Riverbark Opens JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Series Road to the Championship Starts with Win in Norwalk

NORWALK, OH – June 29, 2026 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – 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.

NORWALK, OH — Final finish order (1-16) at the 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. The race is the seventh of 11 events in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports.

PRO MODIFIED:

1. Kevin Rivenbark; 2. Billy Banaka; 3. Lyle Barnett; 4. Mike Thielen; 5. Mike Stavrinos; 6. Derek Menholt; 7. Aaron Stanfield; 8. Justin Bond; 9. Chip King; 10. JR Gray; 11. Mike Castellana; 12. Stan Shelton; 13. Alex Laughlin; 14. Jason Collins; 15. Nick Januik; 16. Tony Wilson.

NORWALK, OH — Sunday’s final results from the 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. The race is the seventh of 11 events in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports.

Pro Modified — Kevin Rivenbark, Ford Mustang, 5.714, 251.53 def. Billy Banaka, Chevy Camaro, 5.716, 252.33.

NORWALK, OH — Final round-by-round results from the 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the seventh of 11 events in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports.

PRO MODIFIED:

ROUND ONE — Justin Bond, Chevy Camaro, 5.708, 248.29 def. Jason Collins, Camaro, 5.813, 218.90; Aaron Stanfield, Chavy Camaro, 5.705, 250.37 def. JR Gray, Camaro, 5.730, 251.34; Derek Menholt, Chevy Corvette, 5.700, 250.32 def. Stan Shelton, Ford Mustang, 5.769, 242.98; Kevin Rivenbark, Mustang, 5.749, 250.23 def. Mike Castellana, Camaro, Foul – Red Light; Billy Banaka, Camaro, 5.694, 252.52 def. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 5.791, 246.03; Mike Thielen, Mustang, 5.746, 246.39 def. Chip King, Dodge Charger, 5.717, 250.46; Lyle Barnett, Camaro, 6.257, 241.37 def. Tony Wilson, Chevy Willys, 10.050, 87.54; Mike Stavrinos, Camaro, 5.702, 252.85 def. Nick Januik, Corvette, Foul – Red Light;

QUARTERFINALS — Thielen, 5.745, 246.08 def. Stanfield, 5.798, 245.27; Banaka, 5.892, 249.44 def. Bond, 12.067, 75.49; Rivenbark, 5.730, 250.78 def. Menholt, Foul – Red Light; Barnett, 5.732, 250.74 def. Stavrinos, 5.708, 253.33;

SEMIFINALS — Banaka, 5.749, 252.47 def. Thielen, 10.178, 84.87; Rivenbark, 5.732, 250.64 def. Barnett, 5.761, 250.04;

FINAL — Rivenbark, 5.714, 251.53 def. Banaka, 5.716, 252.33.

NORWALK, OH — Point standings (top 10) following the 20th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the seventh of 11 events in the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports.

Pro Modified

1. Derek Menholt, 854; 2. Mike Stavrinos, 841; 3. Billy Banaka, 839; 4. Justin Bond, 822; 5. (tie) Lyle Barnett, 793; Jason Collins, 793; 7. Stan Shelton, 782; 8. Mike Thielen, 781; 9. Kevin Rivenbark, 771; 10. JR Gray, 765.

About NHRA

NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 20 national events featuring the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as well as the JBS Equipment NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Elite Motorsports and NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™ at select national events. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With more than 100 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services® (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv®, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Source: National Hot Rod Association 

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