Pro Nitrous rookie Tim Paap is ready for Pro Nitrous, that’s for sure. But the lingering question remains, “Is Pro Nitrous ready for Tim Paap?”
Saturday night, the Paap completed his mission of running roughshod of the field, and after qualifying No. 1 in his inaugural race, beat seasoned veteran and three-time series champion Tommy Franklin in a battle that went down to the wire, with him winning a 3.651, 205.26 to 3.652, 205.66 decision.
Also scoring wins from the No. 1 qualifying position were veterans Melanie Salemi (Pro Boost) and Chris Powers (Pro Stock).
Paap, who is led by past NHRA Top Sportsman world champion Jeffrey Barker and past PDRA Elite Top Sportsman world champion Donny “Hollywood” Urban, scored decisive victories over Pro Modified pioneer Edward Wilson, Tim Molnar, and Tony Wilson before beating Franklin in the final round.
“It’s just surreal right now. Absolutely surreal,” said Paap, who thanked his team and supporters like Killin’ Time Racing, Larry Hodge Racing Tire, Holley, Switzer Dynamics, and RK Racecraft. “There’s so many people to thank. It hasn’t sunk in yet. We’ll be up all night until our flight in the morning. You can’t top this. You can’t even script this – qualifying No. 1 and then winning the race. We were 0 for 7 in testing, then it’s unbelievable to come out and do this.”
Salemi scored her third PDRA East Coast Nationals title in a rematch of the 2023 event, beating Johnny Camp with a 3.622 at 206.29. Camp battled her to the wire with a 3.628 at 205.13 run.
“We’ve struggled with this car a lot and we came here and tested late last week,” Salemi said, thanking Al-Lee Installations and a long list of marketing partners. “I finally have my race car back, and it feels so good because when I have a good race car under me, I know I can be good on the tree.”
Salemi’s road to victory included wins over Lyle Barnett, Preston Tanner and Steve King in the semi-finals.
Powers, the defending PDRA Pro Stock champion, scored his fourth victory at the season-opening Galot event. He scored the final-round win over 2023 world champion Alan Drinkwater, who went red by .003 seconds. Powers was ready for him, though, as he laid down low E.T. of the event, 4.066 at 177.42.
“This is a great start to get the season going,” said Powers, who thanked his Chuck Samuel-led team and partners like Sonny’s Racing Engines and ATI Performance. “On the pole, fastest car every single run – we couldn’t ask for a better start to this season than what we’ve just shown. We just like this track. They have good prep and I feel real comfortable here. This is the track I won at the first time in a Mountain Motor car with no seat time, so I love this place.”
Powers reached the final by stopping Jordan Ensslin in the first round and Elijah Morton in the semi-finals to reach the money run.
Other heads-up winners included Blake Denton (Pro Street), Walter Lannigan (Pro 632, and Connor McGee (Super Street).
Sportsman class victories went to Jeremy Creasman (Elite Top Sportsman), Steve Furr (Elite Top Dragster), Ken Langlois (Top Sportsman 48), and Chad Traylor (Top Dragster 48).
Jr. Dragster program graduate Nicole Zuccarelli picked up the win in Bracket Bash. She ran a 4.365 on a 4.36 dial-in to defeat Brandon Lane and his 4.797 on a 4.79 dial-in for a .006 margin of victory.
Makenzie Alexander and Knox Schween were victorious in Pro Jr. Dragster and Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster, respectively. Alexander in her Mechanicsville, Virginia-based ’17 Halfscale ran an 8.04 on the 7.90 index in the final round, while Brylan Biondo broke out with a 7.892. Schween left second behind final-round opponent Acelynn Christian, but a 9.234 on a 9.20 dial-in in the “Schween Machine” ’04 Halfscale was enough to win over Christian’s 12.042 on an 11.97 dial-in.
