Mike Knowles had a huge smile on his face as he came back into the Get Screened America Pro Mod
Challenge pits after running a 5.945 at 241.93 mph to take the provisional No. 3 spot in the NHRA
Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway.
His run assured him of a solid qualifying position heading into eliminations, as well as making a
statement that the Knowles Enterprises '63 Corvette is ready to take on the field. His first pass
was a 6.294 at 234.00 mph, the 13th-best of the first qualifying round.
"That was a nice session for everyone. It was cool, because I saw some of the Full Throttle Series
drivers like (nitro Funny Car driver) Del Worsham and even (NHRA executive vice president) Graham
Light come and watch our cars go down the track. You know when you're attracting spectators like
that you're putting on a good show, and that's what we did here tonight.
"As far as we go, I know that we've got to make a statement this weekend. We made a major change
with our setup after that first run - this car wasn't anything close to what we had in the first
round, but that's what it's going to take if we want to move up in the points race. You know - mess
around, get after it to see what you can get away with, and tonight it really took everything we
gave it.
"That run, the 5.94, was exactly what we needed. The car wasn't working, and so we made the
changes, and it did just what we wanted it to - go straight down Broadway. I knew we had to make a
move if we wanted to stay in the hunt, and it worked.
"Now we just have to follow it up consistently tomorrow, and we'll be in great shape on Sunday,"
Knowles said.
The final round of qualifying is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Saturday, with the first round of
eliminations scheduled later in the afternoon at 4:30 p.m., and the balance of eliminations are
scheduled to be run on Sunday.
