When longtime Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association president John Mazzorana announced his retirement after 32 years last fall, there was speculation that the regional Pro Modified organization would cease to exist. Instead, 2024 Yellowbullet Nationals winner Andy Jensen stepped in to carry the NEOPMA into 2025, working with Mazzorana and past NEOPMA officials throughout the transition. Now, the group is bringing their offseason efforts to life this weekend at Maryland International Raceway’s 17th annual Atomizer Racing Injectors Door Wars presented by ATI Performance Products, May 16-18.
Jensen, who races a small-block, turbocharged ’68 Camaro in NEOPMA competition, utilized Mazzorana’s rolodex to poll racers, sponsors, track officials, media members and more on what they were looking for out of a 2025 season. Combining Mazzorana’s guidance with feedback from the aforementioned stakeholders, Jensen came up with a three-race schedule – two at MIR and one at New England Dragway – using a refreshed format and rules. He also generated enough racers and sponsors to warrant having a season at all.
“It’s been pretty hard thus far just because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing,” Jensen said of the effort to put together a new season. “John did a great job handing things off to me. I’m just following his lead. He gave me some good advice.”
While Jensen took on the challenge of running the organization over the offseason and during the week while also operating his successful engine shop, he knew it wouldn’t be sustainable to organize the race while also running his own race car. That’s where past NEOPMA officials like Vito and Rocco Micciolo and Jimmy Biggs come into play.
“Hooking up with those guys has been a real Godsend because they’ve already run this organization on race day, so I’ll be able to focus on my car,” Jensen said. “On race day, it’s gonna be their baby. I can’t be rounding guys up to get in the lanes. I’ll contribute what I can, but those guys are pretty much gonna run the show on race day. They also helped me round up some sponsor money, and they’re doing this all on a volunteer basis, so their involvement has really helped make it possible for us to offer generous payouts too.”
One of Jensen’s focuses for the 2025 NEOPMA season at MIR is fan engagement. After the field is set through qualifying, racers will gather at the base of the tower for a random chip draw to determine elimination pairings. Fans are encouraged to attend the chip draw to get to know the drivers. Fans who stay in the stands, though, can benefit from sponsor swag giveaways for items like t-shirts, hats, stickers, koozies, and more. The Micciolo brothers will also poll fans to determine the winner of the Best Appearing Car award.
“We’re trying to get the fans involved a little bit so they can play a role in the race day and have a little skin in the game,” Jensen said. “If we don’t do a good job entertaining the fans and they don’t come back, there’s no race. Our job as racers is to, of course, win the race and have fun and be safe, but also we have to consider the fans. They pay the majority of the payout.”
The winner of this weekend’s race will take home $7,000, a $150 Penske gift certificate, custom trophy, and trailer check. The runner-up will receive $2,500 and a $100 Penske certificate. Semifinalists will get $1,500, $1,250 to second-round finishers, and $1,000 for first-round exits. There’s also a $1,000 Last Nitrous Car Standing bonus presented by PowerMist Fuels and Xtreme Racing Engines, a $500 Low Qualifier bonus from NY Boom Truck, and the $500 Best Appearing/Engineered Car award from Nick Rabe and The Wax Shop.
A full 16-car field has verbally committed to participate this weekend, including reigning NEOPMA champion Mike “Hollywood” Decker III and his father, two-time series champion Mike Decker Jr., past WSOPM champion Carl Stevens Jr., and East Coast standouts like Tommy Gray, Ed Burnley, Don Tolley, Dave DeMarco, and Gary Courtier. Jensen is hoping to pick up a couple more drivers by the time qualifying starts on Friday.
“I’ve done what I can to try to motivate the guys to race with us,” Jensen said. “We’ve got a good payout structure. We have a relatively low entry fee. Good opportunities to test. It’s a good venue, so I’ve done everything I can to try to motivate the racers to race with us. The rest of it is up to them. If we are going to continue down this path and grow the club, we need some good racer participation.”
Jensen also pointed out that the season wouldn’t be possible without Royce Miller and Maryland International Raceway, longtime track partners of the NEOPMA. In what’s become a NEOPMA tradition, the series will start at MIR this weekend and wrap up there on Sept. 26-27 at the Supercharger Showdown.
“Royce has done this a lot longer than I have,” Jensen said. “He’s a terrific promoter, so he told me what he needed me to do, and to be honest, I bounced a lot of my ideas or opinions off of him before I made them public because I really don’t know what the hell I’m doing. He’s been pretty good at guiding me as well.”
As the season gets started, NEOPMA will use PDRA Pro Boost rules for boosted combinations and PDRA Pro Nitrous rules for nitrous cars, though there are some major exceptions for the nitrous combo: no minimum weight, no cubic inch limit, no transmission limitations, and no nitrous system limitations. The group will revise the rules as needed.
Jensen took on the role of series promoter because he didn’t want to see a beloved regional Pro Mod club fade away. The volunteer-based group now has numerous goals: continuing Mazzorana’s legacy, providing a place for Pro Mod teams to race, and putting on a show for fans at the tracks that collaborate with the group.
“With this club, the goal is to just get good, full fields of cars, competitive racing, and hopefully stands that are full of fans,” Jensen said. “If we do a good job at the spring MIR race, I would like to see more fans at the fall MIR race because everybody would have to tell their friends they had a great time. It’s like running any other business: If you do a good job for your customers, which are the fans, and they have a great time and we good job entertaining them, they’re gonna come back in the fall and then next year. My goal is to see it grow.”
Pro Mod qualifying at Door Wars will kick off Friday with sessions at 7 and 9 p.m. A third qualifier is set for Saturday at 2 p.m., while the first-round chip draw will take place at 5 p.m. Eliminations will begin at 6 p.m.
For info on Door Wars and the 2025 NEOPMA season, visit www.GoRaceMIR.com and www.NEOutlawProMods.com.
This story was originally published on May 12, 2025. 
The post 2025 Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Season to Kick Off at Maryland International Raceway first appeared on Drag Illustrated.