EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK			FRIDAY GALLERY SATURDAY GALLERY

 

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -

IT ISN’T HOW YOU START - It wasn't exactly the way Randell Reid envisioned winning his first NAS Racing Pro Extreme race. The oil man from Iowa Park, TX, was awarded the Memphis Drags title just for starting his car and breaking the starting line beam after Bubba Stanton, winner of the two previous PDRA events, was unable to answer the call for the final round.

"I wish we could've matched up with him, but that's the way the cards fell," Reid said of Stanton breaking a connecting rod in his '69 Camaro's engine at the end of a 3.59-second win over Mike Recchia in the semis.

With not enough time to swap out the engine for the final, Stanton and team owner Roger Henson were forced to concede their third-straight, final-round appearance after winning both previous races. "There's still no one who's actually beat us," Henson quipped as he wiped spilled oil from the car's firewall.

Regardless, Reid began his march to the event title after qualifying his '07 Corvette 12th with a 3.674 pass at 209.72 mph. Jason Scruggs was the number-one qualifier with a 3.561 at 215.75, followed by Stanton at 3.571/216.03 and Brandon Snider with a 3.581 at 211.33 mph.

In eliminations, Reid upset fifth-place starter Bader Ahli with a 3.640 pass in round one, then improved to 3.618 to beat former class champ Mick Snyder in round two before meeting Scruggs and his formidable '63 Corvette in the semis. Once there, Reid took a sizable .062 advantage off the starting line, which was enough to allow his 3.613 at 212.09 to beat Scruggs' quicker and faster 3.571 at 214.62-mph effort by a hundredth.

"He's one of the fastest guys in the world in these kind of cars, so it felt really good to do that," Reid said. "We were getting faster with each pass, too, so I think we would've had something for (Stanton) if we had got to run him."

The Memphis event was just the second of the year for Reid, who finished runner-up to fellow Texan Frankie Taylor just one week earlier in Tulsa, OK.

PERFECTION - Jason Harris could barely believe he managed to keep his perfect record in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous competition intact, but there he was at the top end of Memphis International Raceway's eighth mile, a three-time winner after beating Pat Stoken in the final round of the PDRA's third race in its inaugural season.

"It's unbelievable, just crazy. I was sitting up there thinking there's no way we can win a third time in a row. I mean, I felt lucky just to get to the final again," the Pittsboro, NC, racer admitted after qualifying his '68 Firebird third, then going through Jim Sackuvich, John Camp and Lee Adkins to reach Stoken.

"We'd been fighting some issues all day long and it broke something there in the lights there, too. I heard a bang, so maybe something in the transmission," Harris noted after going 3.798 at 196.04 mph to win with a holeshot over fifth-place starter Stoken's 3.789 at 200.47-mph combo.

Stoken began his path to the final with an opening-round win over Edward Wilson before overcoming a holeshot by David Janes in round two and making a solo pass in the semis after Janes' teammate Tim Savell was unable to continue.

Bu Harris was ready and waiting for Stoken and his 2014 Camaro.  

"Man, I'm on top of the world right now, which is a little bit scary because it feels like there's only one way to go from here and I'm afraid that's down," Harris said later. "But man, what can I say? Robert Hayes Motorsports, Pat Musi horsepower, Hoosier tires, they're all giving me the ride of my life right now. It's awesome!"

ANOTHER WIN - Commack, NY's John Pluchino last won an Aruba.com Extreme Pro Stock race more than a year and a half ago, so he felt more than ready to revisit victory lane at the PDRA Memphis Drags.

"Yeah, it's been a while and we had a lot of problems at the last race in Georgia, couldn't get down the race track, so we changed a bunch of stuff around and came out here and we ran good," Pluchino said.

After qualifying his '06 Ford Escort fourth of only seven entries to the class at Memphis, Pluchino overcame a starting-line advantage by Scott Hintz in the opening round, then turned the tables on Goforth Racing teammates Jeff Dobbins and Cary Goforth in the semis and final round at Memphis.

Opening with .020 in the bank, Pluchino outran number-one qualifier Dobbins with a 4.117 at 175.98 that beat a 4.097 at 177.86-mph pass. Second-place starter Goforth ran an almost identical 4.097 at 176.67 with his 2013 Camaro in the final, but the points leader and winner of the previous two PDRA races saw his streak come to an end thanks to Pluchino's .013 light that translated to a .010 margin of victory following his 4.114 at 176.65 winning pass.

"Yeah, the old man drove pretty good," Pluchino declared with a laugh. "We were pumped up; we knew he could run pretty fast, but we could run fast, too, if we hit it just right. But we were just a little off with the clutch, so we did it with a holeshot instead. Feels pretty good."

A BOOST OF A PERFORMANCE - After qualifying his '06 Corvette on top of the PDRA's unique Precision Turbo Pro Boost class with a 3.868-seconds pass at 190.57 mph, Eddie Rogers discovered a torched head on his roots-blown 521 c.i. Hemi Friday night at Memphis International Raceway. Unable to find a replacement BAE head to match the opposite engine bank, Rogers opted instead to make a trackside emergency purchase of a pair of unfamiliar-to-him Noonan Race Engineering heads from fellow racer Todd Martin.

"Here we were with a brand-new blower from Troy Critchley at Hammer Superchargers, a whole new fuel system and now we're putting on new heads. I've got to admit, I thought we could still do okay, but I never really thought we would win," Rogers said after going all the way with a 3.862 run at 192.11, his quickest and fastest of the weekend, to edge out Joe Baker's 3.917 at 185.69 in the PDRA Memphis Drags final.

"We had a major thrash last night and we were all beat-down tired, but we kept at it and made it through. I'm real proud of our whole team right now," Rogers said of wife Joyce, stepdaughter Amanda, who handles the tune-up on the Hemi, grandson Jordan, and chassis builder Chris Duncan, who built his car.

With only 15 Pro Boost entries at Memphis, Rogers had a bye run in the opening round, which turned out to be his key to winning.

"If we hadn't had that bye run, we'd have been out. We lost an air line and because of that we didn't have any transbrake or throttle control, so if we'd have been running somebody we'd have been out for sure in round one," Rogers explained. "But after that it all went smooth; the car went straight as an arrow, everything worked just like it should, it was pretty much perfect after that."

FAMILIAR FACES - Fittingly, the numbers one and two qualifiers met in the final of Pro Extreme Motorcycle and it was a familiar face in victory lane at Memphis, as past two-time class champion Eric McKinney took the win with a 4.054 pass at 177.93 mph astride his 2012 Suzuki.

Top qualifier Terry Schweigert from Abbotsford, BC, in Western Canada, ran 4.095 at 171.25 in the final, after making a bye run and dispatching Jeff House and Jay Fisher to get there. McKinney previously ousted John Collins before making his own bye run, then beating Casey Stemper in the semis.

Despite the win, a somber McKinney first thanked America's military members, past and present, with a Memorial Day Weekend reminder of their service and sacrifices.

"Without our Armed Forces we couldn't do what we get to do," McKinney stressed. "They do things and go places, sometimes for months or even years away from their families, that most of us never have to do anything like that. I just think it's important to remember and recognize that sometimes."

McKinney also expressed sincere concern for the health of his chosen class.

"Our next PDRA race is up in (Martin), Michigan, which is actually pretty close for us, only six hours or so," the Homersville, OH, rider said. "But I know it's a long haul for a lot of the guys we race with who mostly live down south. I just hope we get a decent motorcycle count up there.

"I hate to say it, but I know we played a part in (causing dwindling PXM fields) by winning quite a bit, but you know, we work hard at this. And I don't mean just among the bikes; I would put our team up against anybody on the property, car guys. We changed two motors this weekend, I broke two sprockets; I mean, we don't stop, but that's because I don't want to be beat; I just want to win if we're going to work this hard."

AND THE SPORTSMAN WINNERS ARE … - Canada's Toni Moretto qualified his sharp-looking '55 Chevy on top of a stout 16-car Magnafuel Top Sportsman field in Memphis, but it was Cynthiana, KY's Cheyenne Stanley and his '07 Mustang that were standing tall at the end with his second PDRA final-round win of the year, beating Bob Mandell in another beautifully prepped '55 shoebox.

After dialing in at 4.25, Stanley won with a 4.273 pass in the final, deliberately backing off at the stripe to avoid breaking out after Mandell shook the tires and had to shut off early.

Mandell's son, Jeff, brought the STT Safety Equipment Top Dragster trophy home to Culleoka, KY, though, winning from the fifth starting position with his Pro Fab-built dragster over 15th-place qualifier Gary Bingham in the final. After leaving with a .032 light, Mandell ran dead on his 4.22 dial in, while Bingham left with a .053 light then went 4.672 after dialing in at 4.66 seconds.

Running against a 7.90 index, Jake Thurwell of Richmond, IL, ran a near-perfect 7.904 in the Huddleston Performance Pro Jr. Dragster class to beat a breaking out 7.877 by Jimmy Sackuvich in the final. The Huddlestone Top Jr. Dragster win went to Woodbridge, VA's Mia Schultz, whose team also picked up Best Appearing crew honors at the PDRA Memphis Drags.

NEXT UP - The PDRA returns to action  June 27-28, when it visits U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, for the inaugural PDRA Summer Drags. Complimentary tickets will be available at many retail outlets near the track, or may be printed for free from www.pdra660.com/free-tickets/2014/summer-drags.

SHIFT NEEDS TO HAPPEN - Before Quain Stott left the rough and tumble world of Pro Extreme racing for the period-correct Gasser arena, he nicknamed the automated controls making their way into the class as “dummy switches.”

One of his former protégés is picking up the mantra. Although Tommy D’Aprile hasn’t publicly declared automated shifting in Pro Extreme as dummy switches, he’d prefer to put the driver back into fast doorslammer racing.

“I always elected to shift my own race cars,” said D’Aprile, who runs cars in Pro Extreme and Pro Boost. “We’ve tried the auto shifters before because [the team] wanted to try some things. I’ve also seen them fail before with an early shift or causing people to have a wreck. I know you can block that out.”

D’Aprile’s Pro Extreme car utilizes a two-speed transmission, while the Pro Boost car, the ’62 Bel-Air, has a three-speed.

“I’m not going to be just like a computer but I want to shift the car because my belief is you have more control when your hand is on that shifter than you do relying on a computer to shift,” explained D’Aprile. “If the car shakes the tires I can get through that a lot easier than someone who is relying on the auto shift. The auto shift isn’t going to know the car is shaking.”

Traction control is also legal in the Pro Extreme division.

“Any gearhead, any musclehead gearhead guy wants to go in and shift his car right,” D’Aprile said. “In the 1970s you went and bought 4-speeds. You didn’t go buy an automatic.”

If D’Aprile had his druthers, they’d all have a clutch.

“A torque converter is what it is,” said D’Aprile. “It’s great, it’s less maintenance, they’re fast but you know what? Why can’t somebody push a button and shift.”

D’Aprile isn’t anti-automatic but he is against the driver just putting the car in drive and going down the track.

“If I could go in La La Land I would say, ‘yeah, great, everybody have clutches.”

“But I know the expense, I know the maintenance, I know we probably wouldn’t have turn-around times that quick so the only thing I’m saying is a tiny little change and say, hey guys, everybody shift your race car. Big deal, Pro Extreme is only two speeds. You have to press one button, big deal.”

D’Aprile believes the PDRA pits are split regarding the issue. He understands this could add another variable to a volatile class filled with variables.

“They’ve got their hands on the wheel, they’re just putting [the foot] to the floor and they’re going,” explained D’Aprile. “And the tuner doesn’t want somebody to mess up their tune up. I’m entitled to my opinion and I’m not saying that I’m doing more than somebody.

“My biggest concern is if an auto shift doesn’t work what really happens. People break valve trains, they throw a rod out the side of the motor. It blows the tires off early if they don’t have a delay on it. Usually the car will shift on its own and head into the wall. If it blows the tires off early and someone doesn’t know how to put it into second gear and get it through there they’re going to pedal it in first gear, you can’t pedal these cars in first gear in 60 feet, they’ll just jump from one side of the race track to the other.”

D’Aprile understands he doesn’t have the power to pull off a rule change, but he can make a plea to those who can change the rules.

“I can suggest it and the only thing I can do is say, ‘hey guys come on,” said D’Aprile. “You all want to drive these race cars. We’ve all got the quickest moving blower cars in the world so why not shift them? I just don’t see the problem with someone having a shifter race car. Unless they’re afraid that they can’t hit the button or they’re going to miss the shift light. I know some tuners don’t want their drivers shifting. They want them controlling everything because it hinders their tuning. I know that but that’s what our sport was built on.

“I know electronics have taken over but guys who drive old Funny Cars, for example, those guys are really driving. I just want to do a little more and that’s why I opt to shift myself. If I screw up I screw up but that gives a little bit more window. I’m not saying it’s a necessity and most fans aren’t going to know about it.”

BAD DAY IN THE OFFICE - Pro Extreme racer Neal Wantye had a bad day in the office on Saturday. He was uninjured in the incident.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -

PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING - Jason Scruggs demonstrated why he's known as the "Mississippi Missile" May 23, when he posted a 3.561-seconds pass at 215.75 mph over the eighth mile at Memphis International Raceway to earn the early lead in NAS Racing Pro Extreme qualifying for the inaugural Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Memphis Drags.

After placing his supercharged '63 Corvette in second place with his initial qualifying pass, Scruggs leapfrogged over teammate Bubba Stanton to take over the lead with one more qualifying session to go on Saturday before elimination rounds begin.

"Honestly, it was a bit better than we thought it would run," the Saltillo, MS-based driver said of his second attempt. "We've got a new motor in the car, we were experimenting a little bit with the tune-up and really we thought it would run maybe a .58 or a .59. We expected Bubba (Stanton) to run a .57 and stay number one, but we put a pretty aggressive tune-up in the car and the track took it and we were able to get around him."

Rounding out the top five for the 16-car field behind Stanton, who has won both of the PDRA Pro Extreme races held so far this year, were Brandon Snider, Frankie Taylor and NAS Racing's own Bader Ahli from Dubai.

A REAL PRO NITROUS BATTLE - Tommy Franklin, from Fredericksburg, VA, steered his Musi Racing Engines-equipped '69 Camaro to a 3.790-seconds lap at 198.70 mph to improve by three positions over his first-run effort. With Musi's daughter, Lizzy, posting an identical elapsed time in her 2006 Dodge Stratus, Franklin got the nod as Pro Nitrous leader heading into Saturday based on going just .13 mph faster.

"It felt good early, but we've been working on trying to get a little bit more on the back half and it came around," Franklin said. "We really didn't try to get after it hard, but we tweaked on it a little bit here and there and it came together."

Following Musi on the 14-car Pro Nitrous qualifying list were Jason Harris, who also won both of the PDRA events held so far, David Janes and Pat Stoken.

THE HIRED GUN DELIVERS - In Extreme Pro Stock, Jeff Dobbins put together a 4.079 run at 178.35 mph to lead teammate and yet another two-time winner this year, Cary Goforth. John Montecalvo, the number-one qualifier at the previous PDRA event early this month at Valdosta, GA, placed third of seven entries in Memphis.

Driving in relief for Goforth's father, Dean Goforth, Dobbins said his 2010 Pontiac GXP and Goforth's '13 Camaro both made good first passes, but both were tuned up a little more for the second session.

"Now we're one and two, so we're really happy with things," Dobbins said. "There might be a little more out there if you really wanted to push it, but I think it'll be pretty tough to beat those passes tomorrow if it stays hot like it was today. It'll all depend on the cloud cover, but if anyone does step up, we can step up, too."

NEW FACE LEADS NEW CLASS - A nearly full field of 15 entries made qualifying runs in the PDRA's all-new Pro Boost class at Memphis with the blown Hemi-powered '06 Corvette of Berryville, AR's Eddie Rogers leading the way at 3.868 seconds and 190.57 mph. Joe Baker, who made it to the final round at the previous race in Georgia, placed second, while Jeremy Ray was third, followed by Kevin Rivenbark and Larry Higgenbotham.

Tuned by his daughter, Amanda, Roger's team also includes his wife, Joyce, 15-year-old grandson Jordan and chassis builder Chris Duncan. His qualifying pass is the second quickest recorded so far in the class and just two hundredths off a career-best 3.84 he ran earlier this year.

"The car is running good, but I believe there's more in it if we can get our stuff together just right," Rogers said. "The thing is, we're still trying to get out fuel system dialed in a little bit. We'll be stepping it up a bit for tomorrow."

MEANWHILE IN THE BIKES … - Terry Schweigert posted his class-leading 4.073 at 173.92 mph in the opening round of Pro Extreme Motorcycle qualifying aboard his 2012 Suzuki, just ahead of defending two-time class champion Eric McKinney at 4.097 and 174.77 mph. McKinney's teammate Ashley Owens was third in a field of 13 two-wheeled entries.

SPORTSMAN LEADERS ARE … - In Top Sportsman qualifying, Canadian racer Toni Moretto drove his sharp-looking '55 Chevy to a 4.040 pass at 199.23 mph to take the top spot over fellow Canuck Barry Daniluk into Saturday's action. First-round leader Ronnie Davis wound up third of 20 entries vying for a position in the 16-car raceday field.

The top qualifier in Top Dragster was Ohio's Phil Esz, who improved from 3.810 in the opening round of qualifying to 3.800 at 195.17 in the second round. Jeff Holloway maintained second place through both sessions, as did Danny Payne as the third-place qualifier of 15 entries.

Additionally, Tia Tutterow of Lewisville, NC, ran dead on the 7.90 dial in to lead Huddleston Performance Pro Jr. Dragster, while Alexis Tanner of Rennsalaer, IN, led the Huddleston Top Jr. Dragster class after one round of qualifying.

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE - Beginning at 11 a.m. one more qualifying session for all PDRA classes is on the schedule for Saturday, May, 24, with eliminations to follow.