Q80/El General takes home their first NHRA wally at the 4 Wide Nationals

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In a weekend where we saw so many past NHRA Champions take home a wally, it was a first time NHRA winner in Pro Mod taking a wally when Jose Gonzalez took the win in Charlotte at 4 Wide.

For years, Jose and the Q80 Racing team has been at the top of the world outside of the NHRA ranks. Whether it be in outlaw form or in PDRA trim, Jose and his team have been an absolute hurricane of success. Last year it was Jose with his Pro Boost Mustang that took home the PDRA Championship.

In the offseason Jose decided to part with the beautiful orange Corvette and went with a Jerry Bickel built Camaro. It was stuffed with a Proline Hemi and a pair of twin Precision Turbo units under the hood. FuelTech is tasked as the EFI to handle all that power.

This weekend was the first 4 Wide for the pro mods in 2018 as the pro mods did not compete earlier in Vegas. This was also Jose’s first 4 Wide appearance as well, as this is Jose’s rookie season. Quietly, Jose is creeping up on everyone and this weekend was the culmination of that.

We saw the Camaro back in February when they were testing in Orlando prior to the RPM Pro Mod test session. The car looked and performed like a top running car in 2018. That should really come as no surprise though.

In the final quad on Sunday, the Q80 team faced off against Stevie Fast, Brandon Snider, and Tricky Rickie Smith. Jose was the first one off the line with an .021 followed almost immediately by Brandon with an .022. Brandon fell off the pace with a slowing 6.393. Running right next to Jose was last years Rookie of the Year Steve Jackson, who provided some not so needed excitement when the got into the wall, shot across track and smack the wall, before coming back across again and hit the wall head on before coming to a stop. Stevie was able to get out of the car, but not before it started on fire. All of this happened after the finish line, which gave Stevie the runner up with a 5.763, followed by Rickie’s 5.775. Jose powered through and crossed the stripe with a 5.743 at 254.09 to capture the win.

Look for the Camaro to continue putting up dominate numbers when the pro mods roll into Topeka in a few weeks. The team that includes Steve Petty, Mikey Rees, and others have a championship on their mind, and don’t plan on letting anyone get in their way of that goal.