It only took Tim Paap one run to know that the Pro Nitrous racer had made the right decision to attend the PDRA North vs. South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway. He recorded a 3.653-second pass at 205.41 mph on Thursday’s first qualifying session, and it held up through Friday’s lone session, as the rain hit the second day as well.
Joining Paap atop the PDRA leaderboard were Ty Tutterow (Pro Boost), and Jerry Morgano (Pro Street).
The No. 1 qualifier marked the first for Paap, who had considered not attending the event to take care of the homefront in Charleston, Ill., when storms had hit his hometown.
“To go from not qualifying at the first race to qualifying No. 1 here is huge,” said Paap, who qualified No. 2 at the second race on tour. “It’s a testament to Jeffrey Barker and our whole team. We weren’t sure if we were going to make it to this race. We got hit by a tornado at home, so it was just all kind of spur of the moment. I actually called it off last Friday, then Tuesday, I’m like, ‘Hey, let’s go. Let’s just get rid of the chaos and we’ll go to a different kind of chaos.’ We’re just looking to be in the winner’s circle at the end of the day tomorrow.”
Two-time Pro 632 world champion Amber Denton ended up a season-best No. 2 on the qualifying sheet thanks to a 3.662 at 206.67 in her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro. Just one thousandth behind Denton, reigning world champion Marcus Butner qualified third with a 3.663 at 207.62 in his Musi-powered “Heartbreaker” ’69 Camaro.
Defending series champion Tutterow drove to the top of the Pro Boost qualifying list after two sessions. Race officials attempted a third until Mother Nature intervened.
Tutterow’s Thursday 3.593 at 209.20 held the top spot through Friday’s lone qualifying session as well.
“It feels great to come out here and be back in the No. 1 spot going into race day,” Tutterow said. “We have had a fast, consistent race car since we dropped the gate and we just hope to continue that throughout race day.”
Jason Harris, who has a pair of world championships in both Pro Boost and Pro Nitrous, took the No. 2 spot in his Harts Charger-boosted “Party Time” ’69 Camaro with a 3.622 at 210.67. Travis “The Carolina Kid” Harvey’s hot streak continued as he qualified third with a 3.624 at 209.30 in the Vaughn Myles and Eric Holland-owned Redd Topp Motorsports ’19 Camaro.
Morgano made his best run on Thursday as well charging to the provisional No. 1 spot and never looked back. He ran a 3.958 at 201.94 in his turbocharged Mustang to follow up another sub-4-second pass he recorded earlier in the day during testing. This marks his second No. 1 qualifier of the season
“We just freshened the motor up at DiSomma’s between the last two races, so the 3.98 pass that we ran off the trailer was the first hit on the motor – I was really happy with that,” Morgano said. “We struggled the rest of testing and spun both times. The track was really tricky, and then obviously we got to run the last one at nighttime, so that helps everybody. We were lucky enough to put it together, went a 3.95. I didn’t think it would actually hold for No. 1, but I was glad that it did. We went a 4.01 in the last session, which was good, but I think we left a little on the table. Consistency will be the name of the game on race day.”
Scott Kincaid threw down a 3.966 at 195.19 in his screw-blown ’69 Camaro to qualify No. 2. Golden, Colorado’s Mikey Sasina made his first appearance of the season and ran a 3.979 at 197.10 to qualify third.
The PDRA’s other professional leaders included Jeff Pittman (Pro 632), and Connor McGee (Super Street).
After three qualifying sessions, No. 1 qualifier awards in the sportsman categories went to Bryan LaFlam in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Gray Kimble in Greenbrier Excavating & Paving Elite Top Dragster presented by American Race Cars, Corey Evans in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, and Chad Traylor in ATI Performance Products Top Dragster presented by TBM Brakes.
