“Mark Micke let me make two runs in his [Pro Mod], and I haven’t really been the same since,” confessed Victor Alvarez, Bradenton Motorsports Park track owner.
“The goal after that was to do whatever I had to do to eventually get a Pro Mod.”
Now, Alvarez’s dream is coming true as he announced his venture into the class with a newly built RJ Race Car that’s complete with twin turbos and Pro Line powered with an M&M Transmission.
Alvarez is set to get fitted in the car next week. Then from there, it’ll go to paint and then return to RJ Race Cars for final assembly.
“We’ll be pushing it, but we’re going try to run the Drag Illustrated Winter Series, so the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, U.S. Street Nationals and World Series of Pro Mod, “ he said, “but we’ll definitely run U.S. Street and World Series of Pro Mod.”
However, after quickly remembering that WSOPM is an invite-only event, Alvarez said, “I don’t want anything handed to me. I want to work for it. That’s part of the fun of what we do.
“Being a track owner or being a shop owner, people always think that you have some sort of upper hand or advantage. In Pro Mod, there’s no upper hand, or there’s no advantages. You have to work for everything you get. You have to work for it, and that’s what I want to do. That’s part of the fun – if it was easy, it would have very little appeal to me.”
The New York native who now calls South Florida home also recognizes that he’s entering a class that’s stacked with heavy hitters like Jim Halsey, Spencer Hyde and Todd Tutterow, to name a few.
“It is absolutely shark-infested waters, and to me, that’s the appeal, right? The better your competitor is, the bigger the win is,” explained Alvarez. “To go up against those guys, that alone is an accomplishment and something to look forward to, and that’s extremely exciting. But to be able to compete with them and possibly beat some of those guys, which is the goal, that’s the holy grail of drag racing right now.
“You win a World Series of Pro Mod, you’re a legend. You win a Snowbirds Outlaw Nationals, you’re a legend,” he added. “It’s what I want to do. I don’t want easy wins. I want to be in shark-infested waters, and I want to travel, and I want to race with the best of the best and hopefully make a name for myself.”
After competing in the Drag Illustrated Winter Series, Alvarez doesn’t want to be committed to one series but rather check out the PDRA, NMCA, Mid-West Drag Racing Series and the NHRA to explore various opportunities in the different sanctioning bodies.
Even though Alvarez grew up drag racing imports, like Toyota Supras, he has always had his sights set on the class.
“I want to give thanks to RJ, Pro Line, M&M Transmission, FuelTech, Precision Turbo Motion Raceworks and Braille Batteries,” he said. “All of them have come on and made this easier than I thought it would be and have just been very helpful and they’ve all supported the car quite a bit so far.
“My dream and my goal is to run Pro Mod. To me, Pro Mod is the holy grail of drag racing.”
This story was originally published on August 7, 2024. 
