Mike Knowles, driver of the Knowles Enterprises/B&J Transmissions 63 Corvette Pro Mod, qualified
No. 2 and advanced to the quarterfinals in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge at the NHRA
Carolinas Nationals. He was eliminated by Burton Auxier after his Corvette apparently had "too much
power" to grab the track.
Knowles 5.938 at 240.81 mph lap in the final round of qualifying Saturday afternoon put him in
second position and set up a pairing against his friend at No. 15, Tim Tindle. When the two faced
off, Knowles blasted straight down the quarter-mile at zMAX Dragway with a 5.962 at 240.94 to
Tindle's tire-shaking 7.725 at 132.32.
In the quarterfinals, Knowles was matched up against series points leader Burton Auxier, who ha d
struggled somewhat in qualifying but laid down an impressive 5.972 in his first round victory over
former world champion Jay Payne. On paper, Knowles and Auxier had a deadly even matchup, with
Knowles gaining the slight advantage and lane choice for the round.
At the hit of the throttles, Auxier shot straight down the track, while Knowles' car immediately
smoked the tires, forcing him to lift and pedal to try and regain traction, but by then Auxier was
long gone. At the line, Auxier ran the quickest-ever nitrous run in a Challenge-legal car at 5.934
while Knowles coasted across the line.
"We're not really sure what happened, because we had been running so well up until that lap. We had
caught a couple of things bud hadn't made any major changes, so we should have been able to get
down the track easily. Ultimately, I think we just had a lot more power than we thought," Knowles
said.
"That track has such a great bite, it holds everything you can give it, and we have to see what was
going on because I've never seen a car do that. It didn't even move a foot.
"My first instinct was to pedal it, but I looked over and saw he was way in front of me so I let
out of it. He had a great run, so we'll just take our lumps and head on to Virginia and try again,"
Knowles said.
"I have to say a big thank-you though, to my team, my family, B&J Transmissions, and of course
Roger Burgess and Get Screened America for putting the whole series together. The competition over
here is fierce, and it just keeps getting better. This is the place to be for Pro Mod racing,"
Knowles added.
Next on the calendar for the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge is the Virginia NHRA Nationals
in Richmond, Va., October 9-11.
