In the heart of Pro Mod country, it's anyone's game in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge,
and the battle is heating up as competitors enter the second of four races in a seven-week span
this weekend at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. The race will also feature a
special tribute to 2008 event winner Steve Engel.
Most-recent event winner Roger Burgess is definitely on a roll, never qualifying below No. 2 so far
this season and consistently delivering 5.90-second performances when he stages his ProCare Rx
Camaro. His Duluth, Ga.-based team, tuned by 2004 Bristol Pro Mod Challenge winner Al Billes, is to
a man ready to put another Get Screened America Warrior on the mantle, but to do that, they will
have to get past points leader Mike Castellana and his Al-Anabi teammate Burton Auxier.
Auxier has twice runnered-up this season, and Castellana has driven his nitrous-powered '68
Firebird to a quarterfinal and semifinal finish to go along with his Gainesville win.
After the carnage of the demolition derby-style racing in St. Louis that saw series stalwarts Rick
Stivers and Harold Laird both roll their cars in dramatic non-injuring crashes, the field for this
weekend's event is reduced to a hopefully lucky 13.
Entrants include: Burton Auxier, Joe Baker, Roger Burgess, Mike Castellana, Raymond Commisso, Chip
King, Mike Knowles, Taylor Lastor, Jay Payne, Brad Personett, Danny Rowe, Tim Tindle, Andy McCoy.
The drivers and fans of the series will have opportunity to honor the late Steve Engel, winner of
the 2008 Bristol event, through charitable donations to be received during the weekend and given to
the Southern Appalachian Ronald McDonald House. Engel, who died as a result of injuries he
sustained in a racing accident in Indianapolis last season, celebrated the Bristol win as his first
- and only - win in the Challenge.
The mission of the Ronald McDonald House is to provide a "temporary" home-away-from-home for
children and families of seriously ill children receiving medical care in any local hospital.
The Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge opens with two rounds of qualifying on Friday (4:30 p.m.
and 7 p.m.) and continues Saturday with a third and final qualifying attempt (2:15 p.m.). The first
round of eliminations is scheduled for Saturday at 4:30 p.m., with the remaining three rounds of
eliminations set for Sunday.
