Less than a year after racing to a runner-up finish at the $150,000 2025 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, Stevie “Fast” Jackson took his screw-blown Motion Raceworks “Shadow 3.0” ’68 Camaro to the $75,000 winner’s circle Sunday night at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission. Jackson won with a 3.566-second pass at 210.80 mph after opponent Derek Menholt went red by .006 seconds on a 3.57-second pass at 211.36. By winning the second of three races in the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service, Jackson moved up to second in the Winter Series points standings.
U.S. Street Nationals Winter Series victories also went to Jerry Morgano in Pro 10.5, Cole Pesz in True 10.5, and Joseph Mallais in the Strange Engineering Lil Gangstas Championship Series presented by Melling Performance. In the FuelTech Radial Outlaws Racing Series classes, Grantley Schloss (Pro 275), Tommy Youmans (Limited Drag Radial), Billy Lackey (X275), and Joel Greathouse (Ultra Street) were victorious. Ronald Procopio (4.60 Bikes), Brian Shook (6.50 Index), Jason Renninger (7.50 Index) won in the index classes, and Cailyn Fargo won in Jr. Dragster.
PRO MOD
After years of trying and many close calls during the history of the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod and now the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service, fan-favorite Stevie “Fast” Jackson finally broke through on Sunday evening, taking home $75,000 and the title of Pro Mod Champion at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission. Piloting his Killin Time Racing “Shadow 3.0” ’68 Camaro, Jackson defeated Derek Menholt in his Harts Charger-equipped 2019 Corvette in the final round, cutting a .011 reaction time en route to a 3.566-second pass at 210.80 mph. Menholt gave up the race at the starting line, going -.006 red before running a 3.570 at 211.36.
The relief was evident on Jackson’s face as he celebrated in the winner’s circle, doused in champagne while standing atop his car with showers of pyro as a backdrop. But it was the individuals he celebrated with that Jackson was quick to give credit to for his performance.
“Ever since Wes had a dream of doing the World Series of Pro Mod in Denver in 2017, and we hauled that thing out there, I saw what he was building and I really wanted to win one of these races,” Jackson said. “It’s a surreal feeling to have the team I have around me. Everybody’s ‘Stevie, Stevie, Stevie.’ This doesn’t mean anything about Stevie. Stevie can only do what he does because I’ve got people like Jeff Pierce tuning the car, people like Bob Reinhardt building the engines, people like Alicia Davis who runs the company when I’m gone. All the crew guys that brought this together. KTR is a big operation with a lot of moving parts. I don’t get to race a lot, but when I do get to bring my car out and have fun with it, it’s awesome to know that they have done everything they can to give me the piece to go do it.”
Jackson qualified sixth in the quickest field in Pro Mod history, with all 32 cars running in the 3.50s. Jackson ran a 3.564 at 211.53 mph, the quickest screw-blown car in the field. With the unique chip draw format, Jackson didn’t benefit from a high qualifying position. He drew 2024 No Prep Kings champion Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington in the first round. Ellington suffered tire shake in “Blue,” his Keith Haney Racing twin-turbo ’69 Camaro, and had to let off early. Jackson cruised to a 3.562 at 211.69 mph.
In round two, Jackson used a 3.583 at 210.11 to defeat Pro Mod newcomer and second-generation racer Brylon Holder in his screw-blown Camaro. Holder threw away a quicker 3.581 pass by going -.010 red. In a difficult quarterfinal round, Jackson managed to get by 2023 WSOPM champion Spencer Hyde in a pedalfest. Jackson cut a .009 light and muscled his way down the track to a 3.771; Hyde, meanwhile, suffered severe tire shake, causing his chutes to deploy early. The victory earned Jackson a date with the quickest car of the entire weekend in the semifinals – the “Lard Machine” ’69 Camaro driven by 2020 NMCA Xtreme Pro Mod champion Eric Gustafson. Jackson once again got the reaction time advantage, .026 to .080, and used it to earn a holeshot win, with his 3.602 staying ahead of Gustafson’s quicker 3.591.
Despite this being Jackson’s first event win in the Winter Series, he and his team are no strangers to success. This is the third consecutive race in the Winter Series featuring a car from the KTR camp. Jackson fell to Steve King in the 2025 WSOPM finals, while teammate Sidnei Frigo made it to the finals last month at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals presented by Motion Raceworks against Jason Harris.
“It really shows that we have the right people in the right places,” said Jackson. “KTR has a culture of letting dynamic, really talented people thrive in their environment. These races are hard to win and they’re hard to go rounds. They’re hard to qualify. We’ve never not qualified for one. If you got a KTR-powered car in a final for three races in a row, it shows that everything we’re doing off the track is correct. You don’t win these things at the racetrack. You win them at the shop. Nobody in this industry works harder at the shop than we do.
“Everybody says they have a good culture, but there’s not a company in motorsports that has a culture like us,” Jackson continued. “We’re a family. We take care of each other, we love each other, we pick each other up when we’re down. It took me a long time in business to realize that I used to think Stevie Fast can tune it, drive it, and do it all – and I can, but not at the level of people that are working together with a common goal of winning.”
Menholt qualified just two spots below Jackson in the No. 8 spot with a 3.568 at 211.66 mph. He knocked out Melanie Salemi in the first round, setting up a titanic matchup in round 2 against Snowbirds winner Jason Harris in his “Party Time” ’69 Camaro. Harris was the lone driver eligible for the Elite Motorsports Million, an unprecedented million-dollar prize to any driver that could win all three Winter Series races. Harris had Menholt by two-hundredths on the tree, but suffered mechanical failure partway through the run, ending his bid for a seven-figure payday. Menholt went on to defeat John Doc and Peter Norton en route to the finals.
With the win, Jackson moved into second place in the DIWS points championship, behind only Harris. With points-and-a-half available at the WSOPM, everything is still on the table for the two-time NHRA Pro Mod champion.
“The unique nature of this race is that you have the most condensed field of talented human beings on the planet running these types of cars, so it’s so hard just to qualify,” admitted Jackson. “If you miss a run, if you don’t make a good run in the good session, you’re not in. When you talk about winning one of these championships and saying you bested 80 of the baddest door cars on the planet…I would call it an impossible task, but we’re built for chasing after impossible tasks. That’s the dream we all had as a kid when we decided we wanted to drag race cars. Can we do it? Yes, we have a team that can absolutely do it. Can 20 other people do it? Absolutely.”
Despite one of the most impressive résumés not only in Pro Mod, but all of drag racing, Jackson is nowhere near satisfied. With the never-ending conversations regarding parity between combinations, improving his skills as a driver, trying new parts and pieces on the car, and even bringing out a completely different car he’s never driven, Jackson is adamant that nothing is off the table moving forward.
“We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of engine development,” Jackson said. “I’m going to continue to try to drive better. I want to be an elite driver. We just got to keep working on all the pieces. We missed winning World Series of Pro Mod last year by a thousandth. You don’t ever learn anything in life from winning. You learn by failing, dusting yourself off, and going to work.
“The guys at the engine shop are already working on the development engine that we’ll run at World Series of Pro Mod,” added Jackson. “I’ll be in a different car for World Series of Pro Mod than I’ve ever driven before. So there’s some pieces in the puzzle that we’re moving around. One thing that’s awesome is you got a lot of people running this series that really love the sport – and I am really, really excited about World Series of Pro Mod. The best thing about it is it’s only four weeks away, so we get to carry this momentum and not have to think about it for six months. 2026 is our year. 2024 was building, 2025 was learning, and in 2026, we’re on the gas and it is our year.”
PRO 10.5
For the first time since 2019, longtime Outlaw 10.5 proponent Jerry Morgano parked his twin-turbocharged “Copperhead” ’02 Mustang Cobra in the winner’s circle. He qualified No. 2 in the Pro 10.5 field, and due to the random chip draw format, ended up facing No. 1 qualifier Carson Baker in the first round. Morgano beat Baker on a holeshot and drew the bye run in the next round, sending him to the semis to face Tim Partin. He got another holeshot win over Partin to meet Nick Agostino and his turbocharged “Cannoli Express” ’69 Camaro in the final round. The pair of small-block-powered machines spooled up and Morgano was out of the gate first yet again. This time, he paired the holeshot with a 3.905 at 195.65 to beat Agostino’s 3.934 at 200.00 for the $10,000 win.
“It’s a huge deal. I love Outlaw 10.5, obviously,” Morgano said. “I’ve been running in the class for 25-30 years now. The guys I race with – Nick Agostino, Tim Essick, Ron Green – just the OGs of the class, they’re all great friends of mine. We have such a blast when we race together. Drag Illustrated inviting us here a couple of years ago was a huge honor, and just being able to continue that this season, bringing us into the three Winter Series races, is awesome. I hope to continue it. I know there’s a lot of cars coming to the World Series that were getting repaired and updated over the winter. I think we’ve got some good things for the class going into the future.”
TRUE 10.5
Following a successful campaign at the Snowbirds, True 10.5 was added to the U.S. Street Nationals lineup, but with a twist – traditionally a no-time class, True 10.5 would turn the clocks on for the second Winter Series race. Bill Lutz, who won the Snowbirds in Pro 10.5, switched to True 10.5 and recorded the quickest pass on 28×10.5s in competition, but a centerline DQ in the third round stopped what looked like another trip to the winner’s circle. Instead, young gun Cole Pesz pulled off one of the biggest comeback stories with his $40,000 win.
Pesz, the son of Pro Modified veteran Brandon Pesz, suffered a major crash in testing that threatened to end his weekend. His team went to work, though, and got the screw-blown and nitrous-assisted Gobert Racing ’18 Corvette repaired and ready for eliminations. Pesz won on a slight holeshot over Scott Taylor in the opening round, got a decisive second-round win over Ryan Hendrickson, and trailered 2024 Snowbirds Pro Mod winner Kye Kelley in the third round. Pesz threw down a 3.969 at 204.70 to stop multi-time No Prep Kings champion Ryan Martin in the semifinals. Final-round opponent Brandon Sandlian went red by .087 seconds, throwing away his 4.132 at 191.62, while Pesz charged to a 3.980 at 204.76.
“I have the greatest team in the world behind me and Gobert Racing,” said Pesz. “I knew there was going to be trials and tribulations. I didn’t think this was going to happen, but I’ve been in a lot worse positions in my life than crashing a race car. I knew we had a really good car. I genuinely believe we have one of the fastest cars out here. Our whole team came together and we just looked at each other and said, ‘We got this.’ Honestly, I’m just super blessed. This is how we’re starting off 2026 and I can’t wait for what’s to come for the rest of this year.”
LIL GANGSTAS
One of the rising star classes in drag racing, Lil Gangstas, continued its Winter Series run at the U.S. Street Nationals with another diverse, stacked field that included anyone from Snowbirds winner Tommy Hoskinson to NHRA sportsman standout Randi Lyn Butner. A pair of northern natives met up in the $20,000 final round following a long day in the Florida sunshine, with Joseph Mallais in his ’88 Mustang getting the win over Chris Scarlata in his ’70 Nova.
“This is crazy to be with the 64 best cars,” said Mallais, who thanked partners All-In-One Auto, FuelTech USA, True North Turbo, and Priority Collision. “It’s a tough class. You get no time slips. You don’t know what you’re running. You’ve just got to run it to the line and see who comes out on top. I went three rounds at the Snowbirds, so I’m up there [in the points]. It’s going to be a really good chase for the finish.”
PRO 275
Brisbane, Australia’s Grantley Schloss continued his winning ways in Pro 275, winning the U.S. Street Nationals for the second straight year in his ProCharged ’67 Nova. The reigning Radial Outlaws Pro 275 champion qualified third and took out Paul Major, Ernie Damper, and Nick Lacerenza before pairing up with Texan Rick Bailey in the final round. Schloss reacted quicker and led the whole way, winning with a 3.748 at 200.68 to Bailey’s 3.780 at 198.64.
“To win one’s always a stretch, but to go back-to-back, it’s crazy. It’s a great, great feeling,” said Schloss, who thanked ProCharger, Pro Line Racing, LAT Oils, Ryan Rakestraw at RK Racecraft, Homier Fabrications, Spot On Performance, and his supporters in Australia. “Qualifying was very tight, and everyone we were up against, we couldn’t take lightly. The track was definitely the equalizer out there for us today. The radials raced in the heat of the day. Everyone slowed it down and most people got down, and it was all very, very close racing. I’m just glad to be here.”
LIMITED DRAG RADIAL
Car owner and driver Tommy Youmans rolled into Bradenton with multiple cars in his Tommy Youmans Racing camp, but it was Youmans himself and his turbocharged, Pontiac-powered ’70 GTO that parked in the winner’s circle Sunday night. After qualifying No. 8 in Limited Drag Radial, Youmans started out in the 3.90s and ended up in the mid-3.80s by the final round. He defeated Scott Husted, Brandon Carter, Jamie Stanton, and Snowbirds winner Brian Weddle to meet Justin Martin in the final round. There, Youmans left first and never looked back, running a 3.860 at 196.30. Martin coasted to an 11.817 at 41.03.
“It’s incredibly special to be here,” said Youmans, who credited tuner Lee White and Kauffman Racing Equipment for the billet Pontiac block in his GTO. “We had such mechanical problems with the other cars, and then ol’ ‘Judy’ over there, she just performed flawless all day long. The crew worked on her. We broke a couple of valve springs during the day. They got her fixed up every time and it’s just incredible to be able to win in the Drag Illustrated Winter Series and just to be able to win, period. The LDR class is just so competitive. There’s so many different combos. The field is so level and it’s just a blessing. My guys work hard all the time and it’s just incredible to be able to get this win here.”
X275
A long few weeks of preparation for the Radial Outlaws season opener paid off for Maryland-based X275 racer Billy Lackey, who knocked out class veteran Ron Rhodes in the final round. After qualifying No. 4 in his turbocharged ’02 Mustang, Lackey set low E.T. of all four rounds of eliminations with his round wins over Derek Cooper, Trevor Fuqua, and No. 1 qualifier and reigning series champion DJ McCain. Lackey saved the best for last, unleashing a 4.125 at 176.93 to get past Rhodes in the final. Rhodes, whose son, Ronny, also reached the final round in Ultra Street, slowed to a 5.578 at 101.64.
“It still hasn’t hit me yet,” Lackey said. “We’ve been here since Monday and the car has just been freaking awesome. I couldn’t ask for more. We had this thing apart. We tested two weeks in Orlando and hurt the oil pump, and luckily it didn’t hurt the motor. We put it back together and I’ve got Dave Hanlon and James Smith – they make this whole thing. I pay for it, I let go of the button, but they’re the ones that should be getting interviewed, not me, because James Smith with JSC Race Cars and Dave Hanlon with Deebo Tuning, they’ve got this thing on a rail. I’m just the lucky one that gets to drive it.”
ULTRA STREET
At the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton in early December, Joel Greathouse stepped behind the wheel of Davey Hull’s turbocharged ’93 Mustang while Hull healed from spinal tumor surgery. Greathouse ended up earning the Ultra Street win there, and the arrangement continued this weekend at the U.S. Street Nationals. Once again, Greathouse wheeled the Hull family’s machine to the winner’s circle. He defeated Russell Justus, Dave Fiscus, and Jessie Coulter en route to the final round, where he used a holeshot advantage and a 4.484 at 154.37 to finish ahead of Ronny Rhodes and his quicker 4.458 at 157.59.
“It’s very special because the reason I was here in December was to help out [Hull] that truly drove the car,” said Greathouse, who thanked Justin McChesney and the team. “We had some luck and got the win, then I get in his car again because he’s in X275 and we freaking win again. I don’t know what to say. I’m just so wound up I can’t even think right now.”
The 2025/2026 Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service will wrap up with a grand finale Feb. 26-28 at the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
This story was originally published on January 26, 2026. 
The post Stevie ‘Fast’ Jackson Wheels ‘Shadow 3.0’ to $75,000 U.S. Street Nationals Pro Mod Victory first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
