Boniferro heats up for 2006

Coleman Heating and Air Conditioning to help team as major associate sponsor

Courtesy Bruce F. Mehlenbacher

NIAGARA FALLS, ON (February 14, 2006) -- Pro Modified Racing Association, www.ProModifiedRacing.com, driver Joe Boniferro and the Smokin’ Joe’s Racing team plans to heat up its performance and cool the competition in the upcoming 2006 season with the help of Coleman Heating and Air Conditioning, a new major associate sponsor for 2006. With this additional support from Coleman along with the team’s other valuable sponsors, the Niagara Falls, ON. based squad will be able to continue to develop the promising new engine combination it is working on in conjunction with Mopar icon Dave Koffel of Koffel’s Place. With the anticipated performance increase, Boniferro fully intends to continue driving the “World’s Quickest Mopar Wedge-powered door slammer” for quite some time yet.

The season will start by debuting the team’s Dodge Avenger with Coleman sponsorship at Performance World Indoor Car Show in Toronto, ON in March. The racing season will see the team attend the Pro Modified Racing Association events in Ontario, Quebec and New York. A return to Luskville Dragway, PQ for the Supercharger Nationals is slated for July 1 and 2, and the team will attend the two IHRA events in Ontario as well as a few other selected IHRA National events.

Regaining his Frantic 4 crown at Norwalk Raceway’s Halloween Classic is also a high priority for the hard working Mopar team. Boniferro commented, “We missed the Classic last year and they had a new winner for the first time in three years, so we have to get our title back.”

“As for the deal with Coleman, we could not have completed this marketing agreement without the help of long time sponsor Rick Goosen from Goosen Heating and Air Conditioning, who is a proud supplier of the Coleman line. He is a great asset to this race team. For a little team like us to be associated with a quality company like Coleman is a dream come true. We are confident we can do them proud!”

Coleman®: A Name North Americans Trust. Their residential brand is now sold by YORK, a Johnson Controls Company. Coleman’s complete line of Heating and Air Conditioning products provide the rugged durability people have come to expect from the Coleman® name.

W.C. Coleman started the company in 1900 and sold lanterns to Kingfisher, OK merchants to pay for his final year of law school. His lanterns' popularity grew rapidly and by 1914, Coleman introduced the first 300 candlepower lantern. The product was credited with lighting up rural America. In 1996, Unitary Products Group of York bought the HVAC company and in 1999, they decided to market their products solely under the Coleman name.

To find out more about Coleman Heating and Air Conditioning visit them at http://www.colemanac.com/

The racecar is a 1999 Dodge Avenger, which features a Tim McAmis chassis assembled by Tom VanDerGeld of Lowdown Hot Rods. This car debuted in early 1999 and has been active on the Canadian drag racing scene since then. Boniferro’s Avenger is powered by a 510-cubic inch B-1 Koffel engine built by Ed Wiens and maintained by Joe. The engine is rated at 2200+ horsepower and utilizes a 14-71 Littlefield supercharger, spun at 39 percent. Power is applied through a three-speed Lenco transmission to a Ford nine-inch rear gear set. The car weighs in at 2600 lbs in legal IHRA Top Sportsman trim.

Joe Boniferro would like to thank his major sponsors, Koffel's Place, Coleman Heating and Air Conditioning, Pennzoil, and Joe's Transmission, along with associate sponsors Al's Radiator Services, HeadsUpRacer.com, Lowdown Hot Rods, Mickey Thompson Tires, NGK Spark Plugs, Pappa's Pizza and Subs, Manton Pushrods, Scott Jahren Paint, TechPower Developments Inc, Goosen Heating and Air Conditioning, Stradwick's Flooring, TT Fabricating, and The Balancing Act.

Up to date news and information about Joe Boniferro and the Smokin’ Joe’s ‘99 Dodge Avenger as well as all their sponsors can be found by visiting http://www.joestransmission.com/.

The PMRA has five events confirmed for the 2006 season, the KC Auto Parts Family Day Celebration at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, ON, Saturday, June 24, at Lancaster Raceway Park in Clarence, NY on September 15 and the Pro Modified Racing Association is pleased to be running inaugural events at St. Thomas Dragway in Sparta, ON, August 5 and 6, the Eaton PMRA Challenge at Sanair near Montreal scheduled for Saturday, August 19, and at the Grand Bend Motorplex, over the Labor Day weekend.

PMRA officials are in negotiations with several tracks at present for 2006, both eighth and quarter-mile tracks in Michigan, New York, and Ohio with the plan of presenting a six-event drag racing series in 2006.