They likely didn’t ask for it, but they got it. The Franklin and Steding families both secured double-up victories. 

On Father’s Day weekend, Franklin and his daughter scored a double-up victory, with him taking the Pro Nitrous win and Amber scoring the title in Pro 632 during the North vs. South Shootout in Budds Creek, Md. Not to be outdone, Kurt Steding and son Ethan taking home the Pro Boost and Pro Street titles respectively. 

Elijah Morton (Extreme Pro Stock) rounded out the top winners at Maryland International Raceway.

The Pro Nitrous division was chock full of upsets and unpredictable matches, but in the end it was Franklin taking the bye run when opponent Billy Albert couldn’t make the call. He still ran it out the backdoor with a  3.645-second pass at 207.66 MPH. 

“First and foremost, I dedicate this to my dad,” said Franklin, referencing his late father, Roger, who passed in 2022. “He’s the one that got me into this [drag racing] mess. I don’t regret one bit of it and I’m passing it right down to my daughters. Both of them are out here racing really good and I’m just proud of them. 
 
“My team is working hard. It’s just a great program. Our car’s great. Jeff Pierce is awesome on the keyboard. It’s my whole crew, every single one of them. I don’t want to miss one of them, but they’re all awesome. They worked a lot on Friday. We changed some stuff around, trying to make strides, and that’s what we did. This is what we needed.”

​

Amber Franklin, a past PDRA world champion, beat Walter Lannigan Jr. in the Pro 632 final to secure the family’s third double-up. She left first by .002 seconds in her third final round of the season and ran 4.128 seconds at 171.69 to beat Walter Lannigan Jr. and his 4.141 at 171.01. Her performance stood for low E.T. of the event. 
 
“We say it all the time, but doing this as a family is what we do,” Franklin said. “It’s what we go for, but it’s a lot harder than it looks to park more than one car in the winner’s circle. It means a lot, especially on Father’s Day, to do this with my dad. Thank you to Red Line Oil, Pat Musi Racing Engines, Hoosier Racing Tire, Jerry Bickel Race Cars, Menscer Motorsports, Jeff Pierce, my family, Blake [Denton, fiancé], and all of our crew. There’s not enough thank-yous to the people that put into this program.”

Pro Boost standout Kurt Steding won second North vs. South Shootout title in his third consecutive final round at Maryland by stopping Melanie Salemi in the final round. Steding left first on the money run over No. 2 qualifier Melanie Salemi and charged to a 3.601 at 209.72, while Salemi lifted to a 4.419 at 127.87. 
 
“I always do pretty good here in Maryland and Ethan did in his Jr. Dragster too,” said Steding, who thanked Tutterow, wife Wendi, and his P2 Racing team. “I just had a feeling we were both going to do it. This is the best Father’s Day gift you can have. I’m super proud of Ethan. He’s out of school now and he’s working hard on the job sites. He’s a hard-working kid, he saves his money, and he’s a hell of a driver. I’m very proud of him.”

Seventeen year old Ethan Steding continues to be a quick study in the Pro Street division. He picked up his second consecutive win by beating Dan Norris in the final round. It was just the fourth race in the class for Steding after moving up from Pro Jr. Dragster, where he was the 2021 world champion. 
 
“I definitely wouldn’t think that in my first season in this car I would be here,” Ethan said. “Definitely not the way we wanted to win the last two races, but it’s racing. For me to be out here winning with my dad, racing this weekend on Father’s Day, means a lot. We take so much time off from the business back at home to be able to come out and enjoy this time with our friends and family, so this is special.”

Elijah Morton blazed his way to the Extreme Pro Stock title by establishing the quickest run of every round, finishing up with a win over No. 1 qualifier Jeremy Huffman. Huffman broke on the burnout but that didn't stop Morton from singling to a 4.06 at 177.77, to put an exclamation mark on the win. 
 
“We’ve got a lot of runner-ups, but just hadn’t quite got the win,” Morton said. “But you’ve got to be in the finals to get the win and today was our day. We done what it took to get it done. We kept picking up every race and we were there, so that’s what mattered. This car is really working good. We’ve got some good people working with us – [Mark] Menscer and AED Competition and Allen’s Competition with a Richard Boling race car. My brother [Glen] is here with me, of course. He always is. We just had a good weekend. We drove pretty good and the car was doing good. Happy Father’s Day to us.”
 
Brayden Davis (Pro Extreme Motorcycle), and Dan Whetstine (Super Street) rounded out the professional winners.  
 
Event winners in the sportsman classes were Randy Perkinson (Elite Top Sportsman), Steve Furr (Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster),  Scott Wasko (Top Sportsman 48), Dickie Smith (Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster 48), Mike Reavis (Bracket Bash).
 
Second-generation PDRA racers in the Jr. Dragster categories also earned Father’s Day weekend wins: Ryan Harris and James Beattie III. 

The next points-earning PDRA national event is the Northern Nationals presented by Talbert Manufacturing, August 1-3, at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan. Before that, select PDRA stars will participate in the fourth annual Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars race on July 13 during Virginia Motorsports Park’s Night of Fire.