EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS

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FINAL NOTEBOOK - A CONCLUSION TO AN EMOTIONALLY TOUGH WEEKEND

HE'LL ALWAYS BE KING - Ronnie “the King” Davis, 58, a five-time IHRA World Champion and the reigning PDRA Champion in the Top Sportsman class, succumbed Sunday to injuries suffered in the Saturday crash of his 1963 Corvette during qualifying for the third annual PDRA Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway.
    
Davis, a resident of Suwanee, Ga., had just completed a final qualifying run in 4.130 seconds at 178.19 miles per hour when his car turned left, then shot violently back across the track in front of the Chevrolet Camaro of rival Mark Malcuit, clearing the right side guardwall where it then barrel-rolled.  
    
Davis was treated by medical personnel at the track before being transported to Moore County Regional Hospital in Pinehurst and later to UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill. 
    
In addition to a storied racing career that spanned more than a quarter century, Davis was owner of Davis Golf Carts in Suwanee.  His business was the official pit vehicle provider to the PDRA and many of his racing rivals were also golf cart customers.
    
Early in his career, Davis was almost unbeatable at Atlanta Speed Shop Dragway where he dominated a competition called “King of the Hill.”  That gave him his “Ronnie the King” nickname long before he ever won a national event or a world championship.  
    
Davis is survived by daughters Michelle Seger and Bridgett Medina of Texas and his longtime companion Mickey Deering of Suwanee, Ga.

TOCHER UPDATE - Debris drom the Davis vehicle struck Ian Tocher, senior editor for Drag Illustrated magazine.

Tocher was airlifted to UNC Medical Trauma Center, a level one trauma facility.

Wes Buck, Drag Illustrated Publisher confirmed Tocher remains in stable condition at UNC Medical Center's Trauma Unit in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and is still sedated. He lost a lot of blood, but doctors have stopped all internal bleeding and no major internal organs were hit. He did not suffer any head or heart trauma. 

Tocher suffered a severe pelvis injury in the incident. There is also an unspecified back injury. 

Another surgery is set for Monday to address one of his legs, which is broken in multiple places.  

WINS A LOT THAT GALOT - Last season, Kevin Rivenbark finished second to Kevin Fiscus in the Galot Motorsports Pro Boost championship point standings. This weekend the Galot Motorsports driver was second to no one. 

Rivenbark was a two-time winner in Rockingham. A day after beating Melanie Salemi for the postponed Tulsa title, he made a clean sweep of the weekend by beating first-time PDRA finalist Steven Whiteley. 

"As John Force would say, 'this is one bad hot rod," said Rivenbark. "It's unbelievable that we could double-up here this weekend. We were able to claim the maximum points for two races in one weekend. This is a dream come true and I really couldn't ask for any better."

Rivenbark was clearly the driver to beat all weekend after qualifying No. 1 with a 3.761 elapsed time. He ran a 3.751 to tie his newly established Tulsa world record. In the final round, he saved his best run of the weekend for last, a 3.732 elapsed time, to beat Whiteley, who lost with a 3.789.

"After we won Tulsa, I knew it was going to be hard to beat us," Rivenbark admitted. "In this sport, you can fall as quickly as you rise to the top. We are on top, and the car is really running well. Right now, everything is falling into place, but that's not to say it might not be this way next race."

Rivenbark said his confidence is at an all-time high, but feeling this way isn't much of a challenge when you have a team led by Todd Tutterow. 

 "I always feel confident because Todd and the team give me a car that will go from A to B," said Rivenbark. "When your car goes to the finish line under power 99-percent of the time it's easy to have a high level of confidence." 

WORTHY RECOGNITION - Steve Earwood was recognized for his many contributions to drag racing’s storied history last month in Gainesville, Fla.

Earwood, the owner of Rockingham Dragway, was recognized during the International Hall of Fame ceremonies with the Founder’s Award for his many contributions behind-the-scenes as a publicist. 

Earwood worked for 11 years running the NHRA's media department before getting into running race tracks. 

“It’s very gratifying to be noticed by your peers but particularly that group of folks,” said Earwood. “That’s the top of this industry and it meant an awful lot.  I’ll be honest with you, going into it it’s the start of our season and we’re so busy at the race track I kind of looked at it as it’s a pain in the neck to go down there but then my family started calling and they wanted to come.  

“Then you’ve got the burden of getting them hotel rooms and taking them to dinner and all that but it worked out wonderful and it was great.”

Earwood’s presentation was met with a standing ovation. 

“That deeply touched me,” Earwood admitted. 

And it surprised him too.

“I was just doing my job,” said Earwood. “I’ve always had a passion for this thing and I’ve always treated drag racing like a major league sport.  I feel in my heart that’s what it is.  That was one of my goals, to compete with major league sports on the sports pages with the NFL and MLB.  I wanted to compete on local sports programming with those major league sports because I really felt like our industry and competitors deserved it.  We were able to accomplish that and it was very gratifying, but I never expected to get any accolades for it.”

In some ways his experience promoting the sport for the sanctioning body prepared him for his current gig as track operator. 

“I’m a different kind of track operator because track operators if you look them up during the week they’re on a bushhog cutting their grass or prepping their race track.  I did that in the early years but I’ve always focused on sponsorship and press publicity.  That was the result of what I did for the NHRA for all those years.”

GUESS WHO’S BACK - John Montecalvo said Friday’s return to eighth-mile drag racing was like coming home.

Montecalvo, a former IHRA Pro Stock champion, was part of the mountain motor Pro Stock reintroduction to the PDRA at Rockingham Dragway, a facility where the large displacement factory hot rods have a rich history.  

“I really look forward to our return here,” said Montecalvo. “This is a really great place for us to run at and obviously, they’ve welcomed us with open arms.  It feels good to be wanted and to be a part of the show here.  They feel that we’re an important part of their show, and they want us back here.”

The PDRA is one of only two places these cars can race in a professional setting. The IHRA brought back the unique style of factory hot rods in 2014 after dropping the naturally-aspirated division after the 2009 season. 

Just one year earlier, the mountain motor cars were caught in the middle of a power struggle between rival eighth-mile organizations, ADRL and X-DRL. It was a power struggle which would inevitably hurt the class and lead to the demise of both race series. 

“It’s been an up and down rollercoaster,” said Montecalvo. “Part of the problem with this class is we’ve needed some stability.  It’s a very limited market for us; we don’t have a lot of places to run but a Pro Modified car you could run every night of the week whether you want to run NHRA, IHRA or PDRA.  There is a place for these Pro Mods every night of the week but with us we really don’t have that opportunity.  I think that if we can get a little bit of stability in this class, then we’re going to see people building cars again.  

“It’s a very popular class with the fans and we love running it.  I never considered running anything else.  I like naturally aspirated motors, and I’m just hoping that we can revive this class again.  I looked through a qualifying sheet the other day where we had 36 Pro Stock cars, and I almost fell down.  That was in the 1990’s, but that’s how strong the class was.”

Brian Gahm lived through those days of uncertainty and even parked his car for a while. He believes a lot of the problems the mountain motor cars experienced were self-inflicted. 

“You can’t do what this class has done in the last four to five years and expect it to grow,” said Gahm, also a past world champion. “You wouldn’t do your business that way, and I wouldn’t do mine that way.  When you do that there’s no other place for it to go but down.  People don’t want to hear bickering and bellyaching, the hell with all the money that we’ve spent we want to be happy and do this.  I’m either going to be happy, or I’m not going to do it.”

During the time when the mountain motor cars were forced to choose between racing the quarter-mile of the IHRA or the eighth-mile series, history dictated for Gahm which path he chose. 

“I always say it’s like a marriage. If you’re going to divorce your wife and then marry her back then you’re dumber than hell,” Gahm said. “They [IHRA] threw us out over there, and I’m not going back.  I love the people over there, some of them, but it’s a no-brainer.  I want to go where I’m wanted.  I’m not paying somebody to run this.”

Gahm’s reference is toward the current IHRA program where a group of mountain motor racers banded together two years ago and funded their participation. He believes the only way this style of racing will survive is for one and all to become unified. 

“That’s the only way that it’s going to recover,” said Gahm.  “It’s going to take all of us at once now that we’ve all been split up.  I’m not going to run quarter-mile, I don’t want to run quarter-mile you know what I’m saying?  I’m going to do this or quit; it’s that simple.  I’ve already made my mind up, and I’m not going to deviate from it.  I think a lot of people feel the same way with what I’m talking about.” 

Montecalvo believes the more places to race the better for these cars. Because of this, he will support both avenues as much as he can. 
“I think at this point. Personally, I don’t want to put all of my eggs in one basket because it’s just been so unstable that I want to race wherever I can race right now,” Montecalvo said. “It doesn’t really matter to me if it’s a quarter-mile or eighth-mile.”  

NO MARGIN - Randall Reid knew there was no margin for error in the finals of the NAS Racing Pro Extreme division. The Iowa Park, Texas-based driver was scheduled to face Jason Scruggs, a challenge which ranks right up there with climbing Mt. Everest. 

And in an example of pure will, Reid found a way to make it to the peak of the elimination ladder beating Scruggs on a holeshot. 

"I knew I had to be real good in the final round," said Reid. "He's fast, and one of the best there is in this class. I'm just glad it all worked out in my favor."

Reid ran a slower 3.550, 215.96 to fend off Scruggs' quicker 3.501, 222.66. The tale of the tape was a starting line advantage of .017 to .082 in Reid's favor. 

Making it to the finish line in a Pro Extreme car on a consistent basis is a challenge to even the most seasoned driver. However, when you do it and win on a holeshot is the stuff where legends are created. 

"Winning a race on a holeshot in one of these cars means a lot to me," said Reid. "I knew I needed to get out on him early because we had experienced our fair share of issues this weekend. I'm just glad I was able to turn the misfortunes into positives."

Scruggs was strong all weekend, establishing low elapsed time in qualifying with a mark of 3.498. 

"I never heard him, but I knew as I went down the track and didn't see him, he was back there," Reid explained. "I kept looking for the stripe, because as strong as he runs, he's liable to catch you at any time with that big mile per hour of his. He was close, just didn't get there."

THE NITROUS HOT HAND - When you have a hot hand you definitely keep rolling with the cards.

And Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous racer Travis Harvey has been dealt a sizzler with his new Pro Nitrous entry, thanks to team owner Vaughn Myles.

Four times he's entered Pro Nitrous, and four times the Elon, NC-based driver has reached the final rounds. Two of those final rounds came this weekend at Rockingham.

Harvey was able to rebound from a Friday evening loss from the weather-delayed Tulsa final to beat Jay Cox in the final round of the Rockingham event. 

"I'm really glad to get this win," said Harvey. "My team needed this win bad. I did my best driving to compliment all of the hard work they did in preparing this car. I cannot thank my team owner Vaughn Myles enough for this great opportunity.

"When you line up against a murderer's row of racers like Jay Cox, Tommy Franklin and Stevie Jackson, just to name a few people in the class, every round counts in this class."

Harvey isn't being modest in his assessment, either.  In beating Cox, he took a tenth on the starting line to score a 3.763 to 3.751 decision, roughly an eighth-inch decision at the stripe. 

Harvey's performance was not a bad effort for a team which came together a little over four months ago and in addition to the two final rounds this weekend had one win in two finals at the Snowbird Nationals as well as the U.S. Street Machine Nationals. 

"The team has just gelled in an awesome way, and Sonny Leonard provides us with excellent horsepower. We put this team together late last year, and it has already been in four finals since December."

Momentum is important in Pro Nitrous, adds Harvey. 

"It gives us more momentum going into the next race," said Harvey. "No one wants to go out and get beat up all the time, so winning like this creates a big swing in our favor. 

"I won by .002, but it could have easily gone the other way.  Jay did a good job all day. I got lucky that the win light came on in my lane."

Harvey paused to reflect in winning to remember two of his fellow PDRA friends involved in Saturday's tragic accident. Top Sportsman racer Ronnie Davis and Drag Illustrated Senior Ian Tocher suffered severe injuries an accident during qualifying. Davis later succumbed to his injuries. 

"This win is dedicated to Ian Tocher and Ronnie Davis," said Harvey. "I could be in that hospital bed right now. Anything can happen out here at any time.” 

WHEN IT'S YOUR DAY - Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle racer Chuck Wilburn had plenty of confidence all day Sunday in Rockingham.

Wilburn was confident he DIDN'T have the bike to beat. This time, he didn't mind being wrong. 

Wilburn saved his best for last as he overcame a holeshot from Ashley Owens to score his second career PDRA win with a  4.043, 173.01. For his part, Owens recorded a 4.116, 176.26 to finish runner-up. 

Wilburn entered eliminations as the No. 4 qualifier and advanced to the finals with wins over Burke Forster and low qualified Chris Garner-Jones. 

"It all goes back to Tulsa when we hurt an engine after going 4.02 and qualifying No. 2. We broke a crank and scrambled just to get here.  We hurt a lot of parts we could not duplicate. We just got the thing together and never really ran good." 

The second round win over Jones was a turning point in his bid to reach the finals. 

"Second round we ran Jones and knew we were going to have to run really well against him and put a big tune-up in it, and luckily he broke on the burnout," Wilburn explained. "We just spun the tire all the way down the track. We only ran a 4.11.

"We got back to the trailer, regrouped and got a four out of it. We should be on the right track with this combination, I hope."

Wilburn's previous win came at Rockingham Dragway last fall.

"I never felt it was my race to win. I thought we were beat in round one, round two and in the semis, Ashley only went a .13. I felt like if we could just run a 4.09, we'd have a chance to win. We just softened everything up and the track came around. It worked out; he put a big holeshot on me and we were lucky enough to beat him to the finish line."

Defending Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle champion Eric McKinney lost in the first round. 

THIS ONE IS FOR DAD - After two winless Pro Stock final rounds at Rockingham, Clover, South Carolina's Richard Penland emerged victorious after No. 1 qualifier John Pluchino fouled in the final round. The victory marks the second career PDRA title for Penland.  

The Extreme Pro Stock division returned to the PDRA following a one-year hiatus. Penland was impressive in his return, entering eliminations as the No. 3 qualifier. He reached the finals by opening with a single when Lester Cooper couldn't make the call, and then took out Brian Gahm in the semis. 

"This is as close as you can get to being a home track for me," said Penland. "I've wanted to win here for a long time and this time, the opportunity finally worked out. Been shooting for a win here for a while, and this time finally hit it."

Penland returned to racing this weekend after a year off to serve as caretaker for his father Oliver Penland, who passed away last Friday.

 "This win is dedicated to him," said Penland. "I think it is great to be back at the PDRA. I told Jason and Bob, we are happy to be back here with the family we love. It's a continuation of a family that has stuck together through many different associations. This is what we call our home. It was great to come back home. 

THE SPORTSMAN REPORT - In Lucas Oil Top Dragster, Cody Moore won a final round battle of alternates as he beat Chaz Silance in the final round. 

Moore, who entered Sunday's eliminations at the No. 17 qualifier, beat the No. 23 seeded Silance with a +.011, 4.071 run. Silance was competitive at the stripe as well, recording a +.019, 4.129. 

Moore beat Matt Sackman, Jimmy Sackuvich and Don Hall to reach the finals. 

A battle of sportsman titans determined the winner of the Magnafuel Top Sportsman division. 

Dan Ferguson used a .003 reaction and a +.011, 3.981 to take the measure of multi-time IHRA Top Dragster champion Scott Duggins, who now races a 1963 Corvette. 

Ferguson's road to the finals included victories over Bruce Thrift, Dwayne Silance and Cheyenne Stanley.

Kendal Little (Talbert Pro Junior Dragster), Brandon Lively (Megacorp Top Jr. Dragster) and Ava Lawler (Bracket Bash)

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - TRAGIC ACCIDENT BRINGS EARLY END TO DAY

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -

FINISHING TULSA - Brandon Snider ran a career-best and record-setting 3.48 seconds at 219.47 mph to secure the top position over the 16-car Pro Extreme field in Tulsa. He then steered his Q80-backed '69 Camaro to preliminary round wins over Carl Stevens Jr. and Todd Tutterow to set up a semifinal match against Dubai's Khalid al Refaei.

Meanwhile, Scruggs qualified second with a 3.49 at 220.08, then drove to a first-round win over John Sullivan Jr. before making a solo pass when Johnny Cobb was unable to show for the quarter finals. Unfortunately, al Refaei and his NAS Racing teammates didn't make the trek to Rockingham, so it was Snider's turn to run alone in the semis with a 3.55 at 219.79 while Scruggs beat a red-lighting Mike Recchia with another 3.49 at 222.44 that also held the top spot for Rockingham qualifying with one more round scheduled for Saturday before eliminations begin.

In the final, Snider left first with a .022 holeshot, then posted another 3.55 at 218.87 to beat an early shutoff 4.77 at just 115.59 by Scruggs after his own '69 Camaro went into severe tire shake about 100 feet out. "I thought about taking some power out of it while we were waiting (on track clean up after a crash by Wesley Jones) and it looks like I really should have," Scruggs admitted. "The track got colder and I think that's what bit us."

Snider suspected as much, saying he also had hoped to run a little quicker but briefly lost traction early in the run, too. "To be honest I'm having a little trouble reading the track today," he said. "I think Jason probably thought we'd be faster, too, and he maybe pushed a little too hard."

Snider also revealed he narrowly avoided disaster at the top end after a major oil fitting broke in half just as his car crossed the eighth-mile finish line and sprayed the slick mixture under his left rear tire. Oil continued to drip from engine and suspension parts as the car sat idle in the pits nearly 20 minutes later.

"I felt the car slide sideways at exactly the same time as the chutes hit," he said. "I've been in a couple of wild rides in these things before, but I've gotta say that probably scared me more than any of them. It was already getting out of shape when they caught me and that wasn't a good feeling at nearly 220 miles an hour."

Qualified fourth with one more qualifying round to go for the PDRA Spring Nationals, Snider said he may sit out the final session in order to save parts. He's excited about the opportunity to double up with another event win on Saturday, though.

"We qualified number one, set a record and won the race, even if it is three weeks later, so we got the maximum amount of points out of that first race," he pointed out. "That's what we're all about this year, going rounds and winning races and the championship will take care of itself. We're going to do our best to win it all again tomorrow."

SMOOTH TRANSITION - If you're looking for a key to Brandon Snider's success this season, then look no further than the drivetrain.

Snider, who pilots the Q80-backed ’69 Camaro, has a new Liberty two-speed transmission in the car this season. Already the move is paying dividends as he matched his career-best elapsed time of 3.51 seconds straight off the trailer in pre-race testing last month at Tulsa, OK. Snider then took the top spot over the 16-car field with the class record and an even quicker 3.48-seconds blast at 219.47.

“At the PRI show I talked with Craig Liberty of the Pro Stock transmissions and with Steve Graves at Quick Drive, he builds drive units, and I got both of those guys together and told them I wanted to try it if they were willing to work with me,” Snider explained. “Luckily, both of them believed in us enough to help us put the project together.”

Snider said the unique Liberty transmission in his Q80-backed ’69 Camaro had to be strengthened at every turn to handle the nearly 4,000 horsepower of his screw-blown Hemi.

“The gears, the shafts, the input shaft, the output shaft, it’s all been beefed up. Craig even made a one-off billet case for it after hours and hours of machine work. He threw in a bunch of money to do this thing and it could have worked, it could have not worked. Obviously, we’re all thrilled with the results so far.”

Snider who raced for the championship in the Tulsa event on Friday, the season-opener which was postponed after rapidly dropping track temperatures then forced PDRA officials to suspend competition.

FINISHED BUSINESS - Race fans were treated to a doubleheader on Friday as two national events were settled at North Carolina’s historic Rockingham Dragway.

Brandon Snider (Pro Extreme), Tommy Frankin (Pro Nitrous) and Kevin Rivenbark (Pro Boost) captured the delayed final round wins.

Unseasonably cold weather for the season opener last month made the racing surface at Tulsa, Oklahoma, too cold to safely continue elimination rounds forcing PDRA officials to make the tough decision to finish the event during qualifying for the Spring Nationals.

Only the Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle and Talbert Top Jr. Dragster classes were raced to completion in Tulsa.

HANG ON SLOOPY - Pro Extreme champion Jason Scruggs has been on some wild rides before but Thursday's fishtailing experience was one for the ages.

Scruggs' Camaro broke a bolt in the four-link causing all of the down track commotions.

"I wasn’t expecting it at all," admitted Scruggs. "It was rattling tires yesterday and I thought I could drive through it but the next thing I know it broke something in the four-link. Then the rear end started going back and forth so I grabbed the chutes but it was still trying to get up on two wheels. God was riding with me so I’m proud that I didn’t hit anything."

Scruggs knew something was wrong with his car, just not exactly sure what it was.

"I really thought I just had oil under my tires or that something had gave away," Scruggs recalled. "Bear in mind the driveshaft broke when the rear end messed up so that stuff was slinging all on the car."

Scruggs said the first thing that goes through a driver's mind when something happens like this is just to get the car stopped.

"That’s about all you can do," Scruggs explained. "The first thing you need to always to do anytime something happens is to grab the chutes as quick as you can. Normally that’ll get the car slowed down, but sometimes you have to straighten it out which is what I did yesterday."

ENIGMATIC, THE RACE CAR - Dictionary.com describes enigma as a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence. This definition should say a lot about the character of Pro Nitrous racer Keith Haney's other race car which he appropriately named Enigma.

Haney has his 3.7-second Camaro figured out, but when it comes to his Drag Radial machine - it is truly an enigmatic vehicle.

Last weekend at the Radial Revolution event, a race held at his Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park, Haney was unable to compete at the event because of scheduling conflictions. He entrusted the car to veteran driver Brandon Pesz, who found out the hard way what Haney learned in late February.

Haney scrubbed the wall during the Lights Out 7 event in the car's debut.

Pesz was in the midst of a strong run; one where the classic Chevy carried the front wheel an inordinate distance down the track before it took a sharp left and nailed the retaining wall.

Pesz was uninjured in the incident, but as Drag Radial cars can often have a mind of their own, he takes full blame for the mishap.

"It was actually the front strut being set wrong by me," said Pesz. "It was set real tight on the compression, and typically we try to do that when the car lands to keep the motor up and more pressure on the back tire, but it doesn’t work well on a radial tire. We’re still learning this radial tire stuff.

"When it landed it bounced the drivers rear tire up cause the tire had no give to it and the shocks are fully extended by that point. It landed pretty hard when it landed and it bounced the drivers rear tire up not the passenger one, it just kind of spun it around. It didn’t break actually it just drove it around really fast."

Pesz said when a race car is running that fast, even to the eighth-mile, the situation can go out of control before there's even a chance to react.

"Shoot, it all happened so fast I didn’t have time to think," Pesz admitted. "I knew it was a good pass but I didn’t have complete wheelie control over the car. It worked because it held it and then it finally started coming down and I was like, 'oh hell, we’re on now."

"The next thing I know I’m facing the starting line, it just happened that fast."

FRANKLIN SEALS THE DEAL - Consistency counts for Tommy Franklin and although his car wasn't quite as quick in Rockingham as it was three weeks earlier at Tulsa, where he made a record 3.68-seconds run at 203.34, it remained as predictable as ever.

"We ran so good in Tulsa, so yeah, it would've been nice if we could've just finished things up there, but we have a good car here, too, considering the conditions with the temperatures going a little crazy," he said.

With only 15 cars in the field at Tulsa Raceway Park, Franklin ran unopposed in the opening round, then overcame a holeshot by Jason Harris to advance and meet Jay Cox in the postponed semis at Rockingham. On the opposite side of the ladder, third-place starter Travis Harvey took down Joshua Vettel and Pat Stoken in Tulsa, but never had to race Steve Jackson in Rockingham after Jackson's car failed to start for a second-round solo pass in Tulsa.

Running alone in the right lane of "The Rock," Harvey grabbed the provisional number-one position in qualifying for the PDRA Spring Nationals and took lane choice for the Tulsa final with a 3.743-seconds pass at exactly 200 mph. Franklin then led stripe to stripe over Cox, going just four-thousandths of a second slower than Harvey on a 203-mph run to the eighth-mile stripe.

Harvey left with a sizable .056 advantage off the start in the final, but his '69 Camaro faltered to a 4.5-second run at just 123 mph, while Franklin and his similar ride secured the win by going 3.742 at 203.49 mph. "Travis is an excellent racer; you've always got to be on your best game to beat him, and fortunately we just put another solid run together," he said.

UNCHARTED TRICKY TERRITORY - Rickie Smith's track record at Rockingham Dragway is legendary.

Smith has been so successful at the eastern North Carolina-based track that he's gained the reputation of being one of three certainties in life; death, taxes and winning at Rockingham Dragway.

This weekend Smith will try to win in a different way, as a tuner.

Smith is handling the tuning duties for his longtime friend Pat Musi, who is recuperating from quadruple bypass surgery almost a month ago. The experience is uncharted territory for Smith, who never comes to Rockingham without his race car,

"I’m used to driving but we’ve got a good driver in Lizzy," said Smith. "If I can give her a good car we can pull this race off. It’ll be a good deal if I can win while tuning so we’ll see where it goes."

Smith is the defending PDRA Spring Nationals Pro Nitrous champion. Tuning Lizzy Musi or John Camp to the win would provide him a leg-up towards his future.

"Tuning is going to be my retirement one day," Smith added. "We’re going to have fun with it and have a good time I hope."

A CLASS OF HIS OWN - Pro Boost racer Kevin Rivenbark was in a class by himself on Friday at Rockingham, running consistent 3.70s, with his GALOT Racing teammate, John Strickland, coming closest with a 3.802 that placed him second behind Rivenbark's 3.761 at 200.02 in the Tulsa final over Melanie Salemi.

Salemi was going after her second-straight Pro Boost win at Rockingham after winning her career-first PDRA event there last fall. However, her final this time around got off to a rough start, or more accurately, a no start after the supercharged engine in her '68 Firebird failed to fire. While Rivenbark completed his burnout, backed up and creeped forward toward the starting line, Salemi and her team desperately tried to get her car started. Just when it looked like she was going to be timed out by the PDRA starter, the reluctant 'Bird roared to life, she completed a very short burnout and went straight to staging against Rivenbark.

"I've got to hand it to her; that had to be at least a little bit unsettling but she handled it like a pro," Rivenbark said after winning with his 3.76 pass against a 3.846 at 192.85 by Salemi. "Even though she's still pretty new to these cars I think she's one of the best drivers we have out here. She's really interested in learning more about them and learning how to get better in them."

Despite his race-day dominance, Rivenbark also felt he had a little luck riding along in his roots-blown 2015 Corvette, especially in the final round. "We broke a gear in the rear end right as I got off the gas at the finish line," he said. "I knew what it was right away; I'm just glad it happened at that end of the track and not at the start or during our burnout."

Regardless of the breakage, Rivenbark remained confident in his team's ability to repeat with another event win on Saturday at Rockingham. "That's what we're here for, to win these races and hopefully that'll add up to a championship at the end of the year."

MOUNTAINS AT THE ROCK - The only other class to complete all three rounds of qualifying on Friday for the PDRA Spring Nationals was Extreme Pro Stock in its first appearance with the series since the 2014 season.

New Yorker John Pluchino took the top spot into Saturday with a 4.043-seconds pass at 178.24 mph in his 2013 Mustang, followed by Richard Penland (4.052/178.78), Brian Gahm just one thousandth back, and Dwayne Rice at 4.060 to round out the top half of an eight-car field.