New national records and fierce championship duels defined Saturday’s qualifying and opening eliminations at the Red Line Oil PDRA World Finals presented by ProCharger at Virginia Motorsports Park. Richard Reagan and Fredy Scriba both backed up record-setting performances, while several championship contenders kept their title hopes alive heading into Sunday.
Reagan secured the Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by Menscer Motorsports elapsed time record with a 3.854-second pass from Friday, backed up by a 3.887 at 198.32 on Saturday in his screw-blown ’90 Mustang. Scriba, the defending Pro Nitrous world champion, ran a 3.633 to validate his 3.600 from Friday, officially establishing the class E.T. record.
The drama continues Sunday with the world championships in Pro Nitrous and WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive still undecided. Tommy Franklin and Marcus Butner will clash in a pivotal Pro Nitrous matchup, while Ty Tutterow and Melanie Salemi remain in contention in Pro Boost after advancing from the first round.
In Pro Street, Reagan followed his record run by defeating Joel Wensley Jr. with a 3.879 at 199.20, the second-quickest pass of the round. Championship rivals Ethan Steding and Blake Denton also advanced, setting up a continuation of their title showdown on Sunday.
Steding, the defending champion and points leader, posted a 3.899 at 197.59 to eliminate John Carinci. Denton recorded low E.T. of the round with a 3.876 at 197.08 over Ron Green, keeping his title chase alive.
Meanwhile, Jeff Melnick locked up his second PDRA Pro 632 world title before eliminations began and kept rolling, running 4.101 at 173.47 to advance over Gary Hood. Alan Drinkwater and Connor McGee also clinched world championships in Extreme Pro Stock and Super Street, respectively, by qualifying for the event.
Sportsman titles remain up for grabs in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman, Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster, MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, and Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster. Junior racers will also decide their champions in Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster and Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster.
In Pro Nitrous, Scriba’s 3.633 at 207.62 on his bye run sealed the class record and advanced him to face Buddy Perkinson next. Butner set low E.T. of the round at 3.603 at 209.98 to defeat Chris Rini, while Franklin countered with a 3.611 at 209.17 to dispatch Brian Shrader, setting up a critical second-round matchup between the two championship contenders.
The Pro Boost championship race also tightened. Tutterow, holding a three-round lead entering the weekend, cut a .010 light and ran a 3.567 at 210.97 in Justin Smith’s Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro to hold off Johnny Camp’s 3.574.
Salemi kept pace, clocking a 3.574 at 208.62 to beat Scott Lang, ensuring she remains in the hunt with a head-to-head battle against Tutterow on Sunday. In Extreme Pro Stock, Drinkwater confirmed his second consecutive world title when he qualified his Kaase-powered ’08 Mustang, then ran a 4.046 at 179.11 to defeat challenger Jeremy Huffman.
Drinkwater will meet Elijah Morton in the semifinals after Morton advanced with a 4.062. Melnick, who clinched his championship in Pro 632 before eliminations began, is still chasing a new class E.T. record.
His 4.101 first-round victory over Hood was one of the quickest runs in class history. Walter Lannigan, Carson Hoyle, JC Beattie Jr., and Kyle Salminen also advanced in Pro 632 competition.
Super Street featured one of the event’s standout performances as rookie Carson Perry, driving his nitrous-fed ’00 Camaro, recorded a 4.531 at 157.37 to defeat Brooks McMath and post low E.T. of the round. Perry will face Austin Vincent in the semifinals after Vincent advanced past Frank Saffelle.
Connor McGee, who clinched the Super Street title in qualifying, fell to newcomer Billy Taylor in a holeshot decision. Taylor’s 4.89 at 153.58 edged out McGee’s quicker 4.818 at 153.13.
Sunday’s program begins with Edelbrock Bracket Bash presented by COMP Cams at 10:30 a.m., followed by Jr. Dragster and sportsman eliminations.
Professional eliminations will resume at 1:30 p.m., when the 2025 PDRA world champions will finally be decided.
