Thorne Crowned FuelTech Pro Mod Champion
As part of the 37th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals, Kris Thorne clinched the world championship in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon with a victory in the first round of eliminations on Saturday. The event was the final round of the ten race 2022 season and was powered by JBS Equipment. Driving his shiny black ProCharger-powered Camaro, Thorne has been one of the drivers to beat for the majority of the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series events.
Thorne claimed his first career Pro Mod Wally at the 53rd annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway and the veteran doorslammer driver added his second win of the season at zMAX Dragway. With all of his wins have coming this year, Thorne continued to lay down consistent runs and reached the final round at Norwalk with wins against Lyle Barnett, J.R. Gray and Stan Shelton before setting aim on multi-time NHRA Pro Mod world champion Rickie Smith to earn his third victory of 2022 Pro Mod season.
Thorne Victory Caps Dream Pro Mod Season
Kris Thorne couldn’t wait to get to the 37th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis. The driver of the Thorne Racing ProCharger-powered Camaro was clearly on the verge of clinching his first world championship in the FuelTech Pro Mod Drag Racing Series with a 102-point lead over two-time world champion Stevie Jackson (who won last month’s doorslammer event at Charlotte). After a great start to the season, Thorne had suffered two first round loses over the past four Pro Mod races.
Jackson and Thorne both carded 5.739 ETs in qualifying with Jackson claiming Number One qualifier with a faster 254.77 mph to Thorne’s 252.34 mph. Thorne relied on a 5.857 ET at 244.00 mph in the opening round of eliminations to beat Rickey Fischer and earn his first career NHRA Pro Mod world championship. With the pressure off, Thorne remained quick all day. In the late rounds in Dallas, he defeated JR Gray with a 5.769 ET. In the finale, Thorne set the low elapsed time of the event with a 5.720-second pass to defeat a slowing Stan Shelton and claim his fourth NHRA Pro Mod Wally.
Photo courtesy Go Thorne Racing Facebook Photos
UP COMING:
2023 FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Series
The FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by D-Wagon will return to action as part of the 2023 NHRA season. The full event schedule is to be announced.
