Goodyear, NHRA at Norwalk

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Janis wins Pro Mod on Goodyears at Norwalk

      NORWALK, Ohio (July 6, 2015) – Mike Janis understands about winning, so when his NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Series drag racing car did not perform to Janis’ standards, he switched to an old friend.      Goodyear tires.      Janis grabbed his first victory of the season when he won the Pro Mod category at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park.       Janis was one of five drivers to ride Goodyears to victory at the event. Goodyear tires were on the winning cars in three different racing series at Norwalk. The other Goodyear-shod winners included Doug Kalitta (in Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, Joe Santangelo (Competition Eliminator) in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.     “Now the Goodyear tires have out us back in the winner’s circle,” Janis said. “… We’re pretty happy about that.”     Janis has won the biggest race in the sport, the U.S. Nationals, with Goodyears on his Pro Mod car. The victory at Norwalk was his first win in 2015.     Kalitta beat Antron Brown in the Top Fuel final, the 37th win in Kalitta’s Top Fuel career. The victory moved Kalitta to third place in the standings. Brown leads the standings with 925 points. Tony Schumacher is next with 905 and Kalitta has 791.     Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car champion, collected his third win of the 2015 campaign and the 18th of his career. He beat Courtney Force in the final round. Matt Hagan leads the Funny Car standings and Ron Capps is next with 812.     Anderson beat Drew Skillman in the Pro Stock final. The win pushed Anderson back into the championship lead and was the 78th win for the former champion. Anderson finished the event with 1,065 points and Erica Enders-Stevens, the defending Pro Stock champ, is next with 1,005.     Santangelo’s win in was his 11th in NHRA national event competition and his third in Competition Eliminator.     Annie Whiteley, racing in Top Alcohol Funny Car, was the top qualifier in the category. She was defeated in the semifinals of eliminations.     Goodyear employs about 69,000 people at manufacturing plants and facilities in 22 nations. Based in Akron, Ohio, Goodyear is among the largest tiremakers in the world and is the worldwide leader in race tire innovation.