Kye Kelley Shocks the Pro Mod Field to Lead List of Winners from Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park
While a lot of North America is done racing for the 2024 season, Florida is one of a couple states that can boast racing year round.
One of the big events that has a lot of history is the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park, and for the 53rd edition of the event, there were some shocking results this past weekend.
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For the first time in 2024, the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals would signal the first event of a three race Drag Illustrated Winter Series Points Championship series. Event two at Bradenton Motorsports Park will be the U.S. Street Nationals in January 2025, and culminating at the World Series of Pro Mod in February, with a $25,000 prize for the series points champion.
Of the twelve classes contested at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, Pro Mod caught the majority of the attention both leading up the event, as well as during. 64 drivers got invitations to participate, and from the first qualifier, it was clear the competition would be tough. Just to qualify was a tall task, with the initial round of qualifying led by a 3.625 at 217 mph pass of Mark Micke, and anchored by NHRA Top Fuel champion Antron Brown’s 3.709 at 201 mph in the 32nd spot.
After the fourth and final round of qualifying, the field has intensified to a 3.591 at 218 mph blast for the top spot, still occupied by Micke, while the bump spot had moved to a 3.647 at 204 mph, with NMCA champion Bob Glenn securing the final spot.
The 32 qualifiers would draw chips for pairings each round, with eliminations getting underway Sunday morning. The notables upsets from round one included two-time PDRA champion Jason Harris, former World Series of Pro Mod champ Derek Ward, and two-time NHRA Pro Mod champion Steve Jackson all exiting earlier than expected.
In the semifinal round, three of the top five qualifiers had survived, with top qualifier Micke facing Ken Quartuccio on one pair. Although Micke came in as the favorite and holding the performance advantage, he red lighted away his chances, while Quartuccio clocked his best pass of the event with a 3.595 at 208 mph run. On the opposite side, Street Outlaws racer Kye Kelley took his Camaro to holeshot win over number five qualifier Kurt Steding via a 3.620 to 3.595 pass.
The final had most thinking Kelley would need another holeshot to defeat Quartuccio, but at the green, it would be Quartuccio out first on a .022 to .033 reaction time advantage. The pair would be separated by only a thousandth of-a-second at the 60 foot and 330-foot marks, but at the finish line, Kelley had pulled ahead to win via a 3.594 at 207 mph pass to Quartuccio’s slowing 3.68 at 194 mph. That earned Kelley a $50,000 payday, and a coveted trophy over one of the quickest fields in Pro Mod history.
“As a little kid growing up, I watched Ken Quartuccio and Stevie Fast,” said Kelley. “I didn’t even think I deserved to be here, and I won it. I don’t care if I ever do it again, it’s the best fucking thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Check out Luke Nieuwhof’s video coverage of the Pro Mod class below:
Lyle Barnett, who was competing in three different classes at the Snowbirds, cleaned house in the Pro 275 class. After qualifying the Tommy Youmans-owned ‘Salvage Title’ Mustang in the number one spot with a 3.676 at 202 mph, Barnett worked his way to the finals against Mark Woodruff.
Traction would tell the tale in the title bout, as Woodruff had problems, while Barnett sped to a 3.74 at 203 mph for the class victory.
Fresh from his Limited Drag Radial championship and win at this year’s No Mercy event at South Georgia Motorsports Park, Greg Blevins Jr. kept the wheels turning in Bradenton, qualifying atop the sixteen car field with a 3.89 at 188 mph.
Blevins Jr. rolled through eliminations to the final round to face Wally Farbaky’s Ford Mustang, and the title bout was over by the 60 foot as Farbaky had problems, while Blevins’ ’69 Camaro scored the surface for a 3.88 at 186 mph for the win.
Ultra Street headlines in qualifying came from a new world record of 4.374 at 161 mph by Shawn Pevlor. But by the final round, it would be two different Mustangs staging up, as Keiffer Simpson faced David Fiscus for the title.
At the green Fiscus got a slight holeshot advantage, and the unique Buick 6-cylinder Fox Mustang stayed in front of Simpson’s ‘American Xpress’ Coyote-powered steed to earn a close victory, 4.43 to 4.44.
Chris Holdorf snagged the top qualifying spot in the Outlaw 632 field by a narrow one thousandth of-a-second margin, a 4.123 to 4.124 margin, over fellow Florida runner Kyle Salminen. Those two would meet in the final, and Salminen fouled away his chances while Holdorf clocked a 4.126 at 169 mph in his Freedom Grow.org-backed GTO for the win.
A pair of No-Time classes were held at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, with Kallee Mills getting the No-Time class win in the ‘Kong’ Camaro, while Ray Morton took the Chevy pick-up known as ‘Maximus’ to the No-Time Truck Shootout victory.
A trio of index classes were contested for cars and trucks at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals.
Carl Mitchell would earn the quickest of the door car-index classes, getting the 5.50 Index victory over JT Carty
Scott Travers scored the 6.50 Index win over John Marconi in an all-Chevrolet final round.
The 7.50 Index title went to Anthony Hodges over Bill Lee Jr.
For the two-wheel fans, a 4.60 Bike class was held, and from the sixteen motorcycles qualifying for the field, Mac McAdams got the win thanks to a close -.002 red light from final round opponent Matt Smith.
Two Junior Dragster classes were also held, with Klein Simpson getting the big check in Advanced Junior Dragster, and victory going to Tre Collins in the Intermediate Junior Dragster class.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, KC Photography, Capri Wesley and Maximus Racing.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com