TJ Pruitt
Photos by Trivette Photography
(10-08-14)MOCKSVILLE, NC – The second annual GALOT Motorsports Pro Mod Reunion race was held at Farmington Dragway on Saturday, October 4th. The “Carolina Kid” Travis Harvey scored the win over Todd Tutterow.
“First I want to thank God for letting us be here,” exclaimed Travis Harvey. “The last few months have been terrible for us. We’ve just been braking parts. We broke a motor at Big Dog. We finally got the car figured out to go down the track from a to b. It’s been really good to us.”
After the third and final round of qualifying Todd Tutterow grabbed the pole with a lap of 3.854 at 194.77. That run also got Todd the Drag Illustrated number one qualifier and picked up additional $500.00. Also, during the third round of qualifying Tutterow decided it was time to take home the Sammy Phillips Electric burnout contest award and the $1,000.00 that went with it. Todd took home the honors with a burnout that carried him past the 660 mark. Todd also got the Hank Thomas Performance top speed award with his 194.77 mph blast.
The eventual winner Travis Harvey qualified his Camaro second with a time of 3.887 at 194.28. GALOT Motorsports Team member Kevin Rivenbark put his Firebird third with a 3.934 at 188.05. Right behind Rivenbark was Jr. Ward his Corvette with a 3.935 at 188.75 that got the forth spot. David Monday put his Corvette fifth with a 4.035 at 183.49.
The sixth qualifier was Jeff Miller in his Camaro with a 4.098 at 174.12. Wayne Hawkins also in a Camaro was seventh with a 4.228 at 170.37. Anchoring the field in eighth was Chad Morrison in his ‘57 Chevy with a 4.305 at 166.83. Missing the field was Larry Pearce in ninth and John Gorrie in tenth.
When the first round of eliminations kicked off it was Jr Ward and David Monday that got the action going. Monday had engine problems after the burnout and had to shut it off. Jr Ward posted a 4.116 at 151.48 to get the win. But all wasn’t well in the Ward pit. One of the seals in his transmission let go and the crew had to put in a lot of work between rounds to get ready for the semi’s but they got it done.
The next pair up was Kevin Rivenbark and Jeff Miller. Miller’s Camaro had been battling problems with the engine shutting off all day. It would happen to them again on this pass as well. Miller posted a 4.244 at 154.26 while Rivenbark posted a 4.009 at 186.04 to get the win.
The third pair to make their trip down the 1/8 mile was Travis Harvey and Wayne Hawkins. Wayne left the line first but didn’t have enough to hold off the hard charging Harvey. Travis posted a 3.887 at 191.82 to Hawkin’s 4.191 at 170.30. The 4.191 that Wayne posted was a career best.
The forth and final pair of the first round was Todd Tutterow and Chad Morrison. Chad was the first leave but his advantage didn’t last. Tutterow quickly drove around him posting a 3.902 at 193.00. Morrison was able to run a 4.279 at 166.36.
In the consolation race Larry Pearce ran a 4.289 at 168.30 to get the win over John Gorrie’s 6.182 at 106.99.
The semifinal action got started with Kevin Rivenbark and Travis Harvey. Travis left first and got to the stripe first with a 3.888 at 189.91 to Kevin’s 3.937 at 168.42. On the other side of the ladder it came down to Jr Ward and Todd Tutterow to see who would punch their ticket to the final round against Harvey. Jr left first but quickly ran into tire shake while Todd streaked to the finish line posting a 3.898 at 192.67.
The final round was set, and it was a classic Blower vs. Nitrous. Harvey’s 3.888 from the previous round gave him lane choice and he took the right lane. The right lane had been the preferred lane all evening. The two did their burnouts and put their Camaros in the beams. The tree activated and the race was over. Todd turned on the red light with a -.002 reaction time. Travis cut a .010 light but around the 400-foot mark, his engine had issues. He coasted through the lights with a 4.065 at 146.19. In the other lane Todd posted a 3.876 at 191.74.
Gracious in defeat Todd Tutterow said, “I want to thank all the people that put this event together, GALOT Motorsports, my wife Denise Tutterow, Sandy Collins, Mark Joyce and Buddy Trivette. Sammy Phillips fed everybody today. Thanks to the race track and all the staff. Also, thanks to all the racers that came out. There were a lot of people involved with this event. It would have been better if it was little earlier in the year but that’s the way it goes.”
“The race started out good,” continued Tutterow. We qualified number one. We were pleased with that. We won the number one qualifier money, the burnout contest money and the mph money. We got a bunch of plaques, and everybody got some trophies. Travis Harvey run excellent all day long. He made good runs every time. He ended up winning the race over a red-light but that’s part of it. I’ve won races that way too.”
“I really want to thank Earl Wells from GALOT Motorsports. I can’t thank him enough. Without him I wouldn’t be doing this. I want to thank my crew. Brad, Scott, Wayne, Kevin, my wife Denise, my son Ty and daughter Tia. They all do more than I can ask for. If I say, we need to work tomorrow to get ready for Virginia, they’d all be in there,” added Todd.
A victorious Travis Harvey said, “I want to thank Barry Allen, he drives down every time we got a race. He’s there with me, by my side helping me keep everything together. Jeff Miller, he does everything for me. Whatever we have to do, he helps. Russ is usually here with us but had other commitments today.”
“I want to thank Mr. Dobbs and Von Miles. Those two own everything and finance this. Most of the time they’re behind the scenes but if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be here. I also want to thank my wife Shelby for letting me do this. She’s always by my side. My little man T.J. is my trophy. There is nothing to compare to that stuff.” commented Harvey.
“Our day turned out good,” continued Travis. We had an ignition problem early and got it fixed. We came out and ran the .88 in the second round of qualifying. It ran a .88 every pass after that. It’s been good. We had another mechanical failure in the final round but we were lucky enough too win. I’m just glad we came out on the lucky side. I knew Todd was going to be there cause he probably figured that I was going to be there. So I got up on the wheel and cut a good light.”
Travis finished and said, “Todd is a good competitor, he’s a good guy. I was just glad to be in the finals beside him. I came to races a lot growing up with my dad. I was watching Todd, Tommy Mauney and all them guys. It’s a blessing to be racing beside them. I just really want to thank all the guys behind the scenes. All the crew, my family, my wife, my kids, and my parents. Also, a big thanks to Race Tech, Reher Morrison Racing Engines, Red Line Oil and Hoosier Tires.”
For more information please visit www.farmingtondragway.com. For a complete photo gallery search for Trivette Photography on Facebook.
Story by Buddy Trivette
Photo by Matthew Trivette
