Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 3224 THE CHAMPIONS Every team in every sport starts every season with visions of championships dancing in their heads. For a cherished few of them, those dreams become reality - Billy Harper and his Billy Harper Motorsports team were among them in 2016 winning two of the six races and cruising to the 2016 IHRA Pro Mod World Championship. “It felt really great to win the championship - particularly in our first full year back since 2008,” Harper said. “For the team to come together and the motor program to come together so quickly, it’s really been another great season for us. We couldn’t be happier!” During the economic downturn that began in 2008, Harper’s construction companies suffered reduced business forcing him to condense his work force; the race team shut down in 2009. “I just could not continue racing and laying off employees at the same time,” Harper added. “That’s not right so I really just stopped and OPPORTUNITY KNOCKED IN GRAND BEND PRO MOD CHAMP BILLY HARPER ANSWERED BY ROB GOODMAN focused on the company during the recession. In 2015, we started running a few races as the economy got better, and this year we ran the full season.” That they did – from the season-opening IHRA AMSOIL Nitro Nationals in Orlando, it was clear Harper would be a force in 2016. He was the No. 1 qualifier and advanced to the semifinals, but the real fun began at the second race near San Antonio in early April. At the Good Vibrations Texas Nationals Fueled by Sunoco, Harper claimed the No. 4 qualifying positon on Saturday and stormed through eliminations Saturday night. He defeated Jerico Balduf, No. 1 qualifier Bill Lutz and No. 2 qualifier Ruben Tetsoshvili and set a national elapsed-time record on the way to his first winner’s circle of the season. “San Antonio was interesting because we had an electrical problem that showed up in Orlando which is why we didn’t win that race,” Harper said after the season. “In San Antonio, we didn’t qualify well at all; we were getting ready to make a qualifying run, and when I turned the power on, the chutes deployed. That’s when we found the problem – it was in the automatic shutdown switch that’s in the cars in case you run past the finish line. We changed that, and the car has run great ever since. San Antonio is a good track, and we love racing there.” At the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals Fueled by Sunoco in Maryland, Harper continued his tear claiming the No. 1 qualifying spot for the second time in three races, but this time, the engine in his Dodge Viper was damaged. Harper was unable to compete in eliminations.