Derek Ward Claims $100,000 Win in Drama Packed Final at World Series of Pro Mod
After a successful first year at Bradenton Motorsports Park in 2023, the World Series of Pro Mod returned to southwest Florida for what promised to be another action-packed event in 2024.
After two days of testing and three days of qualifying and racing, Derek Ward would claim his richest payday with the $100,000 win from a stellar Pro Mod field of entries over multi-time PDRA Pro Nitrous champion Jim Halsey in a nitrous versus supercharger finale.
Joining Ward in the winner’s circle late Sunday night would be Nick Schroeder, picking up the first Pro 10.5-inch Challenge class victory, Matt Giangrande in the Mountain Motor Pro Stock Invitational class, Tim Molnar scored the Top Sportsman class accolades, Steve Furr denied all opponents in Top Dragster, and Michael Carpenter defended home turf and secured the win in Super Pro.
Jeff Rudolf made the most of second chances with his Second Chance Pro Mod Chicago Style Shootout win, and ‘Fast’ Freddy Perkins held the trophy in the Second Chance Top Sportsman class.
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As in 2023, a stacked field of Pro Mod entries came into Florida looking to secure the $100,000 payday in the World Series of Pro Mod event, and every qualifying hit mattered.
The field tightened on each and every session, and at the end, a 3.598 at 220 mph blast would snag the top spot and the $10,000 top qualifier bonus for Mark Micke’s twin-turbo Camaro, the lone car to clock a 3.5-second pass.
The 32-car field would be secured by former WSOPM winner Mike Bowman in the 32nd spot with a 3.664 at 206 mph, just a .066 of-a-second spread amongst the 32 qualifiers.
With the field locked up, pairings for eliminations would be determined by chip draw, and Ward would pull a tough draw for the opening round with Tommy Franklin, the number three qualifier in the opposite lane. They left the starting line a mere one thousandth of-a-second apart, and arrived at the finish line nine thousandths of-a-second apart, with Ward’s 3.70 at 206 mph taking out the 3.714 at 204 mph from Franklin.
Dustin Nesloney would provide competition for Ward in round two, but Nesloney would have pro0blems and Ward would motor into the quarterfinal round with a 3.68 at 205 mph. Round three pitted Ward opposite Marcus Butner, and at the Christmas Tree flash of green Ward grabbed nearly two-tenths on reaction time advantage. Butner tried to make up the difference with a quicker 3.66 pass, but Ward got the win light with a 3.67 and spot in the semifinal round.
There he would pull the chip for a lane with Stevie ‘Fast’ Jackson, who was fresh off his Radial Versus the World win at Lights Out 15 just a week earlier. The race would be over before the 60 foot mark, as Stevie was too ‘Fast’ on the leave, red lighting away his chances and sending Ward to the finals with a 3.63 at 207 mph.
On the opposite side of the ladder, the nitrous-fed Camaro piloted by Jim Halsey was working his way to final round berth. The highest qualified nitrous car on the property, Halsey would dispatch Stan Shelton in round one with a 3.69 at 207 mph lap.
Round two pitted Halsey against defending WSOPM champ Spencer Hyde, and Halsey would overcome a slight holeshot to win via a 3.65 at 208 to Hyde’s game 3.69 at 207 mph pass. With eight cars left, Halsey drew Jason Harris’ chip, and Harris would make the world champ sweat a little, pulling out an .029 to .060 reaction time advantage. But Halsey would get to the stripe first via a 3.65 at 208 mph to deny the 3.68 at 205 mph of Harris by just one thousandth of-a-second!
Halsey lined up with Todd Tutterow in the semifinals, and this time Halsey got the .027 to .057 holeshot on reaction time times. That proved critical when both drivers lit the scoreboards with 3.63 e.t.s, and Halsey’s better reaction time got him the win and a shot at $100,000.
The final round was set; the nitrous car of Halsey versus the blower car of Ward. Halsey had come off the semifinal round victory with questions regarding the engine, and showing true sportsmanship, Ward gave them the extra time needed.
“We needed to freshen an engine up before the final because we had a mechanical failure,” said Halsey. “It took us an hour to do what we needed to do. We talked to Derek’s team to make sure that they didn’t have a problem waiting if we needed extra time. It was like an hour and 10 minutes and we were ready to roll.”
After all the work was done, both cars rolled to the water box, but Ward’s Pontiac Firebird refused to fire. After a couple minutes of trying, Halsey gave the word to Ward’s team: take it back to the pits and make the necessary fix so that a pair of cars would go to the starting line to determine the champion.
Less than twenty minutes later, Ward’s crew had the Firebird ready to fly, and they were back in the staging lanes to stage up with Halsey for the title. From the announcers in the tower to the fans that had continued to fill the stands, everyone was excited for the final pass. “This is what drag racing is all about,” Drag Illustrated founder Wes Buck stated just before the cars fired up. “We’re here to race; I’m not giving someone $100,000 on a single.”
The final pair did their burnouts and rolled to the starting line, and at the green Ward had a .047 to .073 holeshot over Halsey. By half track Halsey’s car made a move and he had shut off, only to watch Ward drive into the night on a 3.62 at 208 mph blast, his best pass of the event, to score the win and the $100,000 payout.
“It was stressful up until we got it started in the burnout box for the last final,” said Ward. “You have to forget everything when stuff like that happens. I have to say thanks to Jim Halsey for giving me time to do what I had to do to get up the start line. I don’t even pay attention to all that stuff when it is happening. I’m looking at the (Christmas) tree and down track. That’s it. I wasn’t thinking anything until we got that win light on the finish line.”
For Ward, the 2023 Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association champion, this win kick starts his 2024 campaign, and he feels the sky is the limit. “We are going to just keep working hard and keep going racing and see what happens,” he said.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
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