Kevin Rivenbark opened the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports Road to the Championship with a victory on Sunday at Summit Motorsports Park, knocking off Billy Banaka in the final round as part of this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
This weekend’s event was the seventh of 11 races in the category during the 2026 campaign and this weekend’s race is powered by Polaris and presented by Jan-Cen Motorsports.
It is also the first of five playoff races and Rivenbark started strong, going 5.714-seconds at 251.53 mph in the final round to hold off Banaka’s 5.716 at 252.33. Rivenbark’s first victory this season and second in his NHRA Pro Mod career couldn’t have come at a better time, as he moved to ninth in points.
“We haven’t won this (Wally) since Phoenix of 2024, but we never stop,” Rivenbark said. “The guys are restless. They just keep going and going. We’ve had some bad times and some tough times, but hopefully we’re on the right road. We knew we had a better car than what we showed in qualifying.
“This weekend was really a shakeup. We’re hoping to get going for the Road to the Championship and hopefully both of us (with teammate Stan Shelton) will come out on top or at least one and two.”
Rivenbark, who qualified 13th, knocked off past world champion Mike Castellana, Derek Menholt, who came into the race with the points lead, and Lyle Barnett to reach the final round.
Banaka advanced to the final round with wins against Alex Laughlin, Justin Bond and Mike Thielen.
Menholt stayed in the points lead, but has just a 13-point advantage over Mike Stavrinos. Banaka is third, just 15 points out of first.
The JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Series presented by Elite Motorsports returns to action on Sept. 2-7 as part of the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
