Less than a day after winning the rain-delayed Thunder Valley Throwdown, three-time Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin followed with another top qualifying performance Friday at ProFab DragWars at GALOT Motorsports Park. Franklin drove his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro to a 3.623-second run at 207.34 mph to secure his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series.
Low qualifier awards also went to Ty Tutterow in Pro Boost, Fletcher Cox in Pro Street, Jordan Ensslin in Extreme Pro Stock, Mike Fiorelli in Pro 632 and Dan Whetstine in Super Street.
Franklin’s run came in a tight battle with Marcus Butner, who recorded a 3.629 at 207.37 with Jay Cox calling the shots on his Musi-powered “Heartbreaker” Camaro. Franklin’s edge of six thousandths of a second was enough to lock down the top spot. Tim Paap qualified third with a 3.659 at 204.35.
“Marcus is a great guy with a great team. I tell him all the time, I don’t know why he hangs out with Jay Cox, but that’s besides the fact,” Franklin said with a laugh. “It was cool to be able to go out and run a 3.62. We both went .62 finishing up last night for the running of the Bristol race. We knew it was there. We were struggling a little bit earlier and got it put together.”
In Pro Boost, Ty Tutterow delivered the best performance of his career with a 3.559 at 209.92 mph in Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro. His speed separated him from two-time and reigning world champion Jason Harris, who matched the elapsed time but was just shy on speed at 208.97. Johnny Camp followed in third at 3.591 and 207.85.
“It’s incredible. Set a personal best right there,” Tutterow said. “Jason Lee is in the other lane, takes out the cones, then you gotta wait for the moment of suspense for Harris to come behind me, run the same exact elapsed time, and then I just get it on mile-an-hour. It’s pretty unreal. Honestly, it couldn’t be better. The guys are working hard. The car’s running good.”
Pro Street saw retired NFL star Fletcher Cox add to his momentum by qualifying No. 1 with a 3.855 at 190.57 mph in his Musi-powered “Training Day” ’69 Camaro. Cox, who earned his first career victory in Thursday night’s rain-delayed Bristol final, has now qualified No. 1 three times in the last four races.
“Man, I’m so proud. It gets emotional because we know how hard we work and it all pays off,” Cox said. “You’ve gotta want more, but at the same time, this sport can humble you at any minute. Just stay cool and calm about it, and then confident at the same time and not cocky, and believe that what you’ve created is a competitive car. It can run in the daytime now. At nighttime it runs good, so the car works. I’ve just gotta do my job.”
Richard Reagan, known for wheels-up passes in his screw-blown Mustang, qualified second with a 3.899 at 196.50. Points leader Blake Denton took the third spot at 3.926 at 194.86 in the “Bonnie” Camaro once piloted by the late Lizzy Musi.
In Extreme Pro Stock, Jordan Ensslin earned his first career No. 1 qualifier with a 4.050 at 176.42 in his Allen-powered Mustang. Elijah Morton followed in second with a 4.064 at 177.70, and points leader Alan Drinkwater posted a 4.065 at 177.14 to sit third.
Hollywood, Florida’s Mike Fiorelli picked up his first career PDRA No. 1 qualifier in Pro 632 with a 4.123 at 168.96 in his nitrous-fed Camaro. Rookie Carson Hoyle set a career-best 4.127 at 170.26 to take second, while points leader Jeff Melnick ran a 4.129 at 171.79 to qualify third.
In Super Street, reigning world champion Dan Whetstine earned his first No. 1 spot of the season with a 4.561 at 159.23 in his ProCharged “Red Velvet” Mustang. Austin Vincent and Matt Schalow rounded out the top three with 4.56-second runs.
In Elite Top Sportsman, points leader Bryan LaFlam took his first top qualifier of the season with a 3.749 at 194.24 in his supercharged Mustang. Glenn Butcher ran 3.751 to qualify second, while Jamie Fowler’s 3.793 placed him third. Connecticut’s Dan Hill led Top Sportsman 32 with a 4.098.
Josh Duggins was the only Elite Top Dragster driver to dip into the 3.60s, leading the field with a 3.688 at 202.64 in his ProCharged Maddox dragster. Points leader Alan O’Brien qualified second at 3.719, followed by Brian Anderson at 3.734. In Top Dragster 48, Bill Burrow took the top spot with a 4.013.
In the sportsman categories, the top spots went to Bryan LaFlam in Elite Top Sportsman, Josh Duggins in Elite Top Dragster, Dan Hill in Top Sportsman 32 and Bill Burrow in Top Dragster 48. The Jr. Dragster classes completed two qualifying sessions Friday, with a third to be held Saturday morning. Ashton Halas, fresh off a win in the rain-delayed Bristol race, led Pro Jr. Dragster with a perfect 7.900. Kylie Varnier earned the provisional top spot in Top Jr. Dragster with a .005 reaction time.
ProFab DragWars at GALOT Motorsports Park continues Saturday with final Jr. Dragster qualifying at 8:30 a.m., followed by sportsman eliminations. Pro eliminations are scheduled for 11:45 a.m., with FuelTech Winner’s Circle celebrations set for 8 p.m.
