A six-year veteran of the Pro Modified ranks, Derek Ward had his most successful season to date in 2023, having claimed the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association (NEOPMA) championship. Now, he is ready to throw down at the biggest and baddest Pro Mod event of the year, the 2024 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod presented by Johnson\u2019s Horsepowered Garage and J&A Service, March 1-3 at Bradenton Motorsports Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am excited for sure and it\u2019s definitely the biggest race I\u2019ve ever raced at,\u201d Ward said. \u201cI think if we keep the car consistent like we have, we have as a good a chance as any to win it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Sears photo<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no doubt that 2023 was challenging for Ward, who was mixing it up with some of the best Outlaw Pro Mod racers around in the NEOPMA series, but the Maryland resident also suffered a major crash towards the end of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrecked at Budds Creek at the end of last year. A week later, I bought this one,\u201d he said of the burgundy-hued, 2005 G-Force Race Cars-built \u201868 Firebird he is currently piloting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took everything down to the wiring and transferred it into this one,\u201d Ward said. \u201cIt took two weeks to put it together and we went down to Orlando and it\u2019s running just as good as the other one. We went 3.60 with the new car and 3.59 with the blue one. The difference is in the air and time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Powering the Pontiac is a Noonan Race Engineering 4.9-inch bore space Hemi engine built by Mike Stawicki at MSR Performance Racing Engines. Ward\u2019s weapon of choice when it comes to power adders is a PSI screw blower.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like my combination is one of the best out there,\u201d Ward said. \u201cIt definitely runs very well for a screw blower [combination]. It all depends on the air, I think. It\u2019s really close with the ProChargers. I think it\u2019s faster than a roots car with the rules and the weight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resolution Racing Services provided the fuel system for the mechanically injected machine and Ward employs a FuelTech FT600 ECU to control ignition timing, fuel leanouts, and datalogging. Backing the supercharged Hemi powerplant is a 5-speed Liberty\u2019s Gears transmission with a Quick Drive and a Neal Chance torque converter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJon and Jim Salemi help me out a lot with this stuff,\u201d said the small business owner. \u201cI have to say thanks to my crew, Mike, Dale, Henry, and my family. If it wasn\u2019t for them, I wouldn\u2019t be able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he approaches his first World Series of Pro Mod appearance, Ward is going through his normal pre-race routine, which involves getting the motor freshened up and going over the whole car.<\/p>\n
When asked about the $100,000 purse that\u2019s on the line, Ward noted that he\u2019s competed in some big-money bracket races.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re both very competitive,\u201d Ward said of the two different drag racing disciplines. \u201cI just love the sport of drag racing. I race however I can. I\u2019ve always liked heads-up racing better, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ward will have his work cut out for him at the World Series of Pro Mod in March at Bradenton Motorsports Park, as some of the best Pro Mod racers in the world will all be vying for the $100,000 prize money.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel pretty good,\u201d Ward said of his chances at a win. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely not going to be easy. There are a lot of fast cars that are going to be there. I always say you need a little luck to win the race and it\u2019s got to be your day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tickets for the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod presented by JHG and J&A Service are on sale now and can be purchased at https:\/\/bit.ly\/wsopm2024<\/a>. Fans watching from home can tune in to the official event livestream on FloRacing at https:\/\/flosports.link\/3uYLot3<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The post 2023 Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association Champion Derek Ward Ready to Take On 2024 World Series Of Pro Mod<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A six-year veteran of the Pro Modified ranks, Derek Ward had his most successful season to date in 2023, having claimed the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association (NEOPMA) championship. Now, he is ready to throw down at the biggest and baddest Pro Mod event of the year, the 2024 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91712\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}