Bob Nagy returns to Pro Modified racing with new Corvette
WELLAND, ON – After several years, Bob Nagy is getting back behind the wheel of a Pro Modified.
The Welland, Ontario native will take to the track this season in Pro Modified Racing Association competition with a new 2014 Corvette Pro Modified, just finished in time for the season opener.
We will definitely be ready for Grand Bend, noted Nagy, who has drag raced since 1965. I want to get out with the car now for some testing and a feel for things.
While he may be a PMRA rookie, Nagy is no stranger to the class. He started in Pro Modified when it was in its infancy in 1993 with a 1991 Corvette, touring the tracks with the likes of Mike Janis and the Grainy Brothers. His car was one of the first in the class to be supercharged, and he was the first to hit the magical 200-mph mark with an automatic transmission during this time.
The class appealed to me, he said about getting into the Pro Modified. I wanted to go heads-up racing.
But for the past 10 years Nagy has been out of racing, due to personal and health issues. In 2013 he built a quick Bucket T roadster but crashed the new car. Although laid up from racing, he recovered and wanted to get back into the sport with a Pro Modified.
I still had a need for speed, he explained about building the roadster. Then I crashed at Cayuga but I’ve bounced back. People say I have got nine lives.
Nagy’s Corvette is a culmination of years or experience. The 521-cubic inch BAE Hemi has been assembled by Kirk Booth and Larry Dobbs, with some help from noted Pro Mod engine and racer Mike Janis. The engine sits in a Lowdown Hot Rods chassis coupled to a three-speed Lenco with a PSI screw-type supercharger and Janis fuel system. The Corvette also features a swing arm suspension and carbon fiber body.
Both Booth and Dobbs will perform crew chief duties on the Nagy Racing team, with assistance from Jason Nagy, Aaron Brooks and Marcus Henderson. Sponsorship for the effort comes from Nagy Construction, Matco Tools and David Chevrolet Corvette of Welland.
Asked if he has any trepidation about returning to Pro Modified racing, Nagy said he is ready and looking forward to it.
It’s like riding a horse, he said. It will be like I never left, and it doesn’t take long.
Pro Modified is my class, he continued. I love it and lots of people have been not only helping me but are glad to see me back.
The Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA), www.PMRA.ca enters its 10th season of popular Pro Modified racing this year, while the Quick 32 Sportsman Series, presented by NAPA Auto Parts, www.Quick32.ca will begin its sixth season, and the Pro Bike & Sled Series (PBSS) presented by Wiseco Performance Products, www.PBSS.ca begins its fourth year of operation. Several times during the race season all three series compete at the same weekend events, offering a colourful, diverse, and exciting package of drag racing action.
The 2014 season for all three series opens May 16-18 at the Grand Bend Motorplex with the running of the RPM Magazine / Lucas Oil MAYHEM at the BEND Presented By Mickey Thompson Tires.
For more information contact Bruce F. Mehlenbacher at Bruce@PMRA.ca
