DESPITE CHANGE, CARPENTER’S LEGACY IS THE ‘SHOEBOX’ Charlotte Hall of Famer Among Pro Mod Challengers at Original Super Chevy Show ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – (Sept. 13, 2019) Charlotte’s Charles Carpenter, the man often called the “Father of Pro Mod” drag racing, won’t be hard to find Saturday (Sept. 28) when the Carolina Xtreme Pro Mod series anchors the return of the Original Super Chevy Show to Rockingham Dragway. Nevertheless, don’t look for him in one of the “shoebox” 1955 Chevys on which he built his career in the 1980s and early ‘90s when the quickest and fastest IHRA Top Sportsman cars morphed into what today are Pro Mods. While the erratic and exotic Pro Mods will headline this week’s event, along with Terry Rosberg’s 300 mile-an-hour jet dragster, the weekend also will feature a Chevy-centric swap meet, a Chevy car corral, bracket racing in four classes and the biggest Chevy car and truck show in the Carolinas. Adult admission is $40 for the three-day weekend. Saturday only admission is $25; Sunday only is $20. Kids 6-12 are $5 daily and children under six are free when accompanied by a ticketed adult. As always, there is free parking in Rockingham Dragway’s main lot. After racing ‘55s for almost 40 years, Carpenter, a North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame inductee, finally yielded to the reality that he could either continue to be unique or he could make a switch and become competitive once again. Reluctantly, he opted for the latter, taking delivery on a bright yellow 1968 Chevy Camaro replica in which he is third in points entering this week’s series finale. The new car has thrust Carpenter back into prominence but, admittedly, it has been a bittersweet experience. “When I started racing ’55 Chevys, they were still popular in class racing,” Carpenter recalled. “We ran in many different classes and the car was still an accepted body style. Then, in the mid-to-late ‘70s, more aerodynamic and smaller cars started appearing on the racetracks like Vegas and Monzas. “The beauty of drag racing allowed us to keep running the ’55 if we wanted. While the other cars were getting smaller, I stayed with my big ‘Winnebaro’ ’55 and that separated me from the crowd, so to speak.” Nevertheless, in the ‘80s, it got to the point where Carpenter’s “shoebox,” while popular, wasn’t competitive. That all changed with the introduction of nitrous oxide. “When we started using the nitrous, it suddenly caught me up with these smaller, more aerodynamic cars,” Carpenter said. “Then the media picked up on it and they loved it. They liked that a big, boxy car was out here racing with these little sleek, aerodynamic cars, and that started the Pro Modified drive.” During the barnstorming years that took him and his hot rod from coast to coast, the media began calling his car “the World’s Fastest ‘55” – and it was. He not only was the first to break 200 miles per hour in such a vehicle but also the first to break the eight-second and seven-second barriers. Nevertheless, it wasn’t all kittens and puppy dogs for the veteran. In fact, everything almost came to a disastrous end at an ADRL Pro Mod race at Houston, Texas in 2009 when Carpenter suffered serious injuries after hitting the wall at speed. It actually was that crash that planted the seed that eventually led him to park the ’55 in favor of his current “late model” ride. In reality, though, even if he wins this weekend, few are going to identify Carpenter as “the driver of the yellow Camaro.” To most, he’ll always be “Mr. ’55.” Pro Mod qualifying sessions for Carpenter, point leader Chris Rini of Carmel, N.Y., fellow Hall of Famer Tommy Mauney of Shelby, Dewayne Silance of Jacksonville and others are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and 12 noon Saturday with elimination rounds at 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.