Coming off a remarkable Pro Mod rookie season in the Mid-West Drag Racing Series (MWDRS), Jacob McNeal entered the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals presented by Motion Raceworks with plenty of momentum, driving the screw-blown ’71 Cuda out of the Jon Stouffer Racing camp.
But even after a year in which he narrowly missed out on a points championship, McNeal was blown away by the sheer size and scope of the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service after arriving at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
“The experience itself was so freaking awesome,” McNeal said. “The atmosphere, how it went, everything. With the amount of racers, every time you pull up there, it’s either do or die. You either do it or you don’t. For me, the feeling itself was just like a national event.”
McNeal admittedly struggled early on during qualifying, as potential weather concerns pushed the event schedule up a full day. After four sessions, McNeal’s best elapsed time of the weekend was a 3.660 – a very respectable run almost anywhere else, but only good enough for the No. 57 position in Bradenton.
“It was hectic for us. We got behind the eight ball a little bit,” said McNeal. “We were trying to get everything done and acclimated, kind of get ready for the qualifying stuff, and then we’re playing catch up the whole weekend. It just kind of bit us a little bit.”
As many drivers confirmed during and after the event, getting behind by just a single pass can flip a team’s weekend upside down. With 80 of the top Pro Mod teams in the world on the property, every single qualifying session was of the utmost importance.
“You can’t go anywhere else and have a Pro Mod field like that,” McNeal said. “At no other sanctioning body are you going to get that caliber of car every time you go down the track. You have to go for the top 10 or you’re done, because every car there could literally knock you out. It’s just unheard of, you know? There’s no other Pro Modified race in the world like it.”
That kind of pressure doesn’t phase McNeal, however. In fact, he thrives on it. In 2025, his first ever season competing in Pro Modified, he went into the final MWDRS race of the year leading the points – and that was after missing the first race of the season. In fact, McNeal said if he’d simply bought a tech card for the first event, he would’ve had enough points to secure the championship. Ultimately, he finished second to two-time series champion Aaron Wells, but said he loves being in that position.
“Everybody always kind of asks me, ‘Man, do you get nervous? Do you feel the pressure?’” said McNeal. “All the predicaments I’ve been in with racing – from Top Fuel to Funny Car to Pro Mod – I get excited. Personally, I want to be put in that position as a driver. If I have the equipment, I know I can go out there and get the job done.”
A lot of that confidence comes from McNeal’s bracket-racing roots, which he put on display at the Snowbirds. McNeal entered his dragster in the Super Pro class in addition to racing Pro Mod, getting down to eight cars before going red and ultimately ending his weekend.
“I was doing good…we got down to eight cars and I kind of shot myself in the foot,” McNeal said. “But bracket racing is my bread and butter. That’s what I’ve done my entire life, and I’ve been able to carry over that style of driving – from staging, letting go of the button, and being able to drive – to my Pro Mod. It’s a different driving style, yeah, but I just try to make sure that every time I go up to stage, it’s identical.”
Now, with the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission on the horizon, McNeal is excited to get back to Bradenton for the second race of the DI Winter Series, and he’s coming prepared. Knowing the kind of competition they’ll be facing, McNeal and the Stouffer Racing team have spent the last month upgrading practically everything on the car.
“It’s like night and day,” said McNeal, the excitement evident in his voice. “The only thing that’s the same going into this race is the chassis. We have a brand-new block, new heads, new blower…everything is brand new coming into this race.
“There’s just an excitement level to knowing we can get after it with new parts,” McNeal added. “That makes me more excited as a driver because if your car does good, the driver does better. Knowing I have all this new stuff to help push this thing to the next level, it’s a big confidence booster. I’m ready to come back. I just love it to death.”
This story was originally published on January 12, 2026. 
The post Jacob McNeal Enjoys First Winter Series Experience, Hungry For More first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
