Mike Bowman’s Pro Mod Ends Up In The Net In Wild Ride

As we’ve mentioned, the cooler temps experienced this weekend in St. Louis facilitated some amazing performances at the NHRA Midwest Nationals. From Leah Pritchett blasting the 7-second barrier in Factory Stock Shootout and roaring to a 335 MPH pass in her Papa Johns Top Fueler to Mike Castellana ripping off a new RPM Pro Mod class record of 5.67 seconds, there were huge numbers popping up all weekend.

However, one of the drawbacks of throwing up huge numbers like that comes as soon as the driver pulls this foot off the throttle. High speeds mean harder stops, and while Gateway Motorsports park isn’t know to be particularly short on shutdown, if your chutes fail to blossom for some reason, that ample shutdown suddenly becomes much shorter. If you don’t believe me, just as Pro Mod standout Mike Bowman.

Bowman and his twin turbo-powered Chevelle are known for putting up huge MPH numbers, and the cool air provided even more power for the engine to do what it does. However, in a qualifying run alongside eventual race winner Steve Jackson, Bowman found himself a little less fond of the 255 MPH trap speed he’d just laid down when his chutes failed to blossom.

Bowman jumped all over the brakes, which are state of the art and do their job very well. However, without the aid of the parachute, there just wasn’t room for the brakes to scrub off enough speed and Bowman plowed into the sand pit at the top end. To add insult to injury, he carried so much speed into the sand that the car nosed into the catch net, which stood the car up on it’s rear end like some kind of awkward Transformer stuck in mid-transformation.

Thankfully Bowman was uninjured in the wild ride and while the car is banged up, it shouldn’t require too much more than cosmetic repairs to be back on the track soon.