Newly crowned four-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown isn’t the only Top Fuel personality jumping into the Pro Mod ranks at the first race of the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service. His crew chief, Brian Corradi, also brought his new Pro Mod entry to the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals presented by Motion Raceworks. Two-time NHRA U.S. Nationals Top Dragster winner Zach Sackman is handling the driving duties in his Pro Mod debut as well.
After attending the 2022 Snowbirds with Brown, who won the race in his Pro 275 debut driving for Manny Buginga, Corradi purchased the ProCharger-boosted, Pro Line Racing-powered 2018 Camaro online and enlisted Jamie Miller to help him get up to speed with the combination. The car is wrapped in a special “Gotham City Returns” livery in a callback to Corradi’s early days tuning for NHRA Funny Car driver Mike Ashley, who also ran Gotham City-themed Pro Mods.
“I was looking for something turnkey ProCharged, something that I could see what it is and then go through it,” Corradi said. “I bought the car, played with it a little bit, probably made about 20-some laps with it. We got Zach driving it. He’s probably the best one I know around that can drive besides Antron.
“The wrap on the car is like this because of Mike Ashley,” Corradi continued. “I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at without Mike. When I went to see him in St. Louis and meet him for the first time, he was racing there and I think he had ‘Eleanor’ at the time and it was a Gotham City theme. I fell in love with [Pro Mods] right then and there. I was racing a fuel car, so I couldn’t play with them. Mike helps me out on this car, so I wanted to do this car in tribute to Mike because I always thought that he had the coolest cars.”
Sackman and the team have been making test passes at Bradenton since Tuesday to prepare for the Snowbirds. In the first qualifying session, he laid down a 3.715 at 203.46 MPH to sit just outside the 32-car field in the No. 34 spot out of 62 cars. He’s been as quick as 3.700 in testing. With Steve Petty calling the shots, the team is hoping to get well into the 3.60s to make it into the show.
“The goal is always to win,” Corradi said. “We don’t come to a race unless we think we can win. We’re close. We just need to find six or seven hundredths. If we could find them, we’ll be in the show and then we’ve got Zach driving. I’ve got my faith in him. But the goals are to make A-to-B laps and see what we need. We gotta knock the dust off this car some more. There is some more in it according to Petty.”
Sackman, who’s won multiple times in Top Dragster in his family’s blown dragster and in Top Alcohol Dragster driving for Randy Meyer Racing, is thrilled to have the opportunity to make his Pro Mod debut this weekend.
“It’s pretty exciting and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Sackman said. “Pro Mod would be my premier class other than like Top Fuel and Funny Car. It’s a pretty cool opportunity that Brian’s given me. I just want to make good runs so we can just learn on the car and get me more comfortable in the car and come back better.”
It’s an all-star crew working with Corradi and Sackman. Corradi’s co-crew chief on Brown’s team for the last 10-plus years, Mark Oswald, is helping out, along with car chief Brad Mason. Other members of the AB Motorsports team are also in attendance, while Brown is pitted across the pit road. It’s like an offseason reunion for the championship-winning team.
“We’re all best friends on our team, so it’s really a treat for us to come out here and do it,” said Oswald, who announced his retirement after Brown won his most recent championship. “To us, it’s less pressure. Not that we don’t try really hard, but it is a little less pressure and a little more relaxing and fun. This car is not quite as intensive workload wise like ours is.”
“It’s like another day at the racetrack,” Corradi added. “Mark will always be here when I go race this car. He’ll be playing with it. He’ll help these guys, and he’ll come to some races, I’m sure, with the Top Fuel car. He can’t stay away. But it’s awesome to have him here. Brad and all the guys that I work with, some of them are over there [with Antron]. This started with Antron because we came with him to run that radial car with Manny. That’s how I got here. It’s awesome to see him over there. It feels good.”
Similarly, it’s a group Sackman is familiar with since his father, Darren, used to work on Ashley’s Funny Car with Corradi. Older brother Matt also served as a crew member on Brown’s Matco Tools Top Fuel team for several seasons and earned his Top Fuel license with the team. Together, the group is learning the ins and outs of racing a doorslammer.
“They know what they’re looking at, but it’s just a little bit different than Top Fuel cars,” Sackman said. “It’s cool to work with them because I’ve been around them all since I was a little kid, so getting to drive for them is pretty cool.”
“I’d say the biggest difference for me is our computer on our [Top Fuel] car is for data collection only, where out here, you’re allowed to do functions in the car with the computer,” Oswald added. “To me, that’s the part of racing I enjoy, so that’s a huge difference to me.”
Between Petty and Miller advising on the tuneup and a crew that also includes veteran crew member “Blower Bob” Gardner, it’s a talented team working together, which has made for a smooth onboarding for Corradi and Sackman. They’re competing at a high level, but it’s still a fun offseason project for the group.
“With the pressures of sponsorship and everything that we deal with at the NHRA level, this is down a notch,” Corradi said. “It’s a job when I go to NHRA races, then I come here and I’ve got my motorhome and my wife is here and we can cook out. You try to enjoy it. The first weekend out is maybe not as enjoyable, but so far, so good. I’m really enjoying the event.”
This story was originally published on December 6, 2024. 
The post Zach Sackman, Brian Corradi, Mark Oswald Join Pro Mod Ranks at DI Winter Series first appeared on Drag Illustrated.