Pro Mod driver Mike Knowles won his first NHRA Pro Mod Wally this weekend at the 2014 Midwest Nationals. Knowles defeated Von Smith on a hole shot in the final round of the Precision Turbo & Engine Pro Mod event with a 5.934 elapsed time to Smith’s 5.929. While Knowles’ driving put him in the winner’s circle, he also credits a lucky charm for his victory too.
“Me and the guys were grabbing coffee Friday at the convenience store and I walked over a penny that was on tails. I got out and grabbed the penny and I’m like, ‘Man, this is my lucky penny. It was on tails and that’s kind of the way my life goes.’ So we tape it in the car,” said Knowles. “Then in the finals, weird enough, I come up here and I’m putting my jacket on, putting my ear plugs in and I look down and there is another penny – on tails. I looked over at Billy and said ‘these guys are done. I don’t know what kind of voodoo is going on, but these guys are done.’ And it worked out great for us in the end.”
Knowles is the owner and driver of the Blown Money Pro Mod. Tim McAmis is the crew chief on the ’68 Camaro. Knowles has been a huge supporter of Pro Mod in the NHRA, and this is his very first win.
Knowles win didn’t come without any drama. He had a close call in the second round of eliminations against Kevin Fiscus, as the cars got very close to each other after their chutes deployed.
“Well, we went across the finish line and I’m pretty excited about winning (the round), and the next thing I know the parachutes come out and there’s a bunch of turbulence in the car. Actually the windows started vibrating in the car. I thought that was weird,” recalled Knowles. “So I looked over and Kevin’s parachutes were actually rubbing on my window and I’m like whoa, and then his car started coming out in front of me and that’s when I hit the brakes and kind of got over towards the wall. It was real close.”
The final race of the 2014 NHRA Pro Mod Series presented by Aeromotive Fuel Systems will take place in Las Vegas on October 31 – November 2. The series will also be broadcast on Velocity channel starting Sunday, October 5, at 1:30pm ET.
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