Castellana cracks five-second barrier with NOS entry

RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 10) -- Mike Castellana made a little drag racing history Friday night by becoming the first Pro Mod driver in history to record a five-second pass in a nitrous-assisted doorslammer at a sanctioned race. Competing in the JEGS ProMod Challenge at the third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals, Castellana powered to a 5.963 at 237.84 mph in his Al-Anabi '68 Camaro to thrill the crowd at Virginia Motorsports Park."I've known we had the power to make this run for a while," Castellana said. "It was just a matter of time until we did it. Tonight the conditions were exactly what we needed to be the first in the fives. We have been running consistent 6.0s in the heat of the day, so it feels good to finally accomplish crack that mark and see a five up there. "This was absolutely a team effort. We have an amazing car and crew and it took involvement from everyone to get it done. I'm thrilled of all of us."Castellana's run placed him fifth in a very quick 16-car field, which ranges from Tony Pontieri's track-record 5.947 to Troy Coughlin's 6.038. A native of Westbury, N.Y., Castellana is competing in just his third JEGS ProMod Challenge event of the season. So far, he's made the most of his JEGS appearances, winning the U.S. Nationals in Indy, taking runner-up honors in Englishtown, N.J., and setting the nitrous record here in Virginia.In 19 starts in the JEGS ProMod Challenge series, Castellana has four wins and one runner-up finish to his credit.