Stivers overpowers the track, makes early exit in Atlanta

COMMERCE, Ga. - Behind the wheel of his ‘67 Camaro Pro Mod, Rick Stivers hoped the tuning assistance of Chuck Ford would have propelled him further than a No. 11 starting position as the AMS Pro Mod Challenge presented by Tindle Enterprises, Inc. ran their third even at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, but it turned out that the "Chuck Power" was too much for the track on race day.

Stivers almost immediately smoked the tires in his first-round match against Danny Rowe, posting an 11.623/71.48 to Rowe's 6.183/222.91.

"That left lane had been giving people problems all weekend, but I really thought we could get down the track - until I saw Cody Barklage shake the tires in front of me," Stivers said.

Stivers entered the weekend with high hopes, having reached an arrangement with Tim Tindle and the TARE racing team to have the assistance of Chuck Ford with the tuning decisions on his Camaro.

"I'm really confident with Chuck Ford helping us that we'll get our program running well. I'm actually doing something with Chuck that I've never done before - testing!

"I'm staying over in Atlanta to work some things out so that when we get to St. Louis we should really have a handle on the set up," he said.

Stivers and his crew head next to St. Louis for the next race in the AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge presented by Tindle Enterprises, Inc. at the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals next weekend, May 4-6.