Stivers gains momentum with No. 8 spot

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - In one of his best qualifying performances this year to date, Rick Stivers, driver of the Chuck Ford-tuned '67 Camaro Pro Mod, qualified No. 8 with an impressive 6.088/237.38 in AMS Pro Mod Challenge competition at the ProCare Rx NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, New Jersey. His excitement at the improved performance was short-lived however, as he was unable to service his car after his Saturday morning qualifying run and return for eliminations later in the day.

"We're running so well - Chuck Ford really knows how to get a car down this track at Englishtown," Stivers said.

"As we got closer and closer to eliminations, I just wasn't comfortable with the way things were coming together. I will never walk away from a competition, but I'm not going to push it to do something that might cause more harm than good.

"We really just ran out of time, and I had to make the call to get an alternate ready so the show could go on. I'm disappointed, but, not terribly, because I think finally we've got a handle on this program and are starting to see excellent results.

"It's obvious Chuck knows how to win races - just look at what he did with Tim Tindle, winning this race - and what he's been able to do in such a short time with my program as well. I really want to thank both Tim and Chuck for all they've done.

"I think we've got all of the pieces together, and we're fine tuning our program. The best is yet to come," he said.

"I'm thinking that come Bristol, now that Tim has his Eagle, the next one is mine," Stivers said with his best Kentucky drawl. "I've watched what Chuck has done for years now, and, with the summer weather coming up, I think we've got the car and the tune-up to beat."

The Lexington, Kentucky resident heads next to Bristol, Tenn. July 6-8 for the next AMS Pro Mod Challenge event presented by Tindle Enterprises.