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<\/p>\nAfter a record-setting winter season in Bradenton, Florida, Drag Illustrated founder and editorial director Wes Buck is looking beyond state lines\u2014and even national borders\u2014to expand the reach of the World Series of Pro Mod. While he\u2019s quick to point out that Florida remains the immediate priority, Buck believes the seeds for a truly international Pro Mod tour are already planted and poised to take root across the globe.<\/p>\n
The Drag Illustrated Winter Series and its marquee World Series of Pro Mod (WSOPM) have quickly been established as amongst the most competitive venues in drag racing today, and the level of competition and parity is especially significant considering the wide variety of engine, power adder and body styles included. The inaugural running of the DI Winter Series has showcased remarkable parity: from centrifugal superchargers to nitrous oxide injection, twin turbos, and a variety of blower configurations, every combination finds a way to remain competitive. Incredibly tight qualifying ladders \u2013 separated by mere hundredths of a second\u2014underscore why fans and racers alike are increasingly calling this the most exciting eliminator in drag racing.<\/p>\n
As proud as he is of how far the Winter Series and WSOPM have come, Buck sees an even greater opportunity by looking overseas. He points out that, at the most recent Bradenton race, drivers arrived from Australia, Russia, Brazil, Sweden, Puerto Rico, and several Canadian provinces\u2014not to mention from all corners of the continental United States. Past iterations have featured racers from the Middle East, and it\u2019s clear there\u2019s room for more. In Buck\u2019s mind, the next logical step is launching a series of \u201cqualifier\u201d events in major international markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dream scenario,\u201d he says, \u201cwould be a WSOPM European Qualifier, a Middle East or Arabian Gulf Region Qualifier, and one in Australia, possibly another. We want to go where the sport is already doing well, invite those teams to run under our rules, and then funnel them into the main show in Florida. That\u2019s when things could really get crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Buck, the main challenge lies in unifying disparate rulesets. Plenty of international Pro Mod and doorslammer racers run exclusively on the quarter mile, or are restricted in terms of which power adders they can use. Moving everyone to an eighth-mile format with additional power-adder freedom will require open minds on both sides. Still, he sees enough appetite among racers\u2014those hungry for the kind of excitement, enthusiasm and drama the WSOPM delivers\u2014that he firmly believes the groundwork exists.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m blissfully content with what we\u2019ve accomplished,\u201d Buck explains, \u201cespecially considering the fan and racer support we\u2019ve seen and how tight the fields have been. Across three winter races, our average No. 1 qualifier was 3.577, and the average bump was 3.646 \u2013 that\u2019s 32 drivers separated by just a hair under seven-hundredths of a second. That\u2019s insane. I know we can take this same energy and level of competition to iconic drag venues around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buck often refers to Pro Mod as \u201cthe universal language of drag racing,\u201d a sentiment he backs up by pointing to the wide range of countries and powertrain combinations that have already converged on the Florida stage. He believes these international qualifiers would only enhance that vibe: the allure of bringing together drivers from every corner of the world, all dialed in on a common rulebook, all chasing that same elusive trophy and big-money payday at the grand finale.<\/p>\n
The plan, he admits, will demand careful coordination and collaboration with international promoters, track owners, and racer communities who have grown accustomed to their own norms. But from Buck\u2019s perspective, the reward is worth the work. A unified, worldwide door-car championship, culminating in the biggest Pro Mod race on the planet, could be exactly the push needed to elevate the class\u2014and drag racing as a whole\u2014to new heights of mainstream recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt we\u2019re going to take this show on the road,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen, exactly, is still up in the air, but the desire is there. The racers are out there, the fans are out there, and the facilities are out there. Now it\u2019s a matter of putting the puzzle together. We\u2019ve proven the formula works in Florida; now the fun is figuring out how to make it play in Sydney, Santa Pod, Qatar\u2014wherever doorslammer drag racing thrives. I think it\u2019s more than doable.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Buck and the WSOPM, it\u2019s no longer a question of whether the show will expand beyond U.S. borders\u2014only how soon. The excitement of a true \u201cworld\u201d series has never been higher, and with scores of international teams already eyeing the eighth-mile chaos in Florida, it seems only a matter of time before that chaos goes global.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published on March 21, 2025. <\/p>\n
The post Wes Buck Teases International Expansion for World Series of Pro Mod<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a record-setting winter season in Bradenton, Florida, Drag Illustrated founder and editorial director Wes Buck is looking beyond state lines\u2014and even national borders\u2014to expand the reach of the World Series of Pro Mod. While he\u2019s quick to point out that Florida remains the immediate priority, Buck believes the seeds for a truly international Pro […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99612","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"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}