MADISON, Ill. (April 30, 2010) - Both competitors and fans at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway spent the day Friday with one eye on the racetrack and the other on the sky, hoping their day wouldn't be shortened because of rain. For Pro Mod driver Rick Stivers, he was grateful that the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series was able to get two full qualifying sessions in, and he needed both to get his Trane-sponsored 2006 Dodge Stratus into the field at lucky number 13.
In his first pass of the day, the car suffered mechanical problems causing Stivers to abort the run early and coast across the line. In his second attempt later in the day, Stivers managed to deliver a 6.111-second effort at 235.10 mph despite having lost a cylinder just after the hit of the throttle.
"It wasn't the quickest out there today, but I'm very glad we're in the show heading into tomorrow. I don't know what the weather will do, and we might not get another chance to qualify, so I'll take luck 13 any day, because I know we can win from any position - as long as we're in the show," Stivers said.
"Brad [Anderson, car owner and crew chief] found a few things after he looked at the computer after that second pass, so he's confident we'll have a quick car tomorrow if we get a chance to run," he said.
Weather forecasts are calling for only a 30 percent chance of rain in the afternoon with high temperatures in the 80's.
"At this point, it'd be great to get another run, but the car feels good and we'll be ready to go - whether it's qualifying or eliminations," Stivers added.
Weather permitting; a final qualifying session is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow, May 1. The first round of eliminations are scheduled to begin later Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. Pro Mod eliminations will continue on Sunday, May 2, starting at approximately 2 p.m. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise 30-minutes of racing highlights from the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series portion of the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals on Sunday, May 9 at 10 a.m. (EDT).
