Sun, 16 Jun 2024, 12:50 PM King, Halsey, Huffman, A. Franklin, Grothus, Kasper and Whetstine Claim No. 1 Qualifier Spots | Courtesy of Drag Illustrated on behalf of the Professional Drag Racers Association Photos copyright 2024 Tara Bowker At PDRA North vs. South Shootout |
Event 4 of 8
PDRA North vs. South Shootout presented by Performance Polish
Maryland International Raceway
Budds Creek, Maryland
June 13-15, 2024
BUDDS CREEK, Md. - Pro Modified veteran Steve King secured his first career No. 1 qualifieraward in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive Friday night at the PDRANorth vs. South Shootout presented by Performance Polish at Maryland International Raceway. Kingrecorded a 3.64-second pass at 205.19 MPH in the second session to lead a handful of first-time No. 1qualifiers at the fourth of eight races on the 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series tour.
Four-time Switzer Dynamics world champion Jim Halsey qualified No. 1 for the fourth time in as manyraces, while past PDRA Pro 632 world champion Amber Franklin qualified No. 3 for the third time infour races. Brunson Grothus scored his second career No. 1 qualifier in Drag 965 Pro ExtremeMotorcycle. The other pro class No. 1 qualifiers - Jeremy Huffman in Liberty's Gears Extreme ProStock presented by AED Competition, Ty Kasper in Menscer Motorsports Pro Street presented by AfcoRacing, and Dan Whetstine in Afco Racing Super Street presented by Menscer Motorsports - all earnedtheir first career No. 1 qualifier awards.
After one qualifying session on Thursday evening and two more sessions on Friday, the No. 1qualifiers in the sportsman classes are Tim Molnar in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PARRacing Engines, Frank Falter IV in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented byGreenbrier Excavating & Paving, Dan Hill in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman 48 presented by Corbin's RV, andTisha Wilson in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster presented by Younce RV.
Almost 70 Jr. Dragster racers rolled into Maryland to compete in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragsterpresented by Philadelphia Racing Products and Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented byPhiladelphia Racing Products. After two of three qualifying sessions, Prince George, Virginia's ChloeGeryes is the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Pro Jr. Dragster with a perfect 7.900-second pass in her'18 Mike Bos dragster, leading a field of 51 drivers. In Top Jr. Dragster, which qualifies based onreaction time, Cole Rudy in his Middletown, Maryland-based '22 Mike Bos dragster cut a .004 reactiontime to take the provisional No. 1 spot.
Pro Boost No. 1 qualifier Steve King
PRO BOOSTVirginia's Steve King has raced at Maryland International Raceway for 20 years, but Friday nightmarked his first time qualifying No. 1 in Pro Boost at the storied track. It was also his firstcareer No. 1 qualifier award in the class. Behind the wheel of Gene Pilot's screw-blown "Savage 3.0"'22 Corvette, King fired off a 3.661 to lead the first session, then a 3.64 at 205.19 in the secondsession. While several drivers stepped up in the final session, no one ran quicker than King's Q2effort. King was on pace to lower his best numbers in the final session when the engine expired nearthe finish line.
"I feel really good because every session we've been low E.T. except that one, and it probably wouldhave been low E.T. if it had made the trip all the way," said King, who credited tuner Jon Salemi,crew chief Jeff Miller, car owner Gene Pilot, the Pilot Racing team, and G-Force Race Cars. "ProBoost is probably the closest category in drag racing right now, so it feels pretty good to be here.We feel like we have a hot rod. We know we have a good hot weather tune-up right now."
Salemi also tuned his wife, longtime Pro Boost standout Melanie Salemi, to the No. 2 spot with a3.644 at 206.99 in the screw-blown Al-Lee Installations "Purple Reign" '68 Firebird. Johnny Campcharged to a 3.656 at 205.10 in his Brandon Stroud-tuned, ProCharged "Hells Bells" '69 Camaro toqualify third.
Pro Nitrous No. 1 qualifier Jim Halsey
PRO NITROUSFour-time Pro Nitrous world champion Jim Halsey's No. 1 qualifying streak extended to four races whenhe fired off a 3.674 at 208.81 in the final pair of the final qualifying session. Driving his BrandonSwitzer-tuned, Fulton-powered '68 Camaro, Halsey reclaimed his top spot after three-time and reigningworld champion Tommy Franklin took it away by one thousandth of a second earlier in the session. Henearly set a new class speed record with his 209.20 earlier in the day, following up a 209.95 MPHpass he made in Thursday testing. Halsey, who hails from Havre de Grace, Maryland, is seeking asecond home-race victory.
"Like I said at the last race, I think we're just starting to get this new car figured out, to makethe runs we made in the heat yesterday and today," said Halsey, who thanked his team that includeswife Cathy, Switzer, crew chief Eric Davis, Michael McMillan, and Brian Chin. "This new car is goodand these guys are working hard. It's good to make runs like we have, especially with the new car. Weknew everything about the old car. We made three out of four runs yesterday and three out of threetoday. We feel pretty good."
Franklin ended up second in his Jeff Pierce-tuned, Musi-powered "Jungle Rat" '69 Camaro with a 3.682at 206.70. Defending event winner Marcus Butner, who defeated Halsey in the final to claim his firstPro Nitrous win last year, qualified third with a 3.689 at 207.69 in his Jay Cox-tuned, Musi-poweredButner Construction "Heartbreaker" '69 Camaro.
Extreme Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier Jeremy Huffman
EXTREME PRO STOCKFormer Pro 632 racer Jeremy Huffman and his Tom Vigue-led team have been gradually working towardstheir first No. 1 qualifier award in Extreme Pro Stock over the last few seasons. The Catawba, NorthCarolina-based driver raced to the final round at his last PDRA appearance at the spring Virginiarace, then used a 4.123 at 175.50 in his 3V Performance-powered '10 Cobalt to qualify No. 1 atMaryland.
"We have worked hard and busted our butts," said Huffman, who thanked his family-based team andpartners like Patriot Axe Throwing and Line2Line Coatings. "We've changed the four-link in this carfive times in the last eight runs. We're really trying to work hard to figure out what it wants. It'sso rewarding to put all this sweat equity in and have it pay off. We decided when we moved up fromPro 632 to Pro Stock that we don't want to play follow the leader. We're going to try some thingsthat may not work and it may work. It's just so cool to see some things really start to come togetherfor us."
Fellow North Carolinian Elijah Morton qualified second in his Allen-powered Cashion Fishing Rods '19Mustang with a 4.13 at 175.43. Dave Hughes ran a 4.15 at 174.66 in his Kaase-powered HRE RacingManifolds '18 Camaro to qualify No. 3.
Pro 632 No. 1 qualifier Amber Franklin
PRO 632Past world champion Amber Franklin's consistency in Pro 632 qualifying continued with her third No. 1qualifying effort in the first four races of the season. The runner-up at the last two races on tour,she raced to the top of a final qualifying order that included nine drivers packed together in the4.20-second range. Franklin was the only driver who broke out of the 4.20-second range with her 4.195at 168.96 in her Musi-powered "OG Jungle Rat" '69 Camaro in the final session.
"It's definitely a testament to my team," said Franklin, who thanked the fans and her team'ssupporters. "It's a testament to Pat Musi Racing Engines, [tuner] Jeff Pierce, my dad [TommyFranklin], Jerry Bickel Race Cars, and Red Line Oil. All those guys put a lot of work into my car andour program and I couldn't do it without them. My crew gives me the best car every run and that's theend of it. I can't thank them enough. It's the first hot race of the season, so getting up and downthe racetrack is what we're going to try to do [on race day]. Hopefully I can do my job on the treeagain and get to another final and hopefully get the win this time."
Walter Lannigan Jr., who's coming off a No. 1 qualifier award and win at the last race, qualifiedsecond in Chris Holdorf's Nelson-powered Dewitt Custom Concrete '10 GTO with a 4.20 at 169.08.Reigning world champion Jeff Melnick in Alan O'Brien's Greenbrier Excavating & Paving '20 Camaro useda 4.224 at 168.70 to qualify third.
Pro Extreme Motorcycle No. 1 qualifier Brunson Grothus
PRO EXTREME MOTORCYCLEA few weeks after Brunson Grothus scored his first Pro Extreme Motorcycle win in several years, theDavenport, Iowa-based rider picked up his second No. 1 qualifier award. Grothus rode Robert Varela'sturbocharged Dallas Flat Glass Distributors '19 Hayabusa to a 3.982 at 186.10 to lead aneight-motorcycle field made up of turbocharged and nitrous-assisted entries.
"In your mind, that's how you draw it up," Grothus said of the No. 1 qualifying effort. "You think alot about these races in between races and you think about the plan and it's to do exactly what wejust did. I get to ride this thing. My dad does all the maintenance in between races, along withKlemme Performance Motorcycle and Dan Wagner. Thanks to Robert Varela for again trusting me to comehere and ride this thing. It's awesome."
Defending event winner Brayden Davis made the quickest pass of the day for a nitrous bike with his4.004 at 175.91 on his father Travis's Timblin Chassis '18 Hayabusa to end up second. Longtime ProExtreme Motorcycle rider and tuner Ashley Owens rode his McKinney Motorsports '10 Suzuki to a 4.013at 176.77 to qualify third.
Pro Street No. 1 qualifier Ty Kasper
PRO STREETPast North vs. South Shootout Pro Street winner Ty Kasper had to miss the spring Virginia race due toa transporter issue on the way to the race, then his family-based team decided to sit out the Norwalkrace to make changes to their twin-turbocharged Victus Sports "Sinatra" '05 Mustang. Those changeswere rewarded with Kasper's first career No. 1 qualifying effort on the strength of a 4.056 at 195.31in the final session. Along with a low qualifier bonus, Kasper will receive a custom baseball batfrom Victus, his baseball-turned-racing sponsor.
"I'm so excited about that bat," Kasper said. "We've been giving them out [to the No. 1 qualifiers inPro Street] and I haven't gotten one yet. I'm more excited about that, but I'm happy that the car isrunning good. We moved the turbos, changed the converter, changed the stator, and finally found thepiece of the puzzle. It's been a struggle, but you never give up. It's rewarding when something likethis happens. It makes all the bad stuff go away."
Jerry Morgano made a string of smooth runs in his turbocharged, small-block-powered '02 Mustang,highlighted by a 4.064 at 201.91, to qualify second. Defending event winner Scott Kincaid in hisscrew-blown '69 Camaro qualified third with a 4.069 at 191.89.
Super Street No. 1 qualifier Dan Whetstine
SUPER STREETAfter making changes to his combination before the last race at Norwalk and testing at Maryland theweekend before the North vs. South Shootout, Dan Whetstine's efforts paid off with his first-everSuper Street No. 1 qualifier award. Whetstine, who lives in nearby LaPlata, fired off a 4.662 at157.52 in his ProCharged "Red Velvet" '90 Mustang in the final qualifying session to take the topspot.
"We've been working some crazy hours in the garage the last few weeks," said Whetstine, who thankedhis team, including wife Michelle and crew chief Tim Essick, as well as sponsors like Maxima Oils,ATI Performance, Billet Atomizer, and Menscer Motorsports. "We got new heads, new intake, and changedour ATI converter. We came out here testing last weekend and experimented with some converter stuff,gear change, and things like that. We've really figured out a way to put some power down. This motorwants power in different spots than my other combination, so that was kind of a struggle for us inOhio. But Tim's made some great tuning calls. This motor is still not happy in all the areas, butthat was as close as we've been. That was the first pass it pulled all the way through."
Young gun Austin Vincent made a statement in his Super Street debut by laying down a 4.673 at 153.39in his nitrous-fed '88 Mustang to qualify second. Championship runner-up Derek Mota posted a 4.72 at160.94 in his turbocharged East Point Recovery Centers '93 Mustang for the third spot.
TOP SPORTSMANFor the third time in four races, past Elite Top Sportsman world champion Tim Molnar drove hisnitrous-fed '68 Camaro to the No. 1 spot. This time, it took a 3.771 at 199.40 to top the 16-carfield. Travis "The Carolina Kid" Harvey, the 2014 Top Dragster world champion who now races in ProBoost, is pulling double duty with his nitrous-assisted '17 Corvette. He raced to a 3.785 at 199.67to go to the No. 2 position. Glenn Butcher, who sits No. 2 in points with a recent win at Virginia,qualified third with a 3.798 at 197.13 in his Albert-powered '69 Camaro.
Connecticut's Dan Hill used a 4.121 at 174.21 in his '69 Camaro to secure the No. 1 spot in TopSportsman 48.
TOP DRAGSTERThe North vs. South Shootout is a home race for Mt. Airy, Maryland's Frank Falter IV, who took hissupercharged "Candy Man" '22 Miller dragster to the No. 1 spot in Elite Top Dragster with a 3.687 at207.24. He was quicker than No. 2 qualifier Kyle Harris by almost a tenth, as Harris recorded a 3.765at 192.77 in his supercharged '15 Horton dragster. Brian Anderson in his ProCharged '23 Race Techdragster laid down a 3.798 at 190.48 to round out the top three.
Past world champion Tisha Wilson secured the Top Dragster 48 No. 1 qualifier award for car owner AlanO'Brien, driving his turbocharged Greenbrier Excavating & Paving '23 Race Tech dragster to a 4.075 at173.65.
The North vs. South Shootout presented by Performance Polish will continue Saturday morning beginningat 9 a.m. The day starts with Jr. Dragster final qualifying and a time trial for Edelbrock BracketBash presented by COMP Cams, with sportsman and Jr. Dragster eliminations to follow. Pre-raceceremonies and pro eliminations will kick off at 2 p.m.
Fans at home can watch the full event live on the official livestream through www.FloRacing.com.
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