The last time Steve King raced a major Pro Modified event in Maryland, it worked out well for him. After winning Cecil County Dragway’s $50,000-to-win Pro Mod Invitational back in May, King drove his supercharged Corvette to the No. 1 qualifying position in Pro Boost at the PDRA North vs. South Shootout

Joining him atop the doorslammer-based series were Jim Halsey (Pro Nitrous) and Jeremy Huffman (Extreme Pro Stock). 

King, a two-decade veteran of Pro Modified, scored his first career No. 1 qualifier as his 3.64-second pass at 205.19 MPH in the second session was the quickest in the fourth of eight races on the 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series tour.

“I feel really good because every session we've been low E.T. except that one, and it probably would have been low E.T. if it had made the trip all the way,” said King, who credited tuner Jon Salemi, crew chief Jeff Miller, car owner Gene Pilot, the Pilot Racing team, and G-Force Race Cars. “Pro Boost is probably the closest category in drag racing right now, so it feels pretty good to be here. We feel like we have a hot rod. We know we have a good hot weather tune-up right now.”

Halsey, a four-time PDRA Pro Nitrous champion, extended his consecutive qualifying streak to four as the took the top spot in Friday qualifying with a 3.674 elapsed time at 208.81 in the final pair of the final qualifying session. 

“Like I said at the last race, I think we're just starting to get this new car figured out, to make the runs we made in the heat yesterday and today,” Halsey said. “This new car is good, and these guys are working hard. It’s good to make runs like we have, especially with the new car. We knew everything about the old car. We made three out of four runs yesterday and three out of three today. We feel pretty good.”

Jeremy Huffman, a former Pro 632 racer,  scored his first No. 1 qualifier in Extreme Pro Stock, with a 4.123, 175.50 pass. 

 
“We have worked hard and busted our butts,” Huffman said. “We've changed the four-link in this car five times in the last eight runs. We're really trying to work hard to figure out what it wants. It's so rewarding to put all this sweat equity in and have it pay off. We decided when we moved up from Pro 632 to Pro Stock that we don't want to play follow the leader. We're going to try some things that may not work, and it may work. It’s just so cool to see some things really start to come together for us.”

Other top qualifiers included past PDRA Pro 632 world champion Amber Franklin (Pro 632), Brunson Grothus (Pro Extreme Motorcycle), Ty Kasper (Pro Street),  and Dan Whetstine (Super Street).
 
After one qualifying session on Thursday evening and two more sessions on Friday, the No. 1 qualifiers in the sportsman classes are Tim Molnar (Elite Top Sportsman), Frank Falter IV (Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster), Dan Hill (Top Sportsman 48), and Tisha Wilson (Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster).  
 
Almost 70 Jr. Dragster racers rolled into Maryland to compete in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products. After two of three qualifying sessions, Prince George, Virginia’s Chloe Geryes is the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Pro Jr. Dragster with a perfect 7.900-second pass in her ’18 Mike Bos dragster, leading a field of 51 drivers. In Top Jr. Dragster, which qualifies based on reaction time, Cole Rudy, in his Middletown, Maryland-based ’22 Mike Bos dragster, cut a .004 reaction time to take the provisional No. 1 spot.