I a field that consists of the top tier pro mods, it was the Carolina Kingpin Jeremy Ray that came out on top. The RPM warmup in Orlando last weekend showcased some of the most amazing Pro Mods that will be involved with the NHRA this season.

Jeremy Ray might not be a household name when it comes to NHRA Pro Mod drag racing, but it is one that you better get use to hearing. A class with names like Danny Rowe, Steve Jackson, Sidnei Frigo, and others, at the end of the day Jeremy Ray was the last man standing.

Orlando has become a regular host of the RPM Pro Mod warmup in conjunction with the NHRA D2 race. Earlier in the week, the track was stacked with A+ pro mods doing testing. New cars were something that was on tap as well. Danny Rowe debuted his new Camaro, Chad Green in his new Vette, Jose Gonzalez’s new Camaro, and Clint Satterfield’s new Camaro. It was a great chance for these drivers to get some seat time before heading to Gainesville for the Pro Mod season opener in a couple weeks.

Billy Glidden was back in the seat of his nitrous fed, Skillman backed Camaro as well. It was truly great to see Billy and Shannon back at the track. Along with Billy being there, an NHRA newbie, but pro mod superstar Melanie Salemi was on the property with Purple Reign getting ready for her shot at the big show. Melanie plans to run all 12 of the NHRA RPM pro mod races this season.

Noticeably missing were names like Rickie Smith, Mike Castellana, and Harry Hruska. While we did hear that Rickie was testing at another track, and Harry just got his car back right before the event, we haven’t heard a peep out of Mike Castellana this off season. You may be asking yourself, “what about Steve Jackson”? Stevie was on the property after taking home his $50k at SGMP the weekend before. He was there working with Jeffrey Barker on the Turbo car that Jeffrey will be driving this season.

If you were following our Facebook page over the weekend, you would have seen some great and consistent numbers out of the blower cars. Jeremy Ray and Steven Whiteley were two of the most consistent combos all weekend. It was the turbo car of Shane Molinari that would face off against Jeremy though.

There are already 35 cars entered for the Gators in two weeks. This means that it will be one of the biggest pro mod fields ever at an NHRA event. It also means that it will be the absolute must difficult class to qualify for. If you are running in the low 80’s it’s going to be tough to break the top 16. We think that Jeremy Ray will do quite well though, and he seems pretty warmed up after that great win in Orlando.