When the 2017 Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) season begins for Melanie Salemi Motorsports, it will come with a marketing boost. Melanie Salemi Motorsports recently announced a marketing partnership with Strange Engineering for the 2017 race season.

Strange Engineering, a leading manufacturer of high performance driveline parts, is based in Morton Grove, Ill., and has served the racing industry since 1964.

“This is a great opportunity to represent a great company,” Salemi said. “Both of our family businesses, G-Force Race Cars and Resolution Racing Services have proudly track tested and sold the Strange Engineering Product for close to 30 years. My team and I are excited to have the Strange logo on the side of “Purple Reign” in our quest for the 2017 PDRA Pro Boost championship.”

The 2017 PDRA season begins with the Southern Extreme Nationals March 9-11 at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil.

Salemi and her team plan to compete in the full PDRA schedule, as well as at the Yellow Bullet Nationals and one of the team’s favorite races, The Shakedown at The Summit.

“Pro Modified has always been a large market for us,” said Strange Engineering Director of Sales and Marketing JC Casio in the press release. “The three-decade long relationship with G-Force Race Cars and the Salemi family has lead the way to this partnership. Melanie Salemi and her strong media presence will keep the Strange Engineering awareness high on the Pro Modified racing circuit. The Purple Reign Firebird made a stellar showing in the Strange Engineering display booth at the PRI show in December of 2016 and goals are set high to do the same on track in 2017.”

Salemi is anxiously awaiting the PDRA season-opening race.

“I am really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the Firebird,” Salemi said in the press release. “The offseason, thankfully has gone by quickly and I can’t wait to make my first lap of 2017. As always, my guys have been innovative over the winter and we are excited to try some new things during testing the couple of days prior to qualifying for the Southern Extreme Nationals.”

Salemi also acknowledged her team wouldn’t be able to do what it does without the help of its sponsors.

The sponsors the team wanted to thank are as follows: Al-LEE Installations, Delta Faucet, Strange Engineering, Big Sky Motorsports, Quick Drive, MSR Performance, G-Force Race Cars, Resolution Racing Services, RS Performance Auto Service, TT Motorsports, FuelTech, Atomizer Racing Injectors, Browell Bellhousing, Jeff Pierce, Ross Racing Pistons, Motorsports Unlimited, , Flatout Gaskets, Hoosier Racing Tires, NGK Spark Plugs, Goodridge, PST, B&J Transmissions, Kinetic Engineering, Scott Jahren Custom Paint.