Salemi, Oh So Close for Hometown Crowd

Leicester, NY – For the Melanie Salemi Motorsports team, racing close to their Buffalo NY shop is not something that happens very often, or wasn’t at all until 2019. The improvements and upgrades Empire Dragway has completed granted them a shot at a legit Pro Modified race for the 2021 season.

The Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association booked their 4th stop of the year at Empire Dragway and it was a pleasant success from the car count to fans in attendance. With over 20 Pro Mod entries and packed-out grandstands under perfectly blue skies, Melanie Salemi and her G-Force Race Cars Built, MSR Performance powered 68 Firebird snatched the second rung on the qualifying sheet with a 3.69 @ 202 mph blast down the famed 1/8 Mile. Jim Salemi, Owner of G-Force Race Cars said, “It was cool to be back at Empire in this setting. Mike Stawicki and I raced at all the IHRA Pro Mod races here through the late 1990’s and early 2000’s and to see it packed like it was today with appreciative fans and awesome performances was a sign that our sport we love so much is doing just fine!”

Salemi ripped through the field on Saturday by defeating Jack Grainy, Matt Dietsch and Derek Ward before losing a great race to Tommy Gray in the final round. Both Gray and Salemi ran 3.66 second runs in the semifinal with Gray getting lane choice by .003.  This set up a Classic Pro Mod Final. Corvette Vs Firebird, Screw Blower Vs Roots Blower, Male Vs. Female. This was almost a dead heat to the stripe with every incremental almost identical, but it was Gray taking the win light by .006 of a second.

Melanie stated, “This race was a complete success on all ends. There is nothing like having friends and family at the track. We hardly ever get to race at home that’s why it made this event so special to us! We had a great car all through qualifying and eliminations. We had an oil pressure problem in the final which forced me to lift before the finish line and Tommy got by us, but they are a great team, and we were happy for them. My team thrashed on the car after second round making changes to better our program and it worked. Jim, Jon, Evan, Eddie, and Jeff are the best in the business, I say it time and time again. To bring Purple Reign back out with a roots blower and perform like it did is a proof that our in-house chassis and engine development is top notch.”

Our next race is only a few short days away. We have been fortunate enough to be invited to race with the R&R Auto Body/DeCerbo Construction Rumble Wars Extreme Pro Mods for the Kelly Night Under Fire, back at America’s Race Track- Summit Motorsports Park.