Edmonton, Alberta – May 18, 2015 – BELL / FISCUS RACING (BFR) had a tough time battling a tricky track at the 35th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia, on May 15-17, 2015 in the Pro Mod class which was co-presented by BFR partner Pro Line Racing. Looming storms drove the humidity up all weekend and resulted in some less than ideal air, but fortunately, rain was not an issue.
While trying to get a handle on the surface during the first round of Pro Mod qualifying, Jim Bell encountered some tire shake with his twin turbocharged Pro Line Racing 481X-powered 1969 Chevrolet Camaro and pedaled it to an elapsed time of 6.610 at 185.28 mph to rank fifteenth. For Q2, Bell improved and went straight down the grove to clock a run of 6.027 at 203.40 mph, but misjudged the 1,320-foot mark and clicked the car off at the 1,000-foot mark instead. As a result, the large and extremely quick field pushed him down into eighteenth. Bell was eager to make his third and final qualifying pass of the weekend, but his car got loose right at the hit, shook hard, and strayed out of the groove. Bell quickly reeled it in, but was forced to abort the run. Unfortunately, Bell remained eighteenth overall after Q3 and ended his weekend early.
Teammate Kevin Fiscus did not fare much better, as his twin turbo, PLR-powered 2012 Ford Mustang struggled to find traction. In the first session of qualifying, the car encountered violent tire shake immediately after Fiscus launched, and the savvy driver backed off swiftly to prevent the car from being damaged. Consequently, he gave up a shot at making a first full pass. The team got to work and adjusted the car’s tune to accommodate the challenging conditions, and Fiscus came out in Q2 ready to rock. Once again, the Mustang overpowered the track. The car shook and Fiscus pedaled it to a 6.167 at 242.50 mph run which was decent, but not quick enough to get him in the show as he was then ranked twenty-first overall. Fiscus’ third qualifying pass resulted in more tire shake issues immediately following the one-two shift, but was his quickest and his fastest. Fiscus clocked a 6.116 at 245.45 mph blast, but he was unable to break into the Top 16 where the bump was an ET of 6.006.
Bell stated “make no mistake about it, Pro Mod is even tougher this year than last. To make the 16-car qualified field with 30 top drawer Pro Mod cars all trying to make the field is a huge challenge. Both Kevin and myself failed to qualify at Atlanta – which is not acceptable – and we will be working even harder between now and the next NHRA Pro Mod event at Englishtown to turn our DNQs around. We are staying positive and have gained some valuable data about our cars’ performance in conditions like we saw this weekend that will help us out in the future. We’ve got a great team behind us and trust that we’re heading in the right direction – hopefully it’s also towards the winner’s circle!”
Both Bell and Fiscus will be competing in the Pro Boost class at the PDRA Mid-America Open at Gateway Motorsports Park in St. Louis, Missouri on May 28th-30th, 2015 as the Bell/Fiscus Racing team continues their 23-race commitment for the 2015 season.
About Bell/Fiscus Racing (BFR)
Established in late 2014, Bell/Fiscus Racing is a joint collaboration between Pro Mod drivers Jim Bell of JB’s Power Centre, and Kevin Fiscus. The two will run at various events throughout the U.S. including NHRA, PDRA, and more. LIKE them at fb.com/bellfiscusracing.
Contact:
Jim Bell | CDN Cell #: (780) 708-4807 | US Cell #: (770) 876-4442 | Email: jb@dixperformancenorth.com
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