quarterfinal finish this past weekend at the 14th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis, Missouri.
Rowe and legendary tuning wizard, Jimmy Rector, put on a dominating performance during qualifying for the event, a race that Rowe won in 2001, taking the number-one spot with a 5.945 at 241.76 mph. The No. 1 qualifying position set Rowe and company up for an opening round confrontation with nitrous oxide frontrunner and surprise No. 16 qualifier, Mike Castellana.
Despite Castellana’s stunning .012-second reaction time, Rowe and the Sterling Bridge Pro Modified ’68 Camaro caught and pulled away from Castellana, taking the win with a 5.925-second effort at 245.76 mph. Rowe and Rector then met eventual event winner and fellow Pro Modified tag-team of Von Smith and Howard Moon in the second round of eliminations. The pair of 2,500-plus horsepower, supercharged Camaros left the starting line within two-hundredths-of-a-second of one another, but Rowe’s wickedly consistent ride drifted ever so slightly out of the groove and slowed to a 5.972 at 244.95 mph which wasn’t enough to best Smith’s 5.936/243.85 combination.
“When we won this race, we did it from the right hand lane and considering how well the car ran in round one against Mike [Castellana], we felt like we were making the right call by choosing the right lane in the second round,” said Rowe, a native of Laguna Hills, California. “We got out there and it started to drift over and we hit a few of those bumps down there and it upset the car a bit and we fell off the pace. Von Smith and that team were running strong, though, and it would have taken a great run for us to get by them.”
With another impressive performance in the increasingly competitive Get Screened America NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, Rowe and the Sterling Bridge team hangs in the No. 4 spot in the official points standings, just five points out of first place.
“Looking at how tight the points are coming into these next races, it’s a testament to how serious the competition is out here in the GSA NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series,” said Rowe, who receives additional support from Competition Products. “The top four cars are separated by five points and with the amount of racing we’re going to do over the course of the next couple of months – it’s still anybody’s game.
“As always, we’ve got to keep our heads down and keep our eyes on the prize.”
Next up for Rowe and the Get Screened America NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series is the 30th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Georgia, May 14-16.
OFFICIAL POINT STANDINGS, after three events:
1. Kenny Lang, 176
2. Von Smith, 175
3. Joe Baker, 172
4. Danny Rowe, 171
5. Jay Payne, 156
6. Troy Coughlin, 150
7. Melanie Troxel, 143
8. Tony Pontieri, 141
9. Dennis Radford, 140
10. Tim Tindle, 129
2. Von Smith, 175
3. Joe Baker, 172
4. Danny Rowe, 171
5. Jay Payne, 156
6. Troy Coughlin, 150
7. Melanie Troxel, 143
8. Tony Pontieri, 141
9. Dennis Radford, 140
10. Tim Tindle, 129
ESPN2 and ESPNHD will televise 30 minutes of action from the Get Screened America NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series on Sunday, April 18th, at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Information regarding Danny Rowe Racing can be found at www.dannyrowe.com
