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FINAL NOTEBOOK - BRISTOL RACEDAY DELIVERS THE THRILLS

 

JUST LIKE POPS - Reigning Pro Boost world champion Jason Harris went into the Thunder Valley Throwdown with a win at the PDRA ProStars all-star event and two runner-up finishes. Still, he needed a points-earning win to get back into the championship conversation. He accomplished that goal by racing to another final round, meeting the most recent event winner, Johnny Camp. With tuner Brandon Stroud calling the shots on both cars, Harris left the line first by just four thousandths and charged to a 3.643 at 205.94 to stay ahead of Camp and his 3.663 at 203.68. 

 

“This one feels good. It’s historic. It’s Bristol,” Harris said. “I came here as a kid, 10 or 12 years old, and my dad won two national events here. I came here in ’12 in Pro Nitrous when we ran in another series, but this means a lot. We’ve tried really hard, We’veand we've been in three finals in the last three races. We’ve had some unlucky luck. We had some bad luck this weekend. Johnny had some bad luck, but right now, I’m driving good and the car’s running good. What else can you ask for? A win at Bristol is big.”

 

Harris started eliminations with a rematch of his Friday night grudge race with Steve King, and the two-time Pro Nitrous world champion won again with his 3.689 at 204.60 to King’s 4.832. A consistent 3.682 at 204.88 in the second round put Harris ahead of Marcus “The Axeman” Birt and his 4.682. He nearly matched low ET of the event with his 3.639 at 205.38 in the semifinals, but it was quick enough to take out Bubba Greene and his 3.689 in his Scotty Cannon-tuned ’19 Corvette. 

 

Behind the wheel of his ’69 Camaro, Camp drove around a slowing Derek Ward in the first round with a 3.709 at 200.44 to Ward’s 5.865. He left first in the second round over Scott Lang, improving to a 3.689 at 202.88 to beat Lang’s 3.725. The Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based driver then picked up a holeshot win over fellow Keystone State racer and points leader Kurt Steding in a 3.674-to-3.643 semifinal match.

 

THE FAMILY BUSINESS - The latest chapter of the Tommy Franklin vs. Jim Halsey Pro Nitrous championship battle saw Franklin, the three-time defending world champion, win a final-round over Halsey. Franklin used a quicker reaction time and a 3.694 at 205.29 in his ’69 Camaro to get one round closer to Halsey, the points leader going into the weekend. Halsey recorded a 3.696 at 203.40 in the runner-up effort. It was Franklin’s second win in three final-round appearances this season, and like the last win, he got to share the winner’s circle with his daughter, Pro 632 winner Amber Franklin. 

 

“Everybody knows that’s the best thing you can ever do – come out here and race with your kids and win with your kids,” Franklin said. “[Amber] is going to be tough. She’s a heck of a driver. We made some changes on her car for this race. She adapted really well. It doesn’t surprise me. She just does an awesome job, but hat’s off to our crew. We worked hard a lot this weekend. We were a little bit behind it seemed like every pass and we made some hefty changes there in the final and it showed up and the car showed out.”

 

The Franklins were joined all weekend by engine builder Pat Musi and his wife, Liz, who lost their daughter, former Pro Nitrous standout Lizzy Musi, to breast cancer earlier this year. 

 

“I dedicate this to Pat and Liz and losing Lizzy,” Franklin said. “They’re great friends – might as well be family – and to work with them, it just means a lot.”

 

Franklin qualified third and kicked off race day with a win over Pro Modified icon Tommy Mauney, posting a 3.772 at 202.03 to Mauney’s 3.867. Second-round opponent Cam Clark went red, while Franklin charged to a 3.758 at 202.55 to move on to the semis. Franklin and semifinal opponent Fredy Scriba were both quick off the starting line, but Franklin pulled ahead with a 3.744 at 203.16, while Scriba lifted to a 4.956. 

 

Halsey’s run to the final round in his Brandon Switzer-tuned, Fulton-powered ’68 Camaro started with a 3.741 at 204.60 in the first round on a bye run. He drove around a holeshot advantage by Buddy Perkinson in the second round, running a 3.722 at 204.17 to Perkinson’s 3.807. The four-time world champion posted the first 3.60-second pass of the day, a 3.693 at 203.58, to get around Chris Rini and his 3.744 in the semifinals. 

 

BACK TO BUSINESS - Past Pro 632 winner Daryl Stewart earned his first Extreme Pro Stock win at Norwalk earlier this year, then sat out the following two events. He returned to the PDRA tour in Bristol and picked up where he left off, adding a second consecutive win behind the wheel of his Clayton Murphy-tuned, Kaase-powered Chassis Engineering ’12 Camaro. He moved first in the final round against first-time finalist Jordan Ensslin, then set low ET of the event, a 4.125 at 174.96, to deny Ensslin and his 4.189 at 169.64. 

 

“We came here kind of thinking we were lost a little bit,” Stewart admitted. “We tried to test on Thursday, but we were a mess on Thursday, kind of a mess yesterday, and we were kind of a mess all the way to this point, but we kept digging and digging. Pat [Norcia] from Ram Clutches was on the phone helping us all the way. Joe [Oplawski] from Hyperaktive was right there plugging in. Then Kaase was giving us power. We put our best lick down in the final, which is the way you want to win, so that was the best of all. Once again, all the stars lined up. My son was the only one who wasn’t at Norwalk for our first win, so he came to this one, and deep down, I wanted to win for him.”

 

Stewart qualified No. 5 before pairing up with Texan Rick Cowger in the first round. His 4.20 at 173.45 was the second-quickest pass of the round, while Cowger slowed to an 8.758. In the heat of the second round, he posted a 4.282 at 155.85 to defeat Jeremy Huffman and his 4.368. On a semifinal bye run, the Floridian coasted to a 5.15 at 99.15. 

 

Ensslin qualified seventh in his Allen-powered Dark Horse Coffee Company/Golden Gate Casino Las Vegas ’08 Mustang and survived a first-round pedalfest against Mountain Motor Pro Stock veteran Elijah Morton, with Ensslin’s 4.943 at 157.45 beating Morton’s 5.102. He left on No. 1 qualifier Tommy Lee in the second round and drove to a 4.232 at 171.45, while Lee coasted to a 9.401. The young gun turned heads in the semis when he used a holeshot advantage and a 4.178 at 172.21 to knock down points leader and 2021 world champion Chris Powers and his 4.139 at 174.23. 

 

BATTLE OF THE CHAMPS GOES TO AMBER - Pro 632 points leader Amber Franklin came out victorious in a final-round battle between the two most recent world champions in the class. Reigning world champion Jeff Melnick qualified No. 1 and ran well in the first two rounds, but Franklin stepped up with the quickest pass of the event to earn her second win of the season in four final-round appearances. She drove her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro to a 4.192 at 170.49 to hold off Melnick and his 4.238 at 169.06. 

 

“These wins are so hard to earn,” said Franklin, who dedicated the win to the late Lizzy Musi. “The competition is second to none out here, so getting them means everything, and to do it as a family, it’s what we love to do. We dedicated our last wins at ProStars to Lizzy, but this is extra special and definitely for her. To have Pat and Liz Musi here means a lot. We all miss Lizzy so much. All the glory goes to God, and we had Lizzy riding with us this weekend.”

 

Franklin qualified fourth, then used a first-round single to set the low ET of the round, a 4.245 at 169.64. She was second-quickest of the second round, where she posted a 4.231 at 169.81 to hold off season opener winner Andy House and his 4.298. She picked up lane choice for the final when she ran a 4.207 at 170.58 to defeat Walter Lannigan Jr. and his 4.244 in the semis. 

 

Melnick in Alan O’Brien’s Barry Allen-powered Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro was the second-quickest driver in the first round with his 4.251 at 168.70 to move past Hank Hughes, who coasted across the finish line. Melnick and Jason Ventura left the line together in the second round, but Melnick pulled ahead to win with a 4.224 at 169.19 over Ventura’s 4.389. The Ohio-based driver, who also competed in Top Sportsman 48, took the tree and backed off the starting line on a semifinal bye run. 

 

 

 

 

THE CLASH OF THE TITANS - Two of the strongest riders in Pro Extreme Motorcycle met up in the final round for the second time in four races. No. 1 qualifier Brunson Grothus continued his class-leading performance with a win over two-time and reigning world champion Chris Garner-Jones. Grothus left first by just a thousandth of a second, then he rode Robert Varela’s turbocharged Dallas Flat Glass Distributors Hayabusa to a weekend-best 4.02 at 185.54 to finish ahead of Garner-Jones and his 4.069 at 172.96. It was Grothus’ second win of the season.

 

“We definitely sealed the deal,” said Grothus, who thanked Varela and the Grothus Dragbikes team and support system, including his father, his brother, his wife, Dan Wagner, and Tom Klemme. “The bike was absolutely perfect and I’m just lucky I got to ride it. You just needed things to fall into place today. I was here 13 years ago and doubled up. Came back 13 years later and won. I don’t know what it is about this place, but it’s pretty special to me.”

 

As the No. 1 qualifier, Grothus earned a first-round bye run, which he used to take the tree and back off the starting line. In the semifinals, he left first and ran a 4.033 at 184.22 to take out young gun Brayden Davis, who posted a strong 4.066. 

 

Garner-Jones qualified No. 2 on his nitrous-fed T.T. Jones Racing Hayabusa and ran a 4.12 at 174.57 to get past Tyron Lemons and his 4.569. Semifinal opponent Ashley Owens matched his .048 reaction time, but Garner-Jones stepped up to a 4.068 at 174.01 to beat Owens’ 4.117. 

 

A THIRD FOR STEDING - Pro Street points leader Ethan Steding continued his standout rookie season with his third win of the year. Facing fellow rookie Dan Norris in the final round for the second time, Steding fired off the quickest pass of the event to notch his third win in decisive fashion. He left on Norris and posted a 3.956 at 191.84 in his Todd and Ty Tutterow-tuned, roots-blown P2 Contracting “College Fund” ’24 Camaro, while Norris had problems and had to lift to an 8.03 at 50.77. The victory extended Steding’s points lead as he pursues a Pro Street world championship to join his 2021 Pro Jr. Dragster title.

 

“We struggled last race – we didn’t even get to make the run in the first round due to a transmission problem,” said the 17-year-old driver. “I’m getting back in my rhythm. I really have to thank my mom, my dad, the whole Wyo Motorsports team – Brad, Ty, KB, Todd, Redfield, Dennis. I can’t think those guys enough. We have a bad team and a bad hot rod and we’re just pulling away. We’re back in the rhythm and hoping for a championship this year. I just have to keep my head up and Todd and Ty will do their job as tuners and I’ve got to do my job as a driver. I have 100% faith in those guys that they can get it done.”

 

In the first round, Steding ran a 4.124 at 179.44 to defeat Tommy Youmans, who returned to the seat of his turbocharged ’70 GTO but struggled in the opening round. Steding fired off a 4.066 at 189.07 in the second round to get the win over Chris Tuten and his 4.154. Another improved 4.041 at 190.27 over Chris Cadotto’s 5.515 sent Steding to the final round. 

 

Norris in his roots-blown ’22 Mustang set the pace in the challenging opening round with his 4.099 at 185.28, getting the win over Ron Green, who slowed to a 6.267. In a major points-earning move, he took out recent first-time winner Brian Weddle and his 4.487 with a 4.074 at 180.72 in the second round. The Michigan-based driver then held off home track hero Scott Kincaid in the semifinals, running a 4.07 at 191.19 next to Kincaid’s 4.116. 

 

MCGEE GETS HIS SECOND OF THE SEASON - Second-generation small-tire racer Connor McGee has made his presence known in Super Street this season, and that continued at Bristol, where McGee qualified No. 1 for the first time and went on to earn his second win of the year. McGee drove his nitrous-assisted, Fulton-powered ’90 Mustang to low ET of the event, a 4.629 at 154.40, in the final round to knock out points leader Dan Whetstine, who ran a 4.743 at 157.89. 

 

“This is a testament to how hard my dad and I work,” said McGee, who thanked Driven Racing, Fulton Racing Engines, and the family business, Brian’s Heating & Cooling. “We don’t have the biggest team. It’s just me, my dad, and my brother and we run the Super Street car and the Jr. Dragster. It can be a lot of work and late hours in the shop. It just feels good to keep seeing it pay off. That first win wasn’t a fluke. I’m here.”

 

McGee’s race day started with a tense moment when opponent Brad McBride rode a wheelstand into the centerline and crashed his one-of-a-kind ’63 Volkswagen. McBride walked away uninjured. As the No. 1 qualifier, the 19-year-old ended up with a second-round bye run, where he lifted to a 6.091 at 82.37. He was back in top form for the semifinals against last year’s championship runner-up, Derek Mota. McGee left first and fired off a 4.641 at 159.83 ahead of Mota’s 4.936. 

 

Whetstine in his ProCharged “Red Velvet” ’90 Mustang qualified third and made it through a tricky first round with a 4.902 at 154.67 over David Knight and his 5.484. He was the second-quickest in the next round against Gage Llamas, winning with a 4.746 at 155.10 to Llamas’ 4.82. He joined McGee in the 4.60s in the semifinals with a 4.67 at 157.36 to take out No. 2 qualifier Tommy Thrasher’s 6.043. 

 

THE SPORTSMAN WINNERS - Two veterans of fast Top Sportsman racing, Dewayne Silance and John Benoit, met up in the Elite Top Sportsman final round. The race was over on the starting line, though, as Benoit left too soon in his Buck-powered ’17 Camaro, while Silance posted a 3.887 on a 3.89 dial-in in his Fulton-powered ’68 Camaro to get the win in his second final round of the season. 

 

Points leader Mark Reese extended his lead with a second consecutive win in Top Sportsman 48. Driving his ’08 Mustang, Reese left first and ran a 4.311 on a 4.29 dial-in to defeat Dwayne Gallogly and his 4.197 on a 4.18 dial-in in the final round. 

 

Longtime Elite Top Dragster standouts Michael White and past world champion Matt Cooke weren’t the quickest in qualifying, but they used consistency to reach the final round. There, White in his ProCharged ’15 Maddox dragster cut a .006 light and ran a 3.827 on a 3.81 dial-in, while Cooke broke out with a 3.842 on a 3.85 dial-in, handing the win to White. 

 

Eighty Top Dragster competitors showed up to Bristol, and after the 16 quickest drivers split off into the Elite field, the next 48 quickest drivers made up the Top Dragster 48 field. New Hampshire’s Nick Meloni and Virginia’s TJ Harper were the two drivers left standing in the final round. The two had nearly identical reaction times, then Meloni turned on the win light with his 4.321 on a 4.32 dial-in in his TT Motorsports ’16 Dan Page dragster. Harper wasn’t far off with his 4.357 on a 4.34 dial-in.  

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - DOORSLAMMER RACING RETURNS TO THE VALLEY!

THE TEST OF TIME - Ironically, the last time Tommy Franklin raced at Bristol Dragway, a decade ago, led to his being in Bristol for the PDRA's Thunder Valley Throwdown. 

Franklin was part of the scarce car count that participated in the failed Xtreme Drag Racing League, a spinoff of the American Drag Racing League, a series that also fell on rocky ground. 

Franklin's passion for keeping major league doorslammer alive led to a group, including him, that formed the PDRA a decade ago. The successful businessman ended up becoming the last man standing in the group. In the end, PDRA has outlasted them all. 

"I was out here as a racer and wanted a good place to race, and really that's the only reason that PDRA was formed was because we wanted to keep it as a good place to race," Franklin said. "I'm competitive from a racer standpoint, but I'm also competitive from a series standpoint that when we're going to put something on, I want to put something on that's good. And I feel like our team all has that same mindset as we want to be the best of the best every time we roll out there."

Over the decades, there's a longtime adage in the media that the best way to kill a series is to let a racer run it. But Franklin proves the skeptics wrong by using a straightforward philosophy. 

"I have a good team," Franklin said. "I'll be honest. The hard part for me is I'm still a racer, and I want to be a racer, so I'll do everything we can do to keep the series going and going strong, but I stay out of the business part of it when we're at the racetrack. My team comes out here; they do it. They try everything to keep it away from me. I don't even know what goes on at the front gate, back gate, anything. And that's good because ultimately, I think if you take the fun away from it as a racer, that doesn't help the situation at all."

The PDRA celebrates a decade of bringing fast doorslammer racing to the drag racing community, and this is a source of pride for the successful businessman out of Fredericksburg, Va. 

"I don't think there was even a thought back in the days of that XDRL event that it could turn into what it is today," Franklin said. "You know the PDRA is a striving, strong series. It is some of the baddest race cars. That's the most proud thing for me, which is just to watch the level of race cars that can come out here on one property and compete at this level."

ONCE A KING, ALWAYS A KING - Todd Tutterow filled the dual role of No. 1 driver and tuner, scoring his second consecutive Pro Boost No. 1 qualifier award. He fired off a 3.63 at 207.69 to put Justin Smith’s screw-blown ’69 Camaro in the No. 1 spot for the third time this season. Tutterow’s first-round opponent is Melanie Salemi, who’s No. 2 behind Steding and ahead of fourth-place Tutterow in the Pro Boost championship points standings. 
 
“We’ve done good up here before,” Tutterow said. “We’ve come up here about every five years and always run good, whether it’s NHRA or outlaw stuff too. My stuff normally runs really good in high altitude. I’m very excited about this weekend. Both me and Kurt have been down the racetrack every time we've been to the starting line, other than mine on one run and I was trying to reset the record out there. We’ve got good, good plans for this weekend. I was No. 1 qualifier at the last race and didn't get to go down [the track]. But we’ve got Melanie first round, and it’d be nice to get it done.”
 
Johnny Camp qualified No. 2 with a 3.642 at 204.70 while Kurt Steding ended up third with his 3.646 at 206.51. 

 

 

HE'S A LEGEND OF THUNDER VALLEY - Rickie Smith stood on the starting line at Bristol Dragway and looked up at the names above the hospitality suites when he concluded, "I'm the only one out of all of those names still out there racing." Well, there is one who is out on medical leave... John Force. 

Indeed, of the 22 names considered the Legends of Thunder Valley, Smith is the only one in competition. This weekend, he's racing in the PDRA's Thunder Valley Throwdown. Smith is in the Pro Nitrous field heading into Saturday's final eliminations. 

Save for the 2010 Pro Modified accident, which resulted in a helicopter flight to a local hospital for a broken leg, the doorslammer icon from King, NC, has been great sailing.

"I have a lot of good memories here, going back to the Super Modified days with the old Maverick. I won a lot of races here," Smith said. Being good when it counted is what got my name up there.

Smith won Super Modified, Mountain Motor Pro Stock and Pro Modified races since he first started racing here in 1974. He's even made laps in a 500-inch NHRA Pro Stock and even a Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Yes, the man who answers to the nickname Trickie once drove an alcohol flopper, coming within a tenth of the team's winning lap the day before. It was the first time he'd piloted a Funny Car in his life. 

"That was 30 years ago, I guess, or more," Smith recalled. "You had that feeling. Did I want to go fuel racing or not? And everybody said, 'Oh, you get one of them cars or claustrophobia and you shut that body down." 

"I wanted to see what it felt like so they give me a chance. They let me make a run. I give them $1,500 to make a run and we made a full pass, full damn run here. I think I run within a tenth or less of what they wanted to race with us so they didn't calm it down. It's just like these Pro Mod cars with these big tires. You calm it down too much, it's going to shake, so you got to let it go and if it's going straight and it made a pretty nice run. I was pretty happy with it."

Smith has pretty much done it all since, even going as far as to make a run in Scott Palmer's Top Fuel dragster last year. He aced that challenge as well. 

But, Bristol, it wasn't always an easy place to race but it was indeed a fun one. 

"We run up here to IHRA days and crap, we'd be out here running at 2AM. You know that. It'd be foggy as hell," Smith said. "You couldn't even see the scoreboard and they'd be running something down the track. But that stuff, I'm glad I'd done it when I was younger because it's true. The older you get, the hard it is to see at night so I'm better off. I'm better on a Christmas tree at night, but it is hard to kind of see where you're at on the racetrack at night. I love the place."

And with his name high above the track with the other legends, Bristol loved him too. 

 

 

ONE OF THOSE MUSI STORIES - Nitrous engine guru Pat Musi isn't a legend in Thunder Valley like his friend Rickie Smith, but some of the stories he tells suggest otherwise. Some are common knowledge and others will go to the grave, as some say they should.

Musi was at the PDRA event on Friday servicing his multitude of customers, but couldn't help recalling the memories of days gone by when he raced int te IHRA's Mountain Motor Pro Stock division, where he was a pioneer in the unlimited displacement version of the factory hot rod division. 

"A lot of the guys are either gone or no longer alive," Musi said. "There is Rickie... and he's just going to go on forever. I even raced Pro Stock before Rickie was doing it."

Musi raced Mountain Motors back in the day when a 512-incher was considered a behemoth. 

Smith's fondest memory of the track carved out of the mountains of eastern Tennessee came in 1977, the first season of the big engines. Paired against a lesser-known John Brumley, Musi won one of the most sordid final rounds ever at the IHRA Sundrop Spring Nationals. 

"I'm running John Brumley. He had beat Ronnie Sox," Musi explained. "And he shot the head gaskets out from the motor. Sox wanted him to go by the scales. And John said, 'No, I ain't doing that. I'm going to get my runner-up deal." 

"So John comes over, he goes, 'Look, I'm broke. I ain't going nowhere." 

"I looked, went over, look; he had the head gaskets laying everywhere. The Victor head gasket just shot them out of the motor. So he was dead in the water. He goes, 'I'm gonna stage. Don't do nothing stupid. Just make a run." 

In a scene reminiscent of Barney Fife's one bullet or Jeff Taylor's losing a fixed drag race, Musi nearly fell into the land of embarrassment. 

"Something happened on the racetrack after our burnout, did a dry hop. When we did dry hops back in the day, we'd shut the fuel pump off so the floats didn't flood over. So a lot of guys don't know we did that. So I reached up and shut the pump off. I'm backing up. Then, my typical deal, I'd roll up. 

"Well, they shut us off, shut the motors off. So do my whole routine up there. So I fire up. The fuel pump's off. I don't think about it. Roll up. John stages. I stage."

The light flashed green, and Brumley threw in the towel true to his word. But it wasn't long before he was grabbing for the towel. 

"I let the clutch go. It's making a run. 50-feet, bam, shuts off," Musi recalled. "I immediately knew what I did. I look up. The fuel pump's off. I reached up and flipped it on. Well, John sees, he thinks I'm dead in the water. He's trying to idle down. This thing's banging, missing. He gets about to my door; I restart and make the run. I think I went about 14 seconds or something in the final. I won the race."

After the race, Musi pointed out that Sox took his complaint to Brumley, to which Musi offered to run another final against Sox.

"If you think you can beat me today, let's roll out there," Musi said. "I was ready to race."

The IHRA, known for its unorthodox procedures, shot down the second final. 

"I'm surprised," Musi surmised. "Back in those days, just about anything went."

 

 

 

ANOTHER ONE TO WATCH OUT FOR - There's a day coming when this Junior Dragster racer sees herself running the big cars and winning championships just like the rest of her family. Ashley Franklin is perfectly content, biding her time in the Pro Junior Dragster division, where she leads the points just like her sister Amber in Pro 632. Her father, Tommy Franklin, is second in the Pro Nitrous points behind Jim Halsey. 

"I'm a little bit slower than the other two, but I still have the same drive to do what they do," Franklin said. "I grew up watching my dad race, and then I grew up watching Amber race, and they made me want to drive. Seeing all my friends racing inspired me to be a part of all that."

While PDRA's unique doorslammer series offers many racing options, the second-generation drag racer sees herself staying on the family's beaten path. 

"I guess in a few years, I see myself racing Pro Nitrous or Pro 632," Franklin said. "We've been running per nitrous for so many years that I'd just rather stick to nitrous than boost."

In a world where glory hounds seek to be in the limelight, Franklin is perfectly content living behind the scenes and modestly charting a path to success. 

"It's good to be recognized, but I'm just fine seeing my family get recognized. That way, we all win. Being in the points lead in my last year of racing Junior Dragster validates what our family does out here."

Franklin plans to transition to Top Dragster next season, following the same path Amber took to her championship success in Pro 632. 

"We already have a Top Dragster car, and that's where Amber started, so we're just kind of following the same path that she did," Franklin said.

Regarding real-life, long-range plans beyond drag racing, Franklin is focused on life in the real world. 

"I want to eventually take over the [family] company with me and my sister once my parents decide to retire," she revealed. "They have Franklin Electric and Smart Home Technologies that we eventually plan to take over once they retire."

 

 

MELNICK TOPS 632 - Just a couple weeks after scoring his first Pro 632 victory of the season, reigning world champion Jeff Melnick picked up his second career No. 1 qualifier award and his first of the season. The driver of Alan O’Brien’s Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro charged to a 4.203 at 169.23 in the final qualifying session to solidify his place atop the qualifying order. 
 
“We're definitely on a roll with this thing now,” said Melnick, who credited O’Brien, tuner Patrick Barnhill, engine builder Barry Allen, and the Greenbrier team. “We got things sorted out really good in hot air, cool air. It doesn't really matter what track conditions. The thing goes right down every time, makes a great lap. Hats off to these guys. They give me a great race car every time. We’re finally getting this thing sorted out to where it’s at the top of the field where it should be. We’re No. 1 and it’s a 12-car field, so that gives us a pretty decent path, hopefully to the final. I’m just ready to take it one round at a time and hopefully we do our best.”
 
Walter Lannigan Jr. steered Chris Holdorf’s Nelson-powered Dewitt Custom Concrete ’10 GTO to a 4.226 at 166.64 to qualify No. 2. Rookie Andy House, who won in his debut at the season opener, qualified third with a 4.244 at 166.17 in Meade Baldwin’s Southern Diamond Co. ’69 Camaro. 
 
WELCOME BACK BIKES - It’s been more than two months since Pro Extreme Motorcycle’s last event on the PDRA schedule, but Brunson Grothus picked up right where he left off, earning his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award. Riding Robert Varela’s turbocharged Dallas Flat Glass Distributors ’19 Hayabusa, Grothus recorded a 4.036 at 184.83 in the opening qualifying session to take the top spot. 
 
“I have tons of good memories being at Bristol. It’s a super cool place,” said Grothus, who last raced at Bristol at an all-motorcycle event in 2011. “Right off the trailer, we run a 4.03, like a perfect lap. I got to take a rest a little bit – I've been under the weather. Got my feet under me a little bit and then just made another good lap. It wasn't perfect. We tried a few things, which obviously didn’t work out, as it didn't improve, but the bike's happy and the motor's happy. You can't complain about that.”
 
A pair of Alabama-based riders, Chris Garner-Jones and Ashley Owens, followed Grothus in second and third, respectively. Garner-Jones, the two-time and reigning world champion, posted a 4.05 at 170.77 on his nitrous-fed T.T. Jones Racing ’18 Hayabusa, and Owens rode his nitrous-assisted McKinney Motorsports ’10 Suzuki to a 4.065 at 175.11.  
 
RIDDLE ME THIS - It was a day of ups and downs for Pro Street No. 1 qualifier Bill Riddle, who had a run-in with the retaining wall shortly after launching his roots-blown Corrigan Race Fuels ’89 Camaro in the final qualifying session. Fortunately, the damage was minimal, and he’ll get to race on Saturday. Before that, the reigning world champion fired off a 4.004 at 188.04 in the opening qualifying session, and to Riddle’s surprise, it held up through the final session under the lights. 
 
“It was pure luck, really,” said Riddle, who thanked partners like Corrigan Race Fuels, Mickey Thompson Tires, SSI Superchargers, Motorsports Unlimited, and Red Line Oil. “I was shooting for a 4.05. A 4.05 to 4.08 is actually what I told my daughter [Brooke] when we went up there, so the 4.00 was really surprising. Then we figured we had nothing to lose in the second round of qualifying, so we tried to go after it and it was just a little too much for that right lane.”
 
Fellow Michigan-based racer Dan Norris followed Riddle in the qualifying order with a 4.018 at 192.60 in his roots-blown ’22 Mustang. Jerry Morgano qualified third with a 4.023 at 201.46 in his turbocharged ’02 Mustang.
 
MCGEE GETS FIRST - Earlier this season, Super Street young gun Connor McGee raced to his first career win in the class at the American Doorslammer Challenge at Norwalk. He added another highlight to his 2024 scorecard Friday night when his 4.637 at 159.48 in the final qualifying session netted him his first career No. 1 qualifier award. His nitrous-fed ’90 Mustang is powered by a 440-cubic-inch engine built by Gene Fulton, who was inducted into Bristol Dragway’s “Legends of Thunder Valley” Hall of Fame in 2012. 
 
“Getting my first No. 1 at the first PDRA race at Bristol makes it ten times cooler,” said McGee, a 19-year-old graduate of the PDRA’s Jr. Dragster program. “I know they say Pro Boost is the best category, and it definitely is at the top, but I think after tonight, we're all close together too, and it's certainly a good class. No one knows where you're going to end up, and No. 1 through 14, anybody can win tomorrow. It’s anybody's race. It's just a good class and it really says a lot about everybody that comes out. We're all a big group and a big family, and it's just a great group.”
 
Tommy Thrasher went into the final session as the No. 1 qualifier in his Massachusetts-based ’93 Mustang, but his improved 4.655 at 163.93 wasn’t quick enough to take the top spot back from McGee. Points leader Dan Whetstine, in his ProCharged “Red Velvet” ’90 Mustang, qualified third with a 4.667 at 157.71. 
 
LEADING THE SPORTSMAN DIVISIONS - Elite Top Sportsman points leader Glenn Butcher collected his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award when he drove his nitrous-assisted, Albert-powered ’69 Camaro to a 3.819 at 195.73 to top the all-3-second, 16-car field. Randy Perkinson, who’s No. 2 in points, also ended up No. 2 on the qualifying sheet with a 3.82 at 192.06 in his ProCharged ’67 Mustang. Jacky Bennett, making his second PDRA appearance of the season, took the No. 3 spot in his ProCharged ’68 Camaro with a 3.821 at 198.64. 
 
Dan Ferguson went into the weekend shooting for a spot in the 16-car Elite field with his nitrous-fed 2000 Dodge Viper, previously campaigned in Pro Nitrous by Billy Harper. Still, he ended up instead qualifying No. 1 in the Top Sportsman 48 field with a 3.99 at 189.39. 
 
Missouri’s KC Ingram charged a 3.69 at 205.13 in his supercharged ’20 Miller dragster to earn his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award and his third season in Elite Top Dragster. Charles Careccia, who hails from Asheville, North Carolina, ran a 3.769 at 191.70 in his supercharged ’24 NexGen-built dragster to qualify second. Championship contender Frank Falter IV qualified third in his supercharged “Candy Man” ’22 Miller dragster with a 3.778 at 200.23.  
 
Just two-thousandths of a second kept Mike Kopko and his supercharged ’12 M&M dragster from qualifying in the 16-car Elite program. He was the quickest of the 64 drivers who didn’t make the quick 16, though, using a 3.878 at 186.54 to take the top spot in Top Dragster 48. 
 
ON TAP - The inaugural Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol Dragway will continue Saturday at 9 a.m., beginning with Jr. Dragster final qualifying and the start of sportsman eliminations. Pro class eliminations will kick off at 2 p.m.