Melanie Salemi turned a disastrous start into the biggest turnaround of qualifying Friday night, powering to the No. 1 spot in Pro Boost at the PDRA East Coast Nationals at Darana Motorsports Park in North Carolina.
Marcus Butner secured the top position in Pro Nitrous, while Andy Mac claimed the No. 1 qualifier award in Pro Street as final eliminations were set for Saturday at the Benson facility.
Salemi’s path to the top was anything but smooth. She failed to make a complete run in the opening session, then hurt an engine in the second round before her family-run team hustled through multiple engine changes to get back in contention.
With a fresh powerplant finally in place, Salemi drove Eddie Whelan’s “Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird to a 3.580-second run at 208.68 mph in the final session. That pass held through the remainder of qualifying and sent her team into celebration mode.
“It was a sigh of relief, honestly, when I looked up at the scoreboard and saw the .58 come up,” Salemi said. “Of course, we get back to the pit and we’re expecting everybody’s gonna keep going faster. I had not done very well during the day so I was one of the first cars out there. It was really cool to be able to come back to the pit and we had our ears glued to the PA system and trying to just keep our morale. I think we had a bigger party in our pit after the last pair went down than we’ve had in a while. It was pretty cool.”
Two-time world champion Jason Harris qualified second with a 3.586 at 210.50 in the “Party Time” Harold Denton tribute ’69 Camaro. Johnny Camp, fresh off Thursday’s postponed Carolina Nationals victory, landed third at 3.594 and 211.10 in the “Hells Bells” Camaro.
Butner continued his strong title defense in Pro Nitrous by climbing from outside the 16-car field after the first session to the top under the lights. He delivered a 3.636 at 208.20 in the “Heartbreaker” ’69 Camaro.
The North Carolina racer opened the season with a semifinal finish at the Carolina Nationals and now carries momentum into eliminations on home soil. His late-session blast reinforced why he remains the class benchmark.
“I try not to think about [defending the championship] because it is pressure,” said Butner. “At the end of the day, I’d love nothing more than to win another championship, back-to-back. Several people have done it. What do they say – the first one may be a mistake, the second one ain’t? We’re just gonna take it one round at a time. Everybody out here can run just as good as anybody else, any time of the day. It’s gonna be so hot. We ran good today here in the heat, but it’s tricky. We won’t just play it safe, treat everybody the same because anybody can beat you any time.”
Defending event winner Tim Paap qualified second at 3.642, while Mike Achenbach, winner of Thursday’s delayed Carolina Nationals final, qualified third with a 3.644.
In Pro Street, Andy Mac capitalized on an opportunity handed to him by retired Super Bowl champion Fletcher Cox. Driving Cox’s “Training Day” ’69 Camaro, Mac posted a 3.895 at 193.74 for his first No. 1 qualifier award.
Cox won the delayed Carolina Nationals final Thursday, then stepped aside and turned the car over to Mac for Friday qualifying. The move paid immediate dividends and added another chapter to one of the weekend’s most talked-about stories.
“It’s pretty special to carry on something that [Cox] started, that we started with him,” Mac said. “Just being in the right spot at the right time and taking the opportunity to carry on where he left off. I just want to thank Fletcher for trusting and allowing me to drive his car and being part of a winning team. It’s not just one person that does this. We all do it. There’s endless hours and nights that go into this stuff. Winning is not done at the racetrack. It’s won at the shop. We just bring what we do there to here and let everybody see us perform and try to win.”
Richard Reagan qualified second in Pro Street at 3.927, while Blake Denton was third with a 3.959.
Other professional low qualifiers were Jeff Pittman in Pro 632 and Connor McGee in Super Street. Sportsman leaders included Jamie Fowler, Bruce Westfall, Mike Alexander Jr. and Taylor Holland.
The Junior Dragster categories also produced standout performances. McKenzee Hogan ran dead-on the 7.90 index to lead Pro Jr. Dragster, while Jayden Hogan used a perfect .000 reaction time to top Top Jr. Dragster.
