If you didn’t happen to catch it on social media, Winters Racing had a great weekend at the PDRA event in Rockingham NC. Winters Racing went into the event not knowing how competitive they would be since they had the backup motor in the car. The primary motor was destroyed when the crankshaft broke during the Gator Nationals.After Q1 Doug and his team sat at number 11 out of the 19 cars there trying for 16 spots. They had over powered the track. So for Q2 Doug dialed it back at the starting line. “I was hoping for a 3.9sec run. But the “old motor” came through and we ran a 3.82sec putting us in at number 4,” stated Doug. Knowing they had another qualifying sessionon Saturday morning, Winters Racing decided to sit out Q3Friday night to save the motor. It worked out well and Winters Racing only dropped 1 spot to number 5. So the team felt pretty good going into Q4 and eliminations on Saturday.As everyone knows, Saturday did not go so well for the PDRA! There was a horrible racing accident that involved a racer and photographer. Ronnie Davis’s Top Sportsman car lost control and ended up off the track hitting Ian Tocher of Drag Illustrated. Both were in serious condition and were air lifted to local hospitals. We are sorry to say, Ronnie past away Sunday night. Ian is still fighting the battle and Winters Racing hopes for his speedy recovery. With the accident and cold weather coming in on Saturdaynight, the PDRA decided to cancel Saturday racing and push it to Sunday.It was tough racing Sunday with the accident still on everyone’s mind. But Doug knows Ronnie and Ian both would wanted us to continue and they did.With the cold temperatures Sunday morning, PDRA delayed the start and decided to cancel Q4 and go straight into eliminations. This locked Doug into the number 5 spot. Their competitor could not make first round so they had a bye and did a planned shut off at halftrack. For the second round Winters Racing was lined up against Ric Fleck, the number 4 qualifier. Doug was able to get a jump on Ric at the starting line and even though he ran a little faster than Doug, Winters Racing still Won. Their 3.85sec run beat his 3.82sec run. “Our car had rattled the tires and had slowed up just a bit. But lucky we took the win,” stated Doug after the run.Going into the semifinals Doug faced Kevin Kivenbark, the number 1 qualifier. Winters Racing knew it was going to be tough. Doug tuned up the combination to see how fast they could go. It worked and they ran their career best 3.81sec at 196MPH. But unfortunately that was not enough. Kevin and Doug left the line together and Kevin passed him to take the win.
Winters Racing admits that it was hard to celebrate their accomplishments in getting to the semifinals, knowing what had happened with the accident on Saturday. But it was really a good feeling going rounds and being competitive. “The whole team deserves credit,” stated Doug. “Allen, Erin, Tyler, Steve, Rick, Edward, and Keith all have worked so hard over this past season. It was fun getting to see them celebrate some round wins.” Winters Racing is now looking forward to getting a new primary engine together and hitting the track again soon.Next up Winters Racing heads to Charlotte on April 22-24for the NHRA 4-Wide race. NHRA does not compete Pro Mods at this event. So they are taking the opportunity to display for NGK Spark Plugs on Manufacture Midway. For anyone attending the race, please stop by the NGK tent to see the Winters Racing team and their ’69 Chevelle.
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