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MAUNEY’S RACING ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
No. 8 All-Time Driver Leads Pro Mod Lineup for
Rock’s Original Super Chevy Show
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ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – (Sept. 24, 2019) In a world of
shameless self-promoters, Shelby’s Tommy Mauney is
a refreshing contradiction.
Although he is an accomplished chassis builder, a
member of the North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of
Fame and the only driver other than fellow
Carolinian Rickie Smith to have won major
championships in both the Pro Stock and Pro
Modified categories, you won’t hear any of it from
Mauney.
He prefers to let his accomplishments speak for
themselves.
“I’d just as soon remain on the sidelines or in
the back of the room and watch things unfold,”
Mauney said. “I’ve heard all the bragging (from)
those who talk, but if you do well, the world will
know.”
The world certainly knows Mauney whose avoidance
of the limelight didn’t keep CompetitionPlus.com
from recognizing him as the No. 8 Pro Modified
driver of all time. He’ll try to add further to
his legend Saturday when he competes in the
Carolina Xtreme Pro Mod Series as part of the
Original Super Chevy Show at Rockingham Dragway.
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.
Sharing the big stage with the Carolina Xtreme Pro
Mods will be Terry Rosberg’s 300 mile-an-hour jet
dragster, an all-Chevy swap meet, a Chevy car
corral, bracket racing in four classes and the
biggest Chevy car and truck show in the Carolinas.
The owner of TM Race Cars, Mauney won the IHRA
“Mountain Motor” Pro Stock championship in 1990.
Five years later, he won in Pro Modified, halting
Scotty Cannon’s four-year reign of terror in the
IHRA series.
Nevertheless, the veteran derives just as much
pleasure from winning smaller events like the one
this weekend.
“It’s the fact of being competitive that fuels the
thrill,” Mauney said. “I found out that it’s just
as hard to win a Quick Eight event as it was (to
win the Darlington) Nationals in 1995. I don’t
agree that the competition isn’t as tough. The
same principle applies – you have to get after it
if you want to win.”
Mauney will be “getting after it” on a track on
which he has made a lot of history. When he won
the Top Sportsman title at the IHRA’s 1987 U.S.
Open Nationals at Rockingham, he became the first
ever winner in a car using a nitrous oxide power
adder and he did it in an Opel GT which bears
absolutely no resemblance to his current 1969
Chevy Camaro.
Furthermore, the last time the Xtreme Series ran
The Rock, in May of 2018, it was Mauney who
celebrated in the winners’ circle after beating
Salisbury’s Tony Wilson.
Although he is one of the favorites, Mauney comes
in occupying only fourth place in points behind
Chris Rini of Carmel, N.Y., Smithfield’s Jay Cox
and fellow Halll of Famer Charles Carpenter of
Charlotte.
Among other contenders will by Dewayne Silance,
the resurgent Jacksonville hog farmer and service
center operator, who is coming off a Carolina
Xtreme series victory last June in Dunn.
A two-time former IHRA Top Sportsman Champion
(2000 and 2002) and the PDRA Top Sportsman champ
in 2017, Silance also is a four-time champion in
the Extreme Outlaw Pro Mod Series in his familiar
red ’69 Camaro.
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. |
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