(4-5-2011) LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Danny Rowe and the Sterling Bridge Pro Mod team are off and running in 2011. Having earned a semifinal round finish at the second stop on the Get Screened America NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing tour in Las Vegas, Danny Rowe and company have solidified their position as not only a front-runner in the category, but also a serious championship contender.
The desert locale of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway presented crew chiefs with a unique set of atmospheric conditions – dramatically different than that of the season-opener in Florida. Nonetheless, Rowe, led by world-renowned tuner Jimmy Rector, jumped right into the thick of things with a 6.043-second, 242.15mph effort to earn the No. 7 starting position for eliminations.
Rowe then dispatched Scott Ray and teammate Donnie Martin before facing Khalid Balooshi in the semifinal round of action. The two drivers, who had been within two-hundredths-of-a-second of each other in the previous round, would face each other for the second time in a row, and despite having the performance to get the job done, Rowe left the starting line .007-seconds too early, turning on the red-light and awarding the automatic win to Balooshi.
Now an impressive 5-2 in competition, Rowe is third in the championship point standings, 57 points out of the lead and just 1 point out of second with 8 races left on the schedule.
“We really feel like we have the car to beat right now,” says Rowe, reporting from his home in Laguna Hills, California. “We’ve got a lot of confidence and even though we fell out in the semis, we did make a run that was good enough to win the race – and that’s a big deal. You always hate to lose, but it’s hard not to stay upbeat when you have a fast hot rod that can win races.
“It’s obvious that the rule changes have hurt the blower cars,” Rowe continues. “It’s hard to say how it’s all going to play out, though. I don’t know. I do know that we’ve got a competitive hot rod and this Sterling Bridge team is going to remain focused on qualifying well, going rounds, and ultimately winning races. We’re headed to Houston next, and we’ve got a lot of history there. I’m really excited.”
Danny Rowe Racing’s success in Vegas wasn’t limited to the drag strip. DRR hosted their first donation collection over the weekend to benefit the Don’t Worry Be Happy and Fuel the Cure for Diabetes Foundations. To celebrate the launch of Rowe’s charitable campaign, Deborah Ashton-Cooke, Mrs. Nevada 2011, and Fallon Smythe, Miss Junior Teen Nevada 2011, joined the Danny Rowe Racing team for the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals.
“I have to say that as happy as we are with the performance of our Pro Modified Camaro out on the quarter-mile, personally, I’m just as thrilled with the things this team has going on off the track,” says Rowe. “We had a tremendous weekend in Vegas raising awareness for Don’t Worry Be Happy and Fuel the Cure for Diabetes, and we hosted the founders of Eken Evolution Powerbands and RCD Engineering – two of our team’s family of sponsors.”
Next up for Danny Rowe and the Sterling Bridge Pro Mod team will be the NHRA O’Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston, Texas over the last weekend in April (Apr. 29 – May 1), where Rowe and crew will look to earn their third Pro Mod title in three years.
NHRA Pro Modified Points Standings (After 1 of 10 races)
Khalid Al-Balooshi, 194
Rickie Smith, 138
Danny Rowe, 137
Roger Burgess, 118
Kenny Lang, 112
Ed Hoover, 88
Raymond Commisso, 87
Brad Personett, 87
Michael Gullqvist, 77
Von Smith, 76
NHRA officials recently announced the 10-race television package for the Pro Modified series, which will air highlights and coverage of this weekend’s NHRA SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD on Saturday, April 9th, at 4:00 p.m.
The desert locale of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway presented crew chiefs with a unique set of atmospheric conditions – dramatically different than that of the season-opener in Florida. Nonetheless, Rowe, led by world-renowned tuner Jimmy Rector, jumped right into the thick of things with a 6.043-second, 242.15mph effort to earn the No. 7 starting position for eliminations.
Rowe then dispatched Scott Ray and teammate Donnie Martin before facing Khalid Balooshi in the semifinal round of action. The two drivers, who had been within two-hundredths-of-a-second of each other in the previous round, would face each other for the second time in a row, and despite having the performance to get the job done, Rowe left the starting line .007-seconds too early, turning on the red-light and awarding the automatic win to Balooshi.
Now an impressive 5-2 in competition, Rowe is third in the championship point standings, 57 points out of the lead and just 1 point out of second with 8 races left on the schedule.
“We really feel like we have the car to beat right now,” says Rowe, reporting from his home in Laguna Hills, California. “We’ve got a lot of confidence and even though we fell out in the semis, we did make a run that was good enough to win the race – and that’s a big deal. You always hate to lose, but it’s hard not to stay upbeat when you have a fast hot rod that can win races.
“It’s obvious that the rule changes have hurt the blower cars,” Rowe continues. “It’s hard to say how it’s all going to play out, though. I don’t know. I do know that we’ve got a competitive hot rod and this Sterling Bridge team is going to remain focused on qualifying well, going rounds, and ultimately winning races. We’re headed to Houston next, and we’ve got a lot of history there. I’m really excited.”
Danny Rowe Racing’s success in Vegas wasn’t limited to the drag strip. DRR hosted their first donation collection over the weekend to benefit the Don’t Worry Be Happy and Fuel the Cure for Diabetes Foundations. To celebrate the launch of Rowe’s charitable campaign, Deborah Ashton-Cooke, Mrs. Nevada 2011, and Fallon Smythe, Miss Junior Teen Nevada 2011, joined the Danny Rowe Racing team for the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals.
“I have to say that as happy as we are with the performance of our Pro Modified Camaro out on the quarter-mile, personally, I’m just as thrilled with the things this team has going on off the track,” says Rowe. “We had a tremendous weekend in Vegas raising awareness for Don’t Worry Be Happy and Fuel the Cure for Diabetes, and we hosted the founders of Eken Evolution Powerbands and RCD Engineering – two of our team’s family of sponsors.”
Next up for Danny Rowe and the Sterling Bridge Pro Mod team will be the NHRA O’Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston, Texas over the last weekend in April (Apr. 29 – May 1), where Rowe and crew will look to earn their third Pro Mod title in three years.
NHRA Pro Modified Points Standings (After 1 of 10 races)
Khalid Al-Balooshi, 194
Rickie Smith, 138
Danny Rowe, 137
Roger Burgess, 118
Kenny Lang, 112
Ed Hoover, 88
Raymond Commisso, 87
Brad Personett, 87
Michael Gullqvist, 77
Von Smith, 76
NHRA officials recently announced the 10-race television package for the Pro Modified series, which will air highlights and coverage of this weekend’s NHRA SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD on Saturday, April 9th, at 4:00 p.m.
