Grand Junction, CO – Many an oil man hustled their way to fortune around the Houston, TX area. This weekend Mike Knowles and his Blown Money team look to “strike it rich” drilling Christmas trees in “The Energy Capital of the World”.

Mike Knowles of Knowles Trucking and Knowles Enterprises is no stranger to the energy business or “drilling the tree”. The Grand Junction, Colorado resident makes his living in the energy sector but, he gets his thrills behind the wheel of his methanol burning 68’ Camaro rocketing down the ¼ mile at over 240 miles per hour.

In his last outing, at the season opener in Gainesville, Fl, Knowles came up short in the first round but, not without taking a shot at the tree; “Drilling it” with a .037 reaction time and loosing by a mere 29 thousandths of a second. This weekend the Blown Money team heads to Houston, Texas aka “The Energy Capital of the World” for the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals with Pro Mods Presented by J&A Service.

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Grand Junction, CO – It’s been a busy “off-season” for Mike Knowles and his Blown Money Pro Modified team. After finishing 2013 with a career best 5.88 at the season finale’ in Vegas the concentration for the down months went to perfecting their already stout combination.

“We had a good combination all last year. We just needed to put everything together and learn what she wanted. We got a glimpse of that in Vegas and this off-season we really didn’t make that many changes and focused more on finding her happy place,” said car chief, Bill Rice.

“We went testing a handful of times and just focused on the set up and the tune up. We wanted to see how the car reacted to the changes. We did this each time out and then were able to bring her back to our baseline each time she would repeat. This helps us learn what the car will do in various weather and track conditions. It’ll hopefully keep us ahead of the curve as the season roles on,” added Rice.

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“Billy and Tim (McAmis) have been progressing with our combination all year. We’ve made some really impressive runs but, we just need that little push to get us where we need to be and hopefully that’s what I hope Brandon will bring. He seems to have a better hold on what a converter car needs than just about anyone out there. I’m hoping that by the time we leave Vegas we have a good direction in place for 2014,” said Mike Knowles.

“From what I know, Mike and his guys have a very good handle on their set up and just need a fresh set of eyes to put them over the top. This team has the best of everything including a dedicated owner and a driven crew. Those things along with all the right parts should help make my job a little easier. I’m just grateful to be a small part of what Mike has built and would like nothing more than to see him come out of that car with a smile after every run,” said Brandon Booher

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“Listen, we know the south loves their Cup Racing and we know everyone loves the fuel cars; there’s no doubting that but, the popularity of Pro Mod can never be questioned in this part of the country,” said Blown Money Pro Modified Team Owner/Driver Mike Knowles. “Down there on any given weekend you can find a packed house at just about any local track when they know the Pro Mods will be there. So, it’s to be expected that when the national touring guys come in that we’ll garner a lot of attention. Especially, when we max out the entry list for the event,” added Knowles.

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Grand Junction, CO – As if running over 240 miles per hour in less than six seconds isn’t enough of a thrill; “Speed Junkie”, Mike Knowles continues to feed his need for speed. Last year Knowles was lucky enough to receive a VIP flight with Blue Angel 7, a two-seat F/A-18B Hornet. More recently Knowles took a trip to Driven Experiences in his home state of Colorado.

“It was a blast! I don’t know if I’ve ever had that much fun in an automobile before. You have to keep adapting to the changing course and anticipate the truck. It really keeps you on your toes and makes for a real fun time,” said Knowles.

Driven Experiences is a Pro-Baja Truck driving experience run on a two mile course in Colorado’s Emerald Desert. Their focus is to teach the science of driving by educating drivers through engineering and vehicle dynamics. http://www.drivenexperiences.com/

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“We just decided to take a few steps back in order to go forward,” said Knowles. I mean we’ve been having a rough time so we decided to put a completely different tune up in the car, one we ran mid-last season, and she responded but we hurt a main bearing on that run. Still, we knew we were onto something,” added Knowles.

With a wounded bullet in the car Knowles’ only back up was an unproven piece that promised plenty of power and she didn’t disappoint. Once she was in the car and the team fired her for the first time it was evident something was different.

“As soon as she lit we knew she was gonna be a beast. There was a different tone to her,” said Knowles.

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Grand Junction, CO – After an early, first round, exit at the season opening Gator Nationals Mike Knowles and his “Blown Money” Pro Modified team look to rebound when the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series visits zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, N.C. this weekend. The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns to zMAX Dragway, April 19-21 for the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

“We struggled a bit in Gainesville but, we were lucky enough to make it into the field,” said team owner/driver, Mike Knowles. “Since then, we got in some testing and made some changes. The car is getting the front half better now but we know we have some room to get better. The combination isn’t in question; it’s just a matter of fine tuning,” added Knowles.

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