R2B2 Racing Pro Mod final report

Mechanical issues hinder R2B2 Racing's progress in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a first round of eliminations that showed promise at the 42nd annual Tire Kingdom Gatornationals, mechanical gremlins invaded R2B2 Racing's Get Screened America Pro Mod Series pits and the team's three surviving drivers were all eliminated in the second round of eliminations.

"Losing stinks," said team owner and driver Roger Burgess. "And I found a new way to do it."

Burgess' 1953 turbocharged Corvette has been a work in progress since rolling out of the shop. Its biggest issue has been with the brakes, and that is what stung Burgess on Sunday.

Against Kenny Lang, the Corvette went through the burnout fine, but the brakes didn't grab correctly during staging, causing Burgess to roll straight through the lights and keep going.

"I guess this car wants to go too much," Burgess said. "We're going to stay over here and test. We've got some good ideas on how to remedy this and it'll be fixed before the next race."

It was a bad turbo part that proved to be Brad Personett's undoing against eventual winner Khalid Balooshi.

"It's something that now has happened twice," Personett said. "It's the first race of the year and stuff happens. This series is so tight; you can't fall behind from the get-go. You run out of time and it's hard to catch up."

Balooshi ran 5.916 second pass at 241.89 mph and took the victory over Personett who finished in 6.028 at 249.16 mph.

Raymond Commisso's team is struggling to find horsepower under the new rules that reduced the supercharger's power.

"Any racer in this category can win at any given time," Commisso said. "If I win, I want to win against the best; if I lose I want to lose against the best.

"We will take some more laps and stay here, figure out what's going on and then head to Vegas. We are definitely the underdog here with the turbo cars and the nitrous cars. We will work on a few things and just keep getting at it."

Commisso crossed the line in 5.952 at 248.02 mph against Rickie Smith, who finished in 5.926 at 238.68 mph.

The Get Screened America Pro Mod Series resumes its schedule at the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas April 1-3.

-source: r2b2 racing