Blake Denton had unfinished business in PDRA Pro Street. He also had a race car with a history that made winning a championship about more than collecting another trophy.
Driving “Bonnie,” the nitrous-fed 1969 Camaro once campaigned by the late Lizzy Musi, Denton claimed his first PDRA Pro Street world championship at Virginia Motorsports Park. The title gave the 2023 Super Street champion his second career PDRA crown and delivered a championship to the Musi family with a car carrying their daughter’s legacy.
For Denton, there was some redemption involved.
A year earlier, he appeared headed toward the Pro Street championship after winning twice and reaching four consecutive final rounds to open his first full season in the class. But a late-season slide allowed Ethan Steding to take the championship, leaving Denton to spend the offseason thinking about the one that got away.
“I feel like I let the team down last year,” Denton said. “We didn’t get the championship and we had the vengeance this year to come back and do just that. We had a tough season. We won the first race and we went rounds but just never found another final until ProStars. I think that gave us a little confidence booster going into the rest of the weekend.”
This time, Denton didn’t need to dominate the season to finish on top. He needed to stay in the fight long enough to make the other championship contenders beat him, and they couldn’t.
With Jeff Pierce handling the tuning duties on the Pat Musi-powered Camaro, Denton opened the 2026 season with a semifinal finish before winning the East Coast Nationals at Darana Motorsports Park in Benson, N.C.
Another semifinal appearance at Maryland and two subsequent quarterfinal finishes kept him atop the standings entering the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Five other drivers still had a mathematical shot at the championship when the field arrived in Virginia. Denton had the points lead, but he wasn’t carrying enough of an advantage to treat the season finale as a formality.
The championship picture began clearing almost immediately.
Ron Green and Scott Kincaid were eliminated in the opening round, removing two potential threats. Richard Reagan and Joel Wensley Jr. followed them out in the second round, while Denton continued advancing.
By the time Denton reached the semifinals, the championship was his. Jerry Morgano, who qualified No. 1 and also advanced to the semifinals, had already fallen too far behind in the standings to catch him.
The championship was settled before Denton needed to win the race.
It was a different route to the title than the one he had appeared capable of taking in 2025. That season, early dominance wasn’t enough, while this year, consistency and avoiding the kind of late-season trouble that cost him the previous championship made the difference.
There was another reason this particular championship carried special meaning. Bonnie wasn’t just another Pro Street Camaro purchased, assembled and sent down the eighth-mile. It was the car Lizzy Musi continued racing in No Prep Kings competition after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Following Musi’s death, her parents, Pat and Liz Musi, entrusted Denton and the Tommy Franklin Motorsports operation with continuing to race the car in her memory.
Denton made his Pro Street debut late in 2024 before committing to a full season in 2025. What began as an opportunity to keep Bonnie racing ultimately put the car back in a championship winner’s circle.
“It’s been a dream come true,” Denton said. “To be able to drive this car is a true honor and I really can’t thank Pat and Liz enough for allowing me to do that and trusting me with it. I just hope I made all our fans proud.”
Denton’s move to Pro Street also required him to adjust to a considerably different race car.
He had already established himself in PDRA competition by winning the 2023 Super Street championship. He was defending that title in 2024 when the opportunity to drive Bonnie prompted his move into Pro Street.
The two championships came in cars with distinctly different personalities, and Denton wasn’t shy about describing the difference.
“It’s everyone’s dream to be a champion, but to be a multi-time champion, it’s truly an honor,” Denton said. “I will say they’re completely different cars. The Super Street car was all over the place. It’s sliding side to side, but this Pro Street car, it’s an animal. It’s a 4,000-horsepower race car and you’re on a 10.5-inch tire. It makes you focus and it takes the best out of you, and that’s what I like about it.”
Winning a championship in one class is difficult enough. Denton now belongs to a smaller group of PDRA racers who have managed to win titles in two professional categories.
His latest accomplishment also came with a considerable family connection.
Denton races under the Tommy Franklin Motorsports umbrella, where his father-in-law, three-time Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin, has built a championship-winning operation.
Earlier in the season, Denton and Franklin shared the winner’s circle at the East Coast Nationals. At the World Finals, Denton and his wife, Pro Nitrous racer Amber Denton, both won during the non-points-earning PDRA ProStars all-star event.
The husband-and-wife sweep came Thursday night, giving the family something to celebrate before Denton finished the job in the championship standings.
There is no shortage of racing experience around the Franklin operation.
Denton’s sister-in-law, Ashley Franklin, finished 10th in Top Dragster points and has announced plans to move into Pro 632.
For Denton, the family operation isn’t a side benefit of racing. It’s how the program works, from the people preparing the cars to those climbing into them.
“That’s why we do it. We do it as a family. All of our crew’s family. Thanks to the whole TFM crew, Tommy and Judy, my wife Amber, Jeff Pierce, Pat and Liz, and all the companies that back us,” Denton said, noting partners including Pat Musi Racing Engines, Red Line Oil, TBM Brakes, WELD Racing and Mickey Thompson Tires.
Behind Denton in the final Pro Street standings, Reagan finished second with his screw-blown 1991 Mustang. The current class elapsed-time record holder won at his home track, Bristol Dragway, and reached two additional semifinals.
Wensley finished third in his ProCharged 2014 Camaro after earning his first career victory at the North vs. South Shootout in Maryland.
Neither could match Denton’s season-long production when the championship was decided.
The PDRA will formally recognize Denton and its other 2026 world champions Dec. 11 during the Championship Awards Banquet held in conjunction with the Performance Racing Industry Show in Indianapolis.
By then, Denton will have had nearly three months to reflect on a season that ended considerably better than the one before it.
He came into 2026 determined not to let another championship slip away. He left Virginia Motorsports Park with his second PDRA title, a first in Pro Street and the satisfaction of delivering a championship in a car whose significance extends well beyond the scoreboard.
And while the title will go into the record books under his name, Denton made it clear the people who helped get him there would share in the accomplishment.
“To be able to win with my wife at the last event this season was truly something special for us and we’ll definitely cherish it for a long time.”
