In its first season of operation, Flying H Dragstrip is set to host the largest payout in Pro Modified history on September 19-21 when the Mid-West Drag Racing Series rolls into Odessa, Missouri for the inaugural Fall Smackdown. By the end of the event, one driver will go down in history with a massive $150,000 payday.<\/p>\n
While only one driver will walk away with $150k, there will still be plenty of other opportunities to earn a fair amount of cash. Payouts include $25,000 for the runner-up, $5,000 for semifinalists, and $2,500 for quarterfinalists. The top qualifier will also receive $10,000. For teams that don\u2019t qualify or lose in the first round, there will be a Pro Mod \u201cUndercard\u201d class as well, paying $25k to the winner and $10k to the runner-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In total, there will be an estimated $266,000 in prize money awarded \u2013 and that\u2019s just for Pro Mod. Many of the biggest names in the class will be in attendance, including Mark Micke, Jason Harris, Jim Halsey, Spencer Hyde, Derek Ward, Melanie Salemi, and a multitude of others. An event of this magnitude is a dream come true for Track Owner Scott Higgs, Track Manager \u2013 and Pro Mod driver \u2013 Blake Housley, and the entire Flying H team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we first started building the track, Scott always wanted to have a big race,\u201d says Housley. \u201cWe\u2019re so far out in the Midwest, it takes something to draw all those people out this way. We\u2019d go to Bradenton in the winter and sit in the stands for an hour and a half watching Pro Mods. He was amazed and said, \u2018We gotta find a way to get that here. I\u2019d like to have a race where if you destroy your motor to win it, you\u2019ll at least have enough money to pay for it when you get back home.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the two started thinking about how to put on such a large event, they quickly realized they were out of their element. Enter Keith Haney, founder of the MWDRS, who stepped up to help Higgs and Housley turn their idea into reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLast October, we were kind of throwing it around with Keith at the Throwdown (in T-Town), and he took the ball and ran with it,\u201d Housley says. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t have done it without Keith. The amount of hours he\u2019s put in to help us make this happen, he\u2019s just been awesome to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Pro Mod will be headlining the show, the MWDRS Fall Smackdown will feature a wide variety of supporting classes including Alcohol Funny Car, Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Pro 4.20, Pro Junior Dragster, Sportsman Junior Dragster, 5.80 Index, Super Pro, and even a jet semi truck. No matter what type of cars fans prefer, Housley believes there will be something for everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should be a non-stop show from the time we start in the morning,\u201d says Housley.\u00a0 \u201cWhat we have is stuff everyone wants to see, including our local classes like 5.80 Index and Super Pro. We\u2019ve got over 30 Top Sportsman and Top Dragster cars. I think we\u2019re up to around 55 cars in Pro Mod. That\u2019s something I don\u2019t think anyone has seen in this area. You see it a few times in Bradenton with the World Series of Pro Mod, or even the Snowbirds and U.S. Street Nationals, but those are really the only places you can see that many Pro Mods in one place. It should be pretty epic stuff.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Testing will begin on Tuesday and run through early Thursday afternoon. Pro Mod qualifying will kick off Thursday evening at 4:00 and 6:30, followed by a Racer Appreciation party presented by Strange Engineering at 7 p.m. Qualifying continues on Friday until 7 p.m., when things kick into high gear with Opening Ceremonies and first round of eliminations. Eliminations will then run all day Saturday until all champions are crowned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As everyone from both Flying H and MWDRS concentrate on putting forth a once-in-a-lifetime type of event, don\u2019t expect it to actually be a one-time deal. Housley says there are already plans to continue bringing fans an unforgettable experience in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to build on it moving forward,\u201d Housley says. \u201cWe want a headlining, destination race \u2013 one that everybody wants to come to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spectator tickets can be purchased at the gate, or in advance at https:\/\/www.myracepass.com\/tracks\/3956\/tickets\/1404246?rKey=45640<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n To stream the MWDRS Fall Smack Down on FloRacing, visit https:\/\/flosports.link\/3QoxtUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n This story was originally published on September 17, 2024. <\/p>\n The post Mid-West Drag Racing Series Inaugural Fall Smack Down Set to Invade Flying H Dragstrip<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In its first season of operation, Flying H Dragstrip is set to host the largest payout in Pro Modified history on September 19-21 when the Mid-West Drag Racing Series rolls into Odessa, Missouri for the inaugural Fall Smackdown. By the end of the event, one driver will go down in history with a massive $150,000 […]<\/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-96000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96000","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=96000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96000\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}