Mon, 2 Jun 2003, 12:25 PM Hahn Mops Up Second Win of the Season

By Bobby Bennett Jr., www.competitionplus.com Photo copyright 2003 Auto Imagery, Inc. Scores Points Lead with Victory

JOLIET, Ill. --

Hahn celebrates Win.

With conflicting dates for the Pro Modified division, the legendary Pro Modified duo of Fred Hahn and team owner Jim Oddy knew that the NHRA Lucas Oil Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill., could provide the opportunity to make up ground in the points chase that was lost to a first round exit two weeks ago in Englishtown, NJ.

The Summit-sponsored team couldn’t have written a better script as things fell into place with a final round victory over Troy Critchley, but that wasn’t the extent of the success that the West Seneca, NY-based driver experienced. He also took home the NHRA AMS Pro Modified Challenge points lead by slipping by Mitch Stott.

“We came in here hoping we could do well in qualifying and win this thing,” said Hahn. “We made it through the day and fought our way to the final. That’s what we came here for – to win. No one ever comes out to race hoping to lose.”

The objectives for Hahn and Oddy were clear cut headed into the AMS Pro Modified Challenge’s first visit to Route 66 Raceway.

“We absolutely achieved every objective that we had for this event,” said Hahn. “We didn’t come in expecting to set the record, but we did want to qualify number one and win the race. Everything came together perfect.”

Even team owner Jim Oddy had to smile at the end of the day.

“This really turned out well for us,” said Oddy. “It wasn’t pretty at times, but we worked hard and tried to grab all of the points that we could. This was really, really great for us. We are going to chase this and hope we can take home this trophy.”

Today’s win also helped the team to fully recover from the dismal Englishtown debacle.

“Englishtown really threw us for a loop, but we managed to get a better grip on it this weekend. We even will go as far as to say that we learned a few things. Sunday is a whole new day. The track is totally different and tough to handle sometimes.”

No one could be prouder than Oddy was of his longtime driver. He added, “He’s the best. Those .022 lights say it all.”

Eliminations opened with good atmospheric conditions and a temperature of 61-degrees. In the first pair, Mike Stawicki applied the mother of all holeshots on Roy Hill. The veteran driver used that .106 advantage in his favor as he fended off Hill’s top end charge and 6.125, 230.25 package with a 6.231, 226.96.

Critchley quickly overcame a holeshot from the only nitrous runner in the show Rickie Smith. The Aussie was on his game as he quickly gathered up Smith, recording a winning 6.189, 224.25. Smith lifted early but still netted a 6.270, 214.55.

Mike Ashley gained an easy win as Marty McGinnis left way early with a -.259 foul. That worked good for the New York Mortgage Banker as he encountered severe tire shake and made a beeline for the center of the track. He wisely lifted and coasted through with an 8.763, 103.14.

Hahn began his march to the finals by making quick work of Scott Ray. The match was virtually determined on the starting line as Ray took a snooze and Hahn grabbed nearly a tenth of a second and eased to victory with a 6.254, 228.15. Ray had problems and lifted early with a 13.711.

The semi-finals opened with a battle that is often reserved for Quick Eights in the Upstate of New York. Hahn was not to be denied as he got the best of Stawicki on both ends of the track. He parlayed that advantage into a victory and a 6.247, 228.15 elapsed time. Stawicki coasted through with a 13.488 after falling victim to tire shake.

In the same fashion that he displayed in Englishtown, Ashley grabbed a quicker reaction time than Critchley. However, the same tire shake gremlins that plagued him earlier in eliminations reared their ugly heads and vaulted him towards the center-line. He pedaled it a bit, but that was the break that Critchley needed to come around him. Critchley took the win light with a 6.256, 223.62 as Ashley fell short in his bid to catch up with a 6.403, 222.55.

There was no doubt that Hahn rated the definitive edge in the final round over Critchley. With that said, Critchley came to the line loaded for bear. This time the bear was waiting for him as Hahn strapped on a .022 reaction time and went through the motions with a conservative, but winning 6.328, 205.57. Critchley immediately blew the tires off and coasted through to a 13.240.

Pro Mo Sunday’s Notes

Lord have mercy, Uncle Roy’s done fell asleep – If drag racing school instructor Roy Hill would have been one of his students, he would have delivered a tongue lashing that might have made the winner of a Tough Man contest shed tears. Hill qualified third in the eight-car field and sported a clear performance advantage over first round opponent Mike Stawicki. The starting line performance was ugly for Hill as he was left sitting at the line, the victim of a .221 reaction time. Take note, Professor Hill may have been tardy to class, but he aced the exam with low elapsed time of the event, a 6.125. Stawicki passed onto the next round with a 6.231.

Classic Overheard – “Roy was having dreams that former students were coming back to scream at him. That’s why he got down the track so fast with a 6.12.”

Okay, so it’s a NASCAR Willys – That’s what Mike Ashley’s ’41 Willys seemed to think after three consecutive runs saw the car keep trying to turn left. The first episode came during the final qualifying session in the left lane when the car launched hard and made an abrupt turn towards the left lane. The incident was blamed on a new set of tires that needed more runs. However, in the first round following Marty McGinnis’ red-light, the car launched hard on a sub-1.00 sixty-footer, but made the turn towards the centerline from the right lane. A few turn of the wrenches and the car returned in the semis and proved that Ashley has the potential to be a bull-rider. He fought a very determined car all the way down the track before losing to Troy Critchley in the semis.

Did you know? – The car that Troy Critchley drove to the final round is the same Corvette that defending World Champion Shannon Jenkins drove to a runner-up finish in the 1994 IHRA Pro Modified points chase.

By gosh if they don’t do something about the rules – Being the only nitrous car on the grounds wasn’t something that Rickie Smith preferred, but being outgunned is something that he liked even less. The word is that he may be looking to mountain motor Pro Stock and local Quick Eights in the Carolinas to scratch his itch for fast doorslammer racing.

One two, Freddie’s coming for you – When Scott Ray made the switch to a supercharged engine combination earlier this season, he had visions of qualifying for a Pro Modified event. His dreams came true by making the show and easing into the eighth position. However, the dream soon turned to a Nightmare on Hahn Street as he was forced to do battle with the World’s Quickest Pro Modified driver Fred Hahn in the first round. To add insult to injury, Ray reportedly shook the tires so hard that he split the rearend in two.

Man, you’re making us look bad – Fred Hahn has been so dominant in Pro Modified qualifying this year that he’s led every session except for 6 this year.

He’s a supercharger guy; Make him play by the rules – After Mike Ashley pointed out that Pro Modified aficionado Bobby Bennett has gained back seven pounds after losing 35. He responded, “I was running through the pits too fast and IHRA tech director Mike Baker made me add seven pounds.”

That guy’s an Animal! – Assisting with color commentary over the course of the weekend was none other than “Animal” Jim Feurer, one of the pioneers of the Pro Modified movement. Another familiar face in Wally Bell of Super Chevy fame also lent some color as well.