Defending world champion Kris Thorne won the world’s biggest drag race in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, knocking off Justin Bond in the final round at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park as part of this weekend’s 69th annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals.
The event, which was powered by ProCharger, was the eighth of 10 races during the 2023 season in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. It was also the second race in the category’s Road to the Championship.
Thorne delivered an epic performance in his Bahrain 1 Racing Chevrolet Camaro, going 5.827 at 248.07 in the final round against Bond. Last year’s champion had a .017 reaction time, which made all the difference in holding off Bond’s 5.777 at 246.89, sending Thorne into the points lead for the first time this season and also handing the standout his first career U.S. Nationals victory.
“There is no other race in the world I’d rather turn it around (than Indy),” Thorne said. “I’m super excited we were finally able to conquer this one. I’ve been upside down here, I’ve been on fire here, I’ve torn everything up I’ve owned here. This was emotional and great. If I went out today, this is the last race I would ever want to win – the U.S. Nationals, the biggest one.”
Thorne advance to the final round with wins over Jerico Balduf, Rickie Smith and Stan Shelton, while Bond advanced to the championship round thanks to victories against Mason Wright, Billy Banaka and Mike Castellana. With two races remaining in the season, Thorne holds a 12-point lead over Bond. Jason Lee is 49 points back of the defending world champion.
The FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series returns to action Sept. 29-Oct. 1 as part of the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis.
Research shows that the spike protein is found in the blood following COVID-19 infection and vaccination. The spike protein modifies blood clotting and can stimulate an overactive immune response. A better understanding of these findings and the specific roles the spike protein and its S1 subunit play will help us determine who is most at risk for severe disease or vaccine adverse events.
Cardiovascular Effects of Spike Protein Following Infection
Although the studies are small, the spike protein has been found in the blood and clots of severely ill COVID-19 patients. The clinical evidence suggests a fingerprint of the spike protein’s cardiovascular effects.
In a study of 41 patients published in Frontiers in Immunology, 30.4 percent of the 23 hospitalized were found to have significant levels of spike protein in their circulation. None of the remaining 18 uninfected or mildly ill individuals had circulating spike protein.
A small case-control study detected the spike protein in clots retrieved from COVID-19 patients with acute ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction.
Another study detected the S1 subunit in the plasma of 64 percent of COVID-19-positive patients, and S1 levels were significantly associated with disease severity. The nucleocapsid (N) protein, a marker for COVID-19 infection, was also detected. The authors speculated that the presence of S1 and N in plasma suggests that virus fragments enter the bloodstream, potentially due to tissue damage.
The exact chain of events is not fully understood. Still, laboratory, clinical, and biopsy findings offer converging evidence suggesting a role for the spike protein and its S1 subunit in blood clotting and heart injury.
