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Franklin, Harris, Drinkwater, Melnick, Kincaid and Denton
Race to Victory at PDRA American Doorslammer Challenge |
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NORWALK, Ohio (May 27, 2023) – A pair of two-time PDRA Pro
Nitrous world champions, Tommy Franklin and Jason Harris,
reached the winner’s circle at the third race of the
PDRA’s 10th season Saturday night at the DeCerbo
Construction American Doorslammer Challenge presented by
Callies. Racing at Summit Motorsports Park, Franklin
earned his first Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous win of the
season, while Harris was victorious in WS Construction Pro
Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive for the
first time in his career.
The series also awarded professional class “660 Man”
trophies to first-time winners Alan Drinkwater in
Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED
Competition, Scott Kincaid in Menscer Motorsports Pro
Street presented by Afco, and Blake Denton in Afco Super
Street presented by Menscer Motorsports. Ohio’s own Jeff
Melnick, who won the season opener in M&M Transmission Pro
632, collected his second win in three races.
Sportsman victories at Norwalk went to Donny Urban in
MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing
Engines, Pete Maduri in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite
Top Dragster, Gary Wojnowski in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman
presented by Corbin’s RV, and TG Paschal in Laris
Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster.
The always-competitive Jr. Dragster classes also competed
at the American Doorslammer Challenge, with wins going to
Gabe Wojnowski in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster
presented by PRP and James Beattie III in Classic Graphix
Top Jr. Dragster presented by PRP. With Pro Jr. Dragster
running a 32-car field for the first time, Wojnowski had
to last four rounds before the final round, where he ran a
7.904 in his Medina, Ohio-based ’15 Halfscale dragster to
beat Zach Shirkey’s 7.911, both on a 7.90 index. The Top
Jr. Dragster final round was decided on the starting line
when Colin Masullo went red by .043, while Beattie ran a
9.252 on a 9.22 dial-in in his ATI Performance ’22 Mike
Bos dragster to get the win.
PRO NITROUS
Two-time Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin hasn’t
reached the winner’s circle since he won the American
Doorslammer Challenge a year ago. He broke that winless
streak Saturday night, knocking out the dominant Jim
Halsey in the semifinals and defeating Marcus Butner in
the final round. Butner, appearing in his first career
final, made his best run of the weekend, a 3.683 at
205.69, but it wasn’t quick enough to get past Franklin’s
3.656 at 206.45 in his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat” ’69
Camaro.
“This means everything. We won. We won Pro Nitrous. That's
what we did. We won PDRA Pro Nitrous,” Franklin said.
“Every team out there is just awesome. Obviously, Halsey,
they're the best out there right now and we're trying to
change that. Any time that you can beat them, that's a
good day. But the racetrack was stellar, great crowd,
great car count, great everything about it. That's just
it. I say it all the time: This is the best series of
racing and I'll stand behind it every day.
“I thank God for everything that we do,” Franklin added.
“This win is dedicated to my dad. I lost him in July and
that's the first win since then. It's been a long time to
get back to it. You start questioning whether you’ll ever
get that chance again, but it was good for me to be able
to do that, and I'm just thankful for it all.”
Franklin qualified No. 4 before running a 3.712 at 204.17
to defeat John Vergotz and his 3.836 in the first round.
He dipped into the 3.60s in the second round, beating a
slowing Blake Housley with a 3.69 at 204.79. In the
semifinals, Franklin paired up with points leader and
four-time world champion Jim Halsey for a rematch of last
year’s Norwalk final round. Franklin left the starting
line first with a .013 reaction time and made his best run
of the weekend, a 3.641 at 206.70, to stay ahead of Halsey
and his 3.672 at 206.89.
Butner went into eliminations in the No. 6 spot in his
Musi-powered Butner Construction “Heartbreaker” ’69 Camaro,
using a 3.721 at 203.12 to move on past a red-lighting
Dave Roemer. A side-by-side race with “Tricky” Rickie
Smith followed in the second round, with Butner leaving
first by five thousandths and running a 3.703 at 203.95 to
beat Smith’s 3.704. That set up an all-Butner Motorsports
semifinal pairing with Jay Cox. The race was over on the
starting line when Cox went red by .024, throwing away a
3.68. Butner ran a 3.685 at 205.16 in the other lane.
PRO BOOST
As a two-time world champion, Jason Harris is one of the
winningest drivers in PDRA Pro Nitrous history. But this
season, he’s focusing on the ultra-competitive Pro Boost
class, and he’s already picked up his first career win in
the class at the third race of the year. Harris was
dominant in his ProCharged “Party Time” ’69 Camaro,
qualifying No. 1 and laying down a string of low 3.60s. In
the final round, he was second off the line with a .010
reaction time behind Kurt Steding’s .007 light. He made
his quickest pass of the day, though, a 3.615 at 207.18,
while Steding slowed to a 3.804 at 160.10.
“We unloaded on Wednesday and I just felt good,” said
Harris, who credited racing partner Jack Gaddy, Pro Line
Racing, and Hoosier Tire. “Norwalk has been good to me. I
won my first national event here back in God knows when,
2001 or something, in Top Dragster. The track’s awesome.
PDRA is awesome. I just knew when we unloaded and the car
went down the racetrack every time that we had a hot rod
that we could contend with.
“I've run Pro Boost before,” Harris continued. “I've
runnered-up a bunch. This is my first win. All I can say
is once you put these combinations together, I promise you
I can drive. I drove my ass off this weekend, and that's
what it takes. Pro Boost is so tight. I can't thank
everybody enough for standing behind me because it's been
a long road to get here.”
Harris’ road to the final round started with a .003
reaction time and a 3.644 at 206.32 to beat William Brown
III and his 3.794 in the first round. Second-round
opponent Spencer Hyde went red on a 3.656 pass, while
Harris improved to a 3.627 at 207.05. He stepped up yet
again in the semis, laying down a 3.616 at 207.30 to
defeat Roderjan Busato and his 3.649.
Steding started the day with a 3.663 at 207.94 to get the
first-round win over Rob Cox. He was the second-quickest
of the second round with his 3.637 at 209.39 to beat Ken
Quartuccio’s 3.657. He cut a perfect .000 reaction time in
the semifinals, following through with a 3.629 at 210.11
to win over “Nova Joe” Albrecht and his 3.671.
EXTREME PRO STOCK
Just over a year after Alan Drinkwater won in his Pro 632
debut, the Florida young gun secured his first Extreme Pro
Stock victory in just his third appearance. Driving the
Kaase-powered IronListing.com ’13 Mustang tuned by
reigning world champion Johnny Pluchino, Drinkwater
qualified No. 2 on Friday and raced consistently on
Saturday to get the win. While final-round opponent Jeremy
Huffman wasn’t able to make the call, Drinkwater still cut
a .009 reaction time and recorded a 4.08 at 177.44 to put
an exclamation point on the day.
“This takes a team of great people, reliable horsepower
from Jon Kaase, Ram Clutches, Feather-Lite Batteries, and
everybody that’s helped us along the way,” Drinkwater
said. “Johnny Pluchino has this thing on rails. We can go
up and down the racetrack when everybody else is having
problems. We’re just fortunate to have great people around
us, and luckily we've been able to have a little success.
It’s a blast. I grew up watching guys like Tony Gillig,
John Pluchino, [John] Montecalvo, Elijah Morton. It's
unreal, really. I'm sure in the morning it will sink in
more then, what we've accomplished, but it's a great
feeling.”
Drinkwater’s worst run of the day, a 4.096 at 177.77 over
Douglas Kittrel’s 6.28, was the quickest pass of the first
round. He continued to set low E.T. of the next two
rounds, starting with a 4.073 at 177.98 over Dennis Firkus
and his 5.75 in the second round. He beat Dave Hughes in
the semifinals with a 4.074 at 178.05 to Hughes’ 4.547.
Huffman, who has also won in Pro 632 competition,
qualified No. 9 in his 3V Performance-powered ’10 Cobalt.
He used a 4.223 in the opening round to beat Dwayne Rice,
who won the season opener. A .002 reaction time and a 4.11
at 175.87 gave him the second-round win over No. 1
qualifier Tony Gillig, who coasted to a 9.442. Huffman was
unopposed on his 4.697 in the semis, as opponent Derrick
Reese didn’t make the call.
PRO 632
Just days before the American Doorslammer Challenge, Pro
632 championship contender Jeff Melnick was sitting in the
Cleveland Clinic undergoing tests to determine the cause
of intense back, neck, and arm pain. He was cleared at the
last minute to continue driving Alan O’Brien’s AMC-powered
Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro. Melnick made
the most of the opportunity, qualifying No. 2 and winning
in the final round by inches. Melnick left the starting
line .010 seconds ahead of No. 1 qualifier Doug Nicholl,
making all the difference when both drivers crossed the
finish line with 4.128-second E.T.s
“They're all special, believe me,” said Melnick, who won
the season opener in just his second Pro 632 appearance.
“Every win you get your whole life is special. Whether
it's at a local track winning in No Box, it’s special. To
come to a PDRA race and to win in a professional category
is something I never thought I would do my whole life. To
do that on a week like this where you're stuck in a
hospital bed, you're staring out the window, and you don't
know what tomorrow's gonna bring, good or bad, it’s
awesome.
“Doctors are scratching their heads trying to figure out
what's wrong with me,” Melnick added. “I go back next
week; they think they’ll have some test results by then,
so we'll go from there. I don't know how much racing I'll
be able to do the rest of the year. We’ll see what's wrong
with me and see what the treatment plan is, and hopefully
we can continue to race. Right now, we're leading the
world championship standings, so as long as there's air
coming in these lungs, I'm going to strap myself in the
car and let her eat.”
It was a home-track win for Melnick, who hails from
Hubbard, Ohio. He started eliminations with low E.T. of
the first round, a 4.17 at 167.95, over Tony Lasky’s
5.536. A 4.142 at 169.55 set low E.T. of the second round
and beat Walter Lannigan Jr. and his 4.26. Melnick then
simply broke the staging beams on his semifinal bye run.
Nicholl, who earned his first career low qualifier award
on Friday night, drove his Musi-powered Nicholl
Motorsports ’68 Camaro to a 4.186 at 171.64 on a
first-round bye run. Tuner Troy Russell gave him a
consistent car for the next two rounds, running a pair of
4.154s to beat Jason Ventura’s 4.634 and Lexi Tanner’s
4.207.
PRO STREET
The father-son duo of Tim and Scott Kincaid have excelled
in numerous small-tire classes, but they came into Pro
Street with a clean slate this weekend. With Scott driving
and Tim calling the shots on the roots-blown ’69 Camaro,
the Tennessee-based team raced to the final round, where
they knocked down points leader and defending event winner
Bill Riddle. Kincaid left behind Riddle, but he powered
ahead with a winning 4.003 at 185.56. Riddle had to lift,
losing with a 4.165 at 169.02.
“Quite a bit of hard work goes into this,” Kincaid said.
“It feels good. We got lucky a couple rounds, but you
gotta have a little luck to make it to the end. So I'm
happy with our first time out. My dad did a good job on
the keyboard today, that's all I know.”
Kincaid qualified fifth and was second-quickest of the
opening round with his 4.073 at 187.44 over Ron Stang.
Second-round opponent Nick Agostino was shut off after the
burnout, while Kincaid posted a 4.031 at 186.15. He had a
bye run in the semis, using it to lay down a 4.01 at
184.52.
Riddle qualified No. 1 for the second time this season in
his roots-blown Corrigan Race Fuels ’89 Camaro. That gave
him a bye in the first round, where he coasted to a 10.03.
The Michigan driver settled back into the 3.90s with his
3.954 at 188.38 over Bill Lutz’s 4.11 in the second round.
His best run of the day, a 3.941 at 188.96, took out Ty
Kasper and his weekend-best 3.998 in the semis.
SUPER STREET
The two quickest drivers in Super Street qualifying, Blake
Denton and Dan Whetstine, were left standing in the final
round. After winning the Shakedown Nationals at Virginia
Motorsports Park just a few weeks ago, Denton went on to
secure his first-ever PDRA victory with a wire-to-wire win
in his nitrous-fed, Musi-powered ’76 Camaro out of the
Tommy Franklin Motorsports camp. The low qualifier was
first off the line and lit up the scoreboard with a 4.713
at 156.72, while Whetstine pedaled to a 4.901 at 153.37.
“This is my first ‘660 Man’ ever, and I've been racing
PDRA for around seven years now,” said Denton, who thanked
Pat Musi, Mark Micke, Hoosier Racing Tires, Tommy and Judy
Franklin, and girlfriend Amber Franklin for their support.
“To get it this way is even better because it's a
professional win and it's just a big deal. I ran both Jr.
Dragster classes, Top Dragster, and now Super Street, so
I've been in here for a while now.”
Denton slowed to a 5.723 on a first-round single, then
posted a 4.721 at 155.58 to beat inaugural Super Street
winner Wes Ervin and his 4.899 in the second round. A
4.723 at 156.32 in the semifinals beat fellow Virginian
Matt Schalow’s 4.901 and gave him lane choice over
Whetstine in the final round.
Whetstine, who qualified second in his ProCharged ’91
Mustang, set low E.T. of the opening round with his 4.833
at 153.39. He stepped up with a 4.776 at 154.79 to defeat
Super Street newcomer Phil Hines and his 5.11. The
Maryland driver then lifted to a 6.284 on his semifinal
bye run.
TOP SPORTSMAN
The Elite Top Sportsman final round was a bottles versus
boost matchup, with North Carolina’s Donny “Hollywood”
Urban staging his nitrous-assisted ’69 Camaro against
Arizonan Bryan LaFlam in his supercharged ’67 Mustang.
Both drivers broke out, but Urban got the win with his
3.785 on a 3.79 dial-in. LaFlam posted a 3.793 on a 3.80
dial-in.
After five rounds of Top Sportsman 48 competition, Ohio
drivers Gary Wojnowski and Andy Horne met up in the final
round. Horne wasn’t able to make the run in his ’18
Mustang, while Wojnowski ran a 4.285 on a 4.26 dial-in in
his ’09 Cobalt to collect the home-track victory.
TOP DRAGSTER
Past Elite Top Dragster world champion Pete Maduri
returned to the winner’s circle after knocking out Elyria,
Ohio’s Robert Pickens in the final round. Pickens left
.010 seconds too soon in his supercharged ’07 Pickens
dragster, then ran a 3.773 on a 3.73 dial-in. Driving the
Bauer family’s ProCharged Dynabrade ’15 Chrome-Worx
dragster, Maduri ran a 3.751 on a 3.74 dial-in for the
win.
A huge field of Top Dragster racers was narrowed down to
finalists TG Paschal and Rikki Molnar. Paschal, a past
world champion from North Carolina, left the line first
and posted a 4.312 on a 4.28 dial-in to turn on the final
win light. Ohio’s Molnar dialed a 4.22 and ran a 4.239 in
the runner-up effort.
The PDRA will be back in action in three weeks at the
Fulton Racing Engines North vs. South Shootout presented
by Penske Racing Shocks, June 15-17, at Maryland
International Raceway in Budds Creek, Maryland.
ABOUT THE PDRA
Celebrating its 10th season in 2023, the Professional Drag
Racers Association is the top sanctioning body in the
United States for the sport of eighth-mile drag racing.
The PDRA’s professional categories include Pro Boost, Pro
Nitrous, Extreme Pro Stock, Pro Nitrous Motorcycle, Pro
632, and Pro Street. The series also features sportsman
racing in Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Pro Jr. Dragster
and Top Jr. Dragster. The 2023 PDRA schedule consists of
eight national events, plus the Summit Racing Equipment
PDRA ProStars. For more information on the PDRA, visit
www.PDRA660.com. |
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