NHRA centrifugal supercharger pioneer Bo Butner delivered another milestone at the Division 3 race at Joliet, Illinois. After qualifying #1 in a 32 (!) car field with a 7.532 (.618 under the index), the ProCharger equipped racer carved through the pack like a surgical knife for yet another class win, facing his teammate and defending champ Jeff Taylor in the final. Congratulations Bo!

Racing in his home state of Michigan, Pro 5.0 racer Don Walsh, Jr set the pace with a 6.68 @ 207 mph qualifying run, despite his own class blower and weight restrictions. After a first round #1 qualifying bye, he dispatched Burt Kelkboom in the second round 6.744 to 6.814. Donny hit a .407 light in the final against Tony Bischoff, but he ended up with the runner up spot and the points lead.

The NMRA introduced rule changes which gave turbo powered cars further weight breaks in SSO and Drag Radial. SSO saw an 11 car field, 7 of which were running ProChargers. ProCharger equipped racers John Urist and Billy Laskowski qualified #1 and #2 with a 7.51 and 7.60, respectively. John's average ET during eliminations was 7.57, and he recorded the highest mph at the event with a 194 mph blast. John and Billy squared off in the final in what many thought was the best race of the day. Billy pulled the holeshot with a .424 to Urist's .545, but by the eighth, John was closing the gap, and by the thousand-foot mark Fireball had nosed ahead, crossing the finish line with a .056 margin of victory.

In Drag Radial, 4 out of 9 cars were sporting ProChargers. Chad Doyle set the pace with a 8.24 @ 175 mph qualifying blast, only to end his day early redlighting against teammate and #4 qualifier Jason Lee in the second round, after taking a first round bye. Jason then put Mauro Vitale on the trailer with a 8.408 to 8.435, and this after ProCharger-equipped Mauro had set the low ET of the day with a 8.20. Mauro’s consolation prize was re-claiming 2nd place in the points standings, while Chad retained his points lead.

Kevin Guthrie is campaigning this 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air on E85 pump gas. The 3600 pound car is currently running 7’s, with an F-3R helping to produce in excess of 2,000 horsepower.

Also in the 7’s is this Pro Mod small block Chevy driven by Robbie Ward. The car features a F-2 Reverse and made a 7.46 @ 188 pass at the show.

Mark Micke’s new Pro Mod car was in testing at Denver. This 3,000 horsepower monster runs a F-3R Reverse with an alcohol fueled motor. Mark made a 6.75 at 215 mph tuning pass, clearly demonstrating the potential of this powerful combination.

In Real Street, Tim Matherly ran a 10.12 @134 mph and held on to the 2nd place standing in the points.

The first annual NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Drag Racing saw a huge car count, despite horrible heat and humidity conditions, which limited spectators. The weekend also featured torrential rains and a near miss by a tornado. Despite all that, some great racing was displayed. And a lucky spectator, Ashley Jones, was the recipient of a free ProCharger intercooled supercharger system when his name was drawn on Sunday.

The ProCharger booth featured this awesome tube frame 1963 Corvette currently under construction in Chicago. It featured a big block Chevy paired up with a reverse F-3R good for 2,500 + horsepower. In early shakedown runs, the car coasts through the traps after an early shutdown at just over 7 seconds. Projected times for the car when complete are 6.30's!

Don Walsh, Jr. has performed brilliantly this year despite significant rules restrictions apparently aimed at ending his reign as king of Pro 5.0. The man just has raw talent and a ProCharger, give him a break already! At Joliet, he qualified #3 with a 6.71, but cut the lights just a little too short in the semis against Mike Hauf, although his performance netted him the #1 spot in the standings.

In NMCA SuperTruck action, Greg Zoetmulder set high MPH in qualifying with this ProCharger F-2 and air-to-air intercooler equipped Jeep. That’s got to be challenging driving a Jeep at over 140 mph in the quarter with a 9 second ET. Greg ended up with the runner-up spot.

Drag Radial saw Chad Doyle qualify #1 out of 16 cars with a 8.22 @ 171.07, but unfortunately he broke his car shortly after in the first round and had to watch from the sidelines. #3 qualifier Mauro Vitale faced down Vortech’s Dave Hopper in the semis Getting off the line with a .063 to Hopper’s .080, Vitale poured on the coals down-track and powered his way into the finals against John Kolivas. No one could have asked for a closer final match - Kolivas got away first at the tree, but it was too close to call until the bulbs lit in Kolivas’ lane, his 8.232 to Vitale’s 8.273, although Mauro’s performance netted him the points lead once again. Congratulations Mauro!

ProCharger also featured this beautiful 1971 Chevelle from Topeka, Kansas. The car not only looks good, but sports a 496 c.i. big block paired up with a ProCharger F-2 cog race kit to run easy 9’s in the quarter.

SSO is beginning to sound like a skipping record – the enormously talented “Fireball” John Urist qualified #3 after flying in at the last minute, and then proceded to tear through the field to face Billy Laskowski in an all-ProCharger final. Phil Hines performed well too, qualifying #4 at 7.83 @185.54 and making into the semis in a competitive 16 car field, where he fell to fellow ProCharger racer Billy Laskowski. John Urist is solidly in the points lead, while 6 of the top 10 points leaders in the class are also powered by ProCharger.

Bo Butner, after just waxing a huge field at Joliet in his ProCharged Chevy Cavalier, once again marched through a competitive field to take the Comp Eliminator win at the Northern Sports Nationals, posting a run of 7.383 seconds at 186.28 mph to Brian Browell’s 7.430 at 180.09. His 3rd win this season moved him into the #11 spot (out of nearly 200) in Comp Eliminator, even though he has only attended 8 out of 16 events to date.