Mark “Cowboy” Pawuk has paid his dues as a racer. Pawuk started his racing career as a true sportsman racer in Ohio, before he made his way into the NHRA Pro Stock world. After taking a break from racing, Pawuk returned to drag racing in the Factory Stock Showdown category, and he earned his first world championship in the class at the NHRA Midwest Nationals behind the wheel of his trusty Dodge Challenger.
Pawuk kicked off his 2024 Factory Stock Showdown season with a big win at the prestigious Gator Nationals. Pawuk also scored a runner-up finish at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals to keep his title hopes alive. After the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, Pawuk continued to remain a player in the chase for the championship throughout the season.
When the NHRA Midwest Nationals kicked off, four racers, including Pawuk, were within a round and a half of each other in the championship standings. On race day, Pawuk found himself in the number two qualifying spot, and was feeling good about his odds to win the Factory Stock Showdown title.
Everything needed to fall into place just right for Pawuk to walk out of World Wide Technology Raceway the champion. In the second round, Stephen Bell beat the points leader Mike Janac, opening the door for Pawuk to have a shot at the championship. When the semi finals rolled around, Bell needed to defeat Jonathan Allegrucci to stay in the title hunt, but couldn’t pull off the victory. That meant that if Pawuk could defeat Scott Libersher he would be crowned champion.
Pawuk drew from his veteran experience as a driver and got the job done.
“I saw that Jonathan beat him [Bell],” said Pawuk. “I saw my guys jumping up and down. Jonathan was a big help to me taking out Stephen and Stephen helped us all when he beat Janac. When I rolled up I just didn’t want to do anything stupid. I was just hoping I could catch a good light, and I guess God was looking down at me, and I did the right thing, and I had a good run. I made a good reaction time.”
Photo credit Werner Communications
Winning an NHRA world championship at any level is a major accomplishment. Pawuk spent many years trying to win one in Pro Stock and never sealed the deal. That makes this Factory Stock Showdown title very special for Pawuk.
“This was my dream,” said Pawuk. “My whole racing career. I started racing in the ‘70s, I won a Super Gas championship in 1981 when it was called Pro Gas. To be able to win a championship in the…
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