Photos by Robert Richard, Larry Pfister
THURSDAY NOTEBOOK – THE WSOPM IS UP AND RUNNING
1 – QBQ = QUARTUCCIO BEING QUARTUCCIO – Ken Quartuccio maintained his dominance of all things doorslammer, moving to the top of the qualifying order during the Winter Series event with a 3.596-second pass at 207.69 mph in Dustin Nesloney’s screw-blown ’69 Camaro in Thursday qualifying.
Quartuccio’s recent wins include the U.S. Street Nationals in Pro Mod and Lights Out 16 in Radial vs. the World.
“I just love this place. I love everything about it,” Quartuccio said. “When Vic (Alvarez) went 3.61, I honestly thought at that time of the day it was going to be hard to beat. But as the sun went down, (tuner) Steve Petty slowly dialed the car in to go a little faster. When I went through the finish line and saw a .59, I was pretty excited about that. I believe a turbo car is going to qualify No. 1 tomorrow night, and I’m 100% OK with it. I know that I can go rounds with what I’ve got.”
Quartuccio began the day by posting a 3.644-second run at 205.85 mph during the first qualifying session. This effort earned him $5,000 from Pro Line Racing as part of their “Off The Trailer” Bonus Program, awarded to the lowest E.T. in Q1.
“I’ve been dealing with Pro Line for over 10 years, but I’ve never had them give me money,” he said. “When they put that challenge up, I said to [Steve] Petty, ‘I only ask for one thing. We’re gonna be late in the session, we’ll know what everybody runs… I want that Pro Line money. I want Eric [Dillard] to have to hand me a check instead of me handing him a check.’ It’s all in good fun, though, and it means a lot to win that and keep the momentum going.”
Quartuccio’s recent performances demonstrate significant consistency, highlighted by a runner-up finish to Kye Kelley at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals. His victories at the U.S. Street Nationals and Lights Out 16 further solidify his dominance in the sport.
“We just have a great handle on the car,” Quartuccio said. “Pro Line has been wanting to work on a good screw program, and they’ve got great cars out here now. We’re just developing it. And keep in mind, that’s a famous car I’m driving – it’s a GALOT car from way back. It works really good, and we just had to find a sweet spot.”
Positioned at the top of the qualifying order, Quartuccio also stands a chance to secure a significant number of points, moving him closer to the Winter Series points championship and an additional $25,000. However, he emphasizes maintaining focus on the task at hand.
“I’ve been in a lot of championship battles over the years,” he said. “I don’t want to get caught up in that – I just want to enjoy the moment. As soon as I start thinking about that stuff, it’s going to mess me up. I don’t want to do anything to change my focus right now. Just stay the course, just react and not think, and just enjoy this whole experience. The Winter Series is the greatest thing for Pro Mod racing. You’ve got 80 of the best guys out here – that’s a pretty special thing, and I just want to enjoy it.”
2 – PALMER CRASHES, VOWS TO RETURN ANOTHER DAY – Friend and sponsor Doug Mills probably summed it up the best, and Scott Palmer agreed.
“It’s expensive to be Scott Palmer’s friend,” he said following Thursday’s top-end crash during qualifying.
Palmer experienced a perfect storm of calamities including mechanical and driver error that led to him barrel-rolling his Corvette in the run-off, soft dirt of Bradenton Motorsports Park.
“What I do at the end of a run is my hand’s always on the chute [lever],” Palmer explained. “So I hit the chute and lifted at the same time, put the M&M Transmission in neutral. And about the time I got it in neutral, I realized the chutes did not blossom. Reached over, pushed the lever and it went about a half inch more, and I felt one of them come out. It felt like one, but it was just too late.”
This time, the crash Palmer experienced was much different than the one he faced with the Nitro Studebaker that left him hospitalized with injuries. He crawled out of his mangled ’63 Corvette and was able to walk away.
“The dirt out there in that strawberry field is super soft and it sucked the nose in the ground and just catapulted me and it just barrel-rolled – tore the car up,” Palmer said. “It broke the front stub off and didn’t touch the roll cage, broke the body. But all in all, this thing sitting here still resembles a ’63 Corvette and absolutely no damage, no hurt to myself.
“As many times as it barrel rolled, I never felt my head even get heavy. As my head went back, because it was barrel rolling side to side, forward, it was all hell kind of broke loose, but I could actually feel my head being stable and it was the wildest feeling ever.”
Despite the keyboard warriors and advisors, Palmer contends he’ll return to doorslammer race another day.
“I’ve read on Facebook, ‘Scott should have got the chutes out sooner,” and they’re right. And maybe I should stick to Top Fuel and give up the Pro Mods,” Palmer said. “I just want everybody to know I’m not quitting. I’ll be back here next year for the next one. And whatever it takes, I’m just not a quitter. And it wasn’t the car’s fault this happened and it wasn’t really anybody’s fault. The throttle stuck and if anybody’s going to be to blame for this, I’ll take the blame for not getting the lever pushed the first time far enough. But that’s from not running this car except in the winter time.
“So, the next car, I’ll make more runs in it. I’ll take it to NHRA races and run it on Monday or whatever we need to do.”
3 – PLUCHINO DETERMINED – You can’t stop a man on a mission.
Johnny Pluchino is on a mission to secure victory at the Mountain Motor Pro Stock Invitational after finishing as a semifinalist and runner-up in the last two events. The reigning NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock champion recorded the fastest times in both qualifying sessions on Thursday, posting a 4.096 and then a 4.061 at 177.60 mph in his Kaase-powered Ross Environmental Services ’13 Mustang.
“To go out there in the middle of the day, in the heat of the day, and go low E.T. and then come back and lay one down when it gets cool out, it’s really all you can ask for,” Pluchino said. “It’s starting the season exactly how we want. It’s the first race for us and it’s pretty gratifying.”
Pluchino and his team will have two more qualifying sessions on Friday, but he is most focused on the Saturday eliminations.
“We’re an extremely confident group no matter what,” Pluchino said. “I said it a while ago – you don’t want to pull the orange car in the chip draw this weekend. You just don’t want to do that. Pull somebody else. You don’t want to pull this orange car.”
Chris Powers, a two-time and reigning PDRA Extreme Pro Stock champion, qualified second in his Sonny’s Racing Engines ’21 Camaro with a 4.074 at 178.10 mph. Tony Gillig, who is substituting for the 2023 PDRA Extreme Pro Stock champion Alan Drinkwater, secured third place in the Drinkwater family’s Kaase-powered ’08 Mustang with a time of 4.096 at 176.93.
4 – WENSLEY SETS THE PACE FOR 10.5 – Joel Wensley Jr. opened the $25,000-to-win Pro 10.5 Challenge with a standout performance. He posted a time of 3.925 at 194.32 mph in his ProCharged ’14 Camaro during the second qualifying session, where nearly every driver improved their times.
“This was extremely rewarding,” Wensley said. “After last year we ended up putting a new front clip on the car to try to lighten up some weight on the nose. The first pass out we come in with a 1.04 60-foot off the trailer. Unfortunately, it backfired on that run because of some valve seat issues and we didn’t get much data after that, but we came back and we were like, ‘Man, I guess we’re right back where we were.’ It was definitely rewarding and a big sigh of relief.”
Twenty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the 16-car field, with times in the 3.90s needed for top five positions. Wensley will have two more qualifying sessions on Friday before Saturday’s eliminations, where pairings will be determined by random chip draws.
“It’s a cool feeling,” Wensley said. “I don’t think I’ve been a No. 1 qualifier ever, so to be at the top of the field going into tomorrow, knowing that we can swing for the fences and give it whatever it’s got, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Rob Valden from Texas secured the No. 2 position in Charlie Cooper’s turbocharged ’22 Mustang with a time of 3.943 at 203.83 mph. Blake Denton qualified third, driving a nitrous-fed ’69 Camaro named “Bonnie” in tribute to the late Lizzy Musi, with a time of 3.952 at 191.73 mph.
5 – FEELING MUCH BETTER – Two-time PDRA Pro Boost champion Jason Harris had an acceptable reason for missing last year’s event. He was sick. For the record, there is sick, and then there’s too sick to race which was the case for the 2023 event semi-finalist.
Harris is in the field after the first day, carding the provisional No. 2 spot with his 3.603 at 208.23 mph in his ProCharged Party Time Racing ’69 Camaro.
“Missing U.S. Street hurt me really bad,” Harris said. “I was really sick and it just wasn’t meant to be.,” Harris said. “Coming into this race, I’ve been really close – I’ve been to the semis, I’ve been down to eight – I just told ’em I was coming for blood. I’m not going to leave anything on the table. I’m going to do what I need to do to win. I was gonna come with two broke legs to get to this race. This is the biggest race in Pro Mod, and it’s one of the best feelings in the world to come to this race.”
6 – DOORSLAMMER STATE OF MIND – If there’s one thing that Lyle Barnett is, it is a doorslammer aficionado to the bone. He’s pulling double duty, racing in the Pro Modified division as well as the Outlaw 10.5 category.
7 – YES, THEY BOUGHT THE FARM – Leave it to Alex Laughlin, the multi-talented, extremely versatile drag racer, to find unique ways to market his drag racing team. Headed into the World Series of Pro Modified, for a $50 investment, drag racing fans could have their name splashed on both sides of his 1969 Camaro. At the end of the event, the names will be pulled from the side of the Laughlin Farm Pro Mod car and put on a commemorative poster.
Laughlin was No. 14 after two sessions with a 3.641.
8 – HERE COME THE GANGSTAS – New to the WSOPM in 2025, Lil Gangstas began their quest for $25,000 – the biggest payout in class history – with two time trial runs.
Thursday night also featured the inaugural 16-car Jr. Dragster Shootout during the traditional WSOPM Racer & Crew Welcome Party presented by Strange Engineering. At the end of the night, 15-year-old Bobby Starr took home the $1,500 payday.
9 – THE SPORTSMAN REPORT – Reigning PDRA Elite Top Sportsman world champion Glenn Butcher captured the provisional No. 1 spot in the first qualifying session. He posted a time of 3.877 at 179.97 mph in his Albert-powered ’69 Camaro, leading by a sizeable margin.
David Crafts qualified second with a 4.023 at 181.96 in his ’63 Corvette from Lisbon Falls, Maine. Texan Bob Gulitti rounded out the top three with a 4.030 at 181.64 in his ’67 Shelby Mustang.
In Top Dragster, the competition remains tight among the top three drivers. Russ Whitlock took the provisional No. 1 spot, racing his ’08 Race Tech dragster to a time of 3.885 at 188.96 mph from Mocksville, North Carolina.
Les Feist followed closely behind with a 3.888 at 184.93. Matt Sackman, also licensed in Top Fuel, qualified third with a time of 3.889 at 185.21 in his supercharged Sackman Boyz Racing ’10 Spitzer dragster.
10 – WHAT’S UP FOR TODAY – Pro Mod will be the first class on track Friday morning at 10 a.m. for its third qualifying session, followed by Q3 for Pro 10.5 and Mountain Motor Pro Stock. Additional Pro Mod sessions are scheduled for 4 and 8 p.m.
