Rob Sporring: “ These Cars Are Too Fast, And I’m Too Old”
Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
Cayuga, Ontario
Jun 14, 2007
CompetitionPlus
Another strong Pro Modified entry ready for this Saturday’s Pro Modified Racing Association’s race will be Rob Sporring’s Quality Plus team based in Mississauga, Ontario.
With Bolton, Ontario’s Tony Pontieri behind the wheel of the 1957 Chevy-bodied Pro Modified, Sporring has built a formidable competitor in the past two years, and the team will take part in the Third Annual KC Auto Family Day Spectacular - PMRA Challenge presented by Paul Wolf Electric & Lighting Supply Inc., Sylvania, and Independent Electrical Distributors.
The one-day event will be held at Toronto Motorsports Park just outside of Cayuga, Ontario, and is the second round of the 2007 PMRA tour.
With Al Billes as crew chief, the ’57 has put up some pretty impressive numbers running in selected IHRA Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam™ Drag Racing Series and NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Modified Challenge presented by Tindle Enterprises Pro Modified events.
The car qualified number two at last year’s NHRA U. S. Nationals at Indianapolis with a 6.040-second, 237.80-mph run, and is presently fourth in points in the NHRA for 2007.
Sporring, who started racing 17 years ago, and is the owner of Quality Plus Compressor Services in Mississauga, Ontario is the 2002 OSCA Outlaw class champion, but when he decided to go Pro Modified racing, he got out from behind the wheel.
“These cars are too fast, and I’m too old, ” Sporring joked.
So Sporring got Pontieri into his car, and with Billes doing the engine work and tuning, the team has been successful. Sporring also mentioned he has his other Pro Modified in the shop, but is concentrating on a solid one-car effort.
“The other car is a good consistent car, ” he said. “I’d like to run the other car but there’s just no time. ”
He also believes running a two-car team can be very expensive.
“Running one of these cars at the top level costs a lot of money, ” he went on. “Today you need three engines just to be in the program. ”
Sporring added the team has not been totally satisfied with the car this year after the success from 2006, so the team has been wrenching a lot over the past while.
“We’ve gone from bottom to top with the car recently, ” he said. “We’ve rebuilt the whole car in the last month. ”
Along with Billes, the rest of the Quality Plus crew consists of Jason McKnight, Mark Lawrence, Frank Fierro, Randy (Redneck) Ward, and Paulo Delmonte.
And to help all the PMRA teams this weekend, Sporring is contributing two 45-gallon drums of VHT TrackBite Traction Concentrate, a custom formulated resin that provides controlled traction for competition racing. TrackBite is a liquid track and tire treatment that improves traction by means of adhesion and does not soften tires, and is designed to create adhesion between rubber, asphalt, and concrete for maximum traction capabilities.
The race will be the second in the five-race 2007 PMRA tour, and organizers are very pleased to have the Toronto-based Paul Wolf Electric & Lighting Supply Inc., along with Sylvania and Independent Electrical Distributors as part of the event.
Headlining the event will be the popular Pro Modifieds of the Pro Modified Racing Association, with speeds of over 225 miles per hour on the quarter-mile track. Also on hand will be a jet-powered ambulance, wheelstanders, a large fireworks display, and the National Speed Association Pro Stock sleds.
Also joining the PMRA at Toronto Motorsports Park will be the CAN-AM Stock/Super Stock Series and the wild and ferocious Super Street Outlaw 10.5 cars.
The PMRA series expects to see the return of series regulars and principals in the 2007-Point Series sponsored by Wix Filtration Products, Valvoline, a division of Ashland Inc., Uni-Select, and Moen Incorporated.
Sam Andreacchi, Matt Guenther, Gary Irving, Ike Maier, Gary Mater, John Russo, and Scotty Wildgust all started their PMRA career on the Kohler Road quarter-mile strip at the first event on Victoria Day weekend. Established PMRA teams including Bruce Boland, Dave Earhart, Rob Laperriere, Joe Lilienthal, Mark Mitchell, Larry Sinke, and 2006 Champions Kasey Janzen and Joe Boniferro are all expected to return.
The PMRA event should see a few other teams out for the first time this year, including Ralph Andreacchi, Joe Caruso and Mike Cusimano’s “Midlife Crisis” and Mike Stawicki from Medina, New York driving the G-Force Race Cars 1967 Camaro.
Qualifying for the Third Annual KC Auto Family Day Spectacular - PMRA Challenge presented by Paul Wolf Electric & Lighting Supply Inc., Sylvania, and Independent Electrical Distributors will begin Saturday afternoon with the eight quickest teams returning for the final eliminations under the lights on Saturday night at Toronto Motorsports Park.
The PMRA will travel to several drag strips in 2007, including two dates at Toronto Motorsports Park, Lancaster Raceway Park in New York State, Sanair in Quebec, and the Southwestern Ontario track of Grand Bend Motorplex.
In 2006, the tour was a great success, and during the past two seasons of the PMRA, each event finished with a different winner. Joe Boniferro and Kasey Janzen tied in points last year and were crowned co-champions over the other Ontario, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania teams. Wix Filtration Products, Valvoline, a division of Ashland Inc., Uni-Select, and Moen Incorporated will sponsor the PMRA point series in 2007.
About the Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA): The Pro Modified Racing Association started late in 2004 and is entering its third year of operation. The PMRA is a self-governing organization, with technical and safety rules as outlined by the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). Cars in the PMRA capture the true spirit of hot rodding, and the class is one of drag racing’s most exciting and volatile classes, offering a diverse group of racecars with different types of 2,000-horsepower engines. Combining classic body styles and modern equipment, constructors are permitted, within established rules and parameters, to modify and enhance the cars in both appearance and performance. The cars are fuelled by gasoline or methanol, propelling them down the quarter-mile in low six-second times at over 200 miles per hour. The PMRA provides drag race fans the opportunity to see, hear, and experience the popular Pro Modifieds, known as “the world’s fastest door slammers”.
