After powering through an epic burnout that ended up pulling the chutes, Stevie “Fast” Jackson was named the winner of the Drag 965/Nitrous Outlet burnout contest on Friday at the DRAG ILLUSTRATED World Series of Pro Mod at Bandimere Speedway.
The highly entertaining burnout contest took place at the end of the second Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown runs, with Jackson winning the $5,000 prize against a talented field that included Todd Tutterow, Marc Caruso, who was deemed “The People’s Champ” by WSOPM officials, Clint Satterfield and Brandon Pesz. Jackson blasted through his burnout to nearly the 1,000-foot mark in his Bahrain 1 Racing Camaro before the chutes came out, eliciting a wild round of applause from the fans who enjoyed every minute of the contest.
“This is awesome. This is just as good as the race,” Jackson said. “The reason it’s so awesome is because all them people up there (in the stands) were excited they came to watch drag racing. That’s what it’s about. It was crazy. It was all over the track. It was fun. The burnout is the most fun thing I do out here.”
Satterfield started the burnout action in impressive fashion in his “Turbo Pig” Camaro, putting together a strong, smoke-filled burnout down a significant portion of the track. Coming back down the return road, the enthusiastic Satterfield got the crowd in on the action, enjoying every minute of the contest.
“This is the highlight of my year,” Satterfield said of the World Series of Pro Mod. “The fans are tremendous, Wes (Buck) puts on an incredible event and this is great for us to come out, have fun and really enjoy it.”
Pesz ran second and Jackson followed it up to the delight of the crowd, as the fan favorite put on a memorable show. Caruso was also spectacular in his burnout, going well down the track in his smoke-filled blast. Caruso then took it up a notch by backing up and making a strong full pull down the track, continuing what has been a strong week for the PDRA Pro Boost standout. It also earned him “The People’s Champ” crown of the burnout contest in the process.
“That was a lot of fun,” said Caruso, who will race Carl Stevens Jr. in the opening round of eliminations on Saturday. “We’re biased but I kind of felt like we won. But this is so awesome and we’re so ecstatic to be part of it. That’s what it’s all about. It was a 26-hour trip for us and it’s worth every mile coming here. It’s amazing and I’m glad Wes felt like we would be a good addition. This has been one of the most fun races I’ve been to.”
Caruso has been impressive at every turn this week in his first time at Thunder Mountain, making one consistent pass after another during testing. His two shakedown runs were equally impressive, with the pass after the burnout marking Caruso’s best effort thus far. It gives him plenty of momentum heading into Saturday and has Caruso feeling good in the process.
“We felt like we’ve had the most consistent car here,” Caruso said. “We’ve progressively worked on the tune-up and we feel very confident we can keep that momentum. We feel like we’re there.”
Tutterow finished off the burnout contest with his own strong pass, as his chutes also came out. But the contest, which was judged on style, smoke, distance and fan reaction, ultimately went to Jackson, who had a beaming smile on his face as he posed with the massive $5,000 check and trophy.
Wes Buck, Stevie “Fast” Jackson and John Bandimere Jr.
“That was awesome,” said Jackson, who will race Robert Costa in the first round of eliminations. “This is a huge event and people all over the world are watching this. For all of our sponsors, everybody that stands behind us, to come out here and do that, it’s just awesome.”
This story was originally published on August 11, 2018. 
