Fredy Scriba picked an opportune time to win his first one.

The veteran Pro Modified racer, who competes in the PDRA’s Pro Nitrous division, captured his first career win in the series, stopping defending series champion Tommy Franklin in the PDRA ProStars final round as a part of the Virginia Motorsports Park’s PBR Night of Fire.

Just getting the event in was a battle in itself, as heavy rains on Friday forced the PDRA crew to rebuild the soaked racing surface. 

Jason Harris (Pro Boost) and Amber Franklin (Pro 632) also won. The Pro Stock division was not included in the event due to a lack of participation before the race. 

Scriba’s victory earned him a $15,000 check, a custom ProStars trophy, and bragging rights. He didn’t gain any championship points, even though the event marked the halfway point in the 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season. 

Scriba has been a win waiting to happen this season, as he has reached the final round in two of the four Pro Nitrous events this season. His road to the final round included wins over Dane Wood and past Elite Top Sportsman world champion Buddy Perkinson to reach the final round.

“We’ve been in a lot of finals, so it’s pretty important for us to finally get one,” said Scriba, who thanked his crew: Steve, Doug, Bailey, his parents, wife Shannon, and partners like Pat Musi, Robert Hayes, Marty Chance, Todd Tutterow with Ty-Drive, Adam Lambert with PRS Shocks, and Liberty’s Gears. “Whether it was for money or points, it didn’t really matter, but it’s really important just to get a win, more or less. We’ve been to a lot of finals, and it feels really good to finally win one.”

In the final round, Scriba used a holeshot advantage and a 3.713-second pass at 209.01 MPH to win the final round over three-time reigning world champion Tommy Franklin, who ran a quicker 3.694 at 205.54. 

 
For his part, Franklin reached the final round with wins over Derrick Ford and Marcus Butner. 
 
Harris, the reigning Pro Boost series champion, broke through to claim his first win of the season and did so with the quickest run of the day when he singled as Johnny Camp had to shut off after the burnout after developing a leak. He drove his ’69 Camaro to a 3.635 at 205.13 to put an exclamation mark on the $15,000 win. 
 
“It’s a big deal because this is kind of like an all-star race – the best of last year and the best of this year,” said Harris, who thanked his team and supporters like Southern Diamond Company, Pro Line, and Hoosier Racing Tire. “I haven’t really done much this year, but last year got me going. It’s another notch on your belt. It’s another big win. It’s a special trophy. It’s a special deal. We had crappy weather, obviously, but to win against the best of qualifying and winning from last year to this year, I think, speaks for itself. We got our car back. I didn’t want to win like that with John breaking in the finals, but a W is a W, and I’ll take it any day.”
 
When an unfavorable weather forecast prevented all eight qualified Pro 632 drivers from attending ProStars, race officials declared that the quickest losing driver in the first round would be reinstated to provide fans with two complete semifinal matchups. That unique twist in the fan-focused event played out well for 2022 world champion Amber Franklin, who bounced back from her first-round holeshot loss to defending world champion Jeff Melnick by beating Melnick on a holeshot in the final round. Franklin posted a 4.201 at 168.89 in her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro to hold off Melnick’s 4.195 at 170.08, which set the low E.T. of the day. 
 
“It feels really good to bounce back [from the first-round loss],” said Franklin, who dedicated the win to the late Lizzy Musi. “Losing on a holeshot never feels good, no matter what round it is, but in this race, to be able to be put back in, it’s definitely not taken for granted, and I knew I wanted to go after it even harder. That last win light felt really good.”

 
Franklin set low E.T. of the opening round with her 4.211 at 168.66, but Melnick’s quicker .042 reaction time and 4.223 at 168.81 were enough to hold her off. But as the quickest losing driver of the first round, Franklin got the chance to come back for the semifinals. She used a 4.206 at 168.85 to finish ahead of Jason Ventura and his 4.231 by just .002 seconds. 
 
After defeating Franklin in the first round, Melnick laid down a 4.205 at 169.91 in the semifinals to beat Jayme Thompson’s 4.23 and earn lane choice for the final by just a thousandth of a second. 
 
The PBR Night of Fire show also included passes by Scott Palmer and Alex Laughlin in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Top Fuel dragsters, the Larsen Motorsports Jet Dragsters, Rick Ream’s wheelstander, fireworks, and a concert by country music recording artist Tyler Farr. 
 
Other professional category winners included Ron Green (Pro Street) and Dan Whetstine (Super Street). 
 
Winners in the sportsman classes were Tim Molnar (Elite Top Sportsman), Frank Falter IV (Elite Top Dragster), Ed Foley (Top Sportsman), and Will Creasman (Top Dragster). 
 
Victories in the Jr. Dragster categories went to Ryan Harris (Pro Jr. Dragster) and  Victoria Beaner (Top Jr. Dragster).  
 
The Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series will return to championship points-earning competition at the Northern Nationals presented by Talbert Manufacturing, Aug. 1-3, at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.