Pro Stock Series invades ThrowDown in T-Town October 15-16

http://www.mlive.com/autoracing/index.ssf/2010/07/first-year_pro_stock_series_jo.html

First-year Pro Stock series joins Thunder Nationals lineup at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park
Published: Saturday, July 10, 2010, 8:30 AM

MARTIN -- Pete Berner wasn’t going to twiddle his thumbs all summer, not after they were wrapped around a steering wheel for the past two decades.

It appeared to be a real possibility, though, after the International Hot Rod Association dropped its Pro Stock division during the offseason.

Except Berner, a two-time IHRA Pro Stock champion from Crete, Ill., had no intentions of parking his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac Grand Prix. So he created his own series: the Mountain Motorsports Pro Stock Association.

The MMPSA is the featured class in this weekend’s NAPA Thunder Nationals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. It concludes with today’s pro elimination rounds, beginning at 3:45 p.m.

The series brought 16 colorful, ear-piercing, 220 mph Pro Stocks to the Martin quarter-mile. The action began Friday with three qualifying rounds.

Berner quickly has established himself as one of the drivers to beat. He had the top run through two rounds, ripping off a time of 6.33 seconds at 219.06 mph in the second run.

“We love big-motor racing, and our only other alternative was race eighth-mile in the ADRL, which I do. I race both series,” said Berner, 55. “But I love big-motor racing so much, and my next deal would have been to go NHRA racing, and I really didn’t care to do that at this time.

“I raced IHRA for 20-something years. The IHRA is going in a different direction with their program. Most of the fellas you see here have raced with the IHRA for a number of years. Most of these guys want to cut each other’s hearts out on Fridays and Saturdays, but you couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to race with.

“We all help each other when we can. It’s a great deal, and I didn’t want to give that up.”

So Berner got to work building a series.

He hired Tommy Dupree, who previously served as the IHRA’s sales marketing director. The two created a board of directors, which has established the rules.

A five-race schedule was developed for its inaugural year. Martin is the circuit’s third stop.

The series has raced at Rockingham, N.C., and Maryland International Raceway. Remaining dates are Oct. 1-3 at Englishtown, N.J., and the Oct. 15-16 season finale at Tulsa Raceway Park.

“We selected several different venues for our first year that we thought could put people in the seats, and we expect a big crowd here,” Berner said. “We had 17 different offers for next year, and from those, we probably will select seven to 10 dates.”