Fredy Scriba, the outgoing Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous world champion, captured his second straight ProStars crown Thursday night at Virginia Motorsports Park. Scriba defeated rookie Amber Denton in the final round of the fifth annual event, earning $15,000 in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series showcase.
The ProStars race serves as a prelude to the PDRA season finale, the Pro Line Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals presented by ProCharger, scheduled Friday through Sunday at the same track. Virginia Motorsports Park will also host its Night of Fire on Saturday, featuring nostalgia Funny Cars, jet cars, and a wheelstander.
Drivers earned entry into ProStars through a points-based qualifying system and received two test passes Thursday before random chip drawings set the elimination pairings. The all-star format creates high-stakes matchups in a single night, giving racers an extra opportunity to sharpen before the season-ending championship battle.
Alongside Scriba’s win in Pro Nitrous, Melanie Salemi (Pro Boost), Ron Green (Pro Street), Jordan Ensslin (Extreme Pro Stock), Walter Lannigan (Pro 632), and Carson Perry (Super Street) also picked up ProStars titles. Sportsman winners included Bryan LaFlam, Kyle Harris, Mark Reese, and Dave Petrofske, while Jr. Dragster victories went to Sofie Cooper and Knox Schween.
Scriba’s Musi-powered “Sorcerer” ’69 Camaro delivered his season-best performance when it mattered most. Denton, a two-time Pro 632 champion turned Pro Nitrous rookie, moved first at the tree but slowed as Scriba powered to a 3.622-second pass at 207.24 mph. Denton lifted to a 4.283 at 130.89 mph.
“Sometimes it’s the car, sometimes it’s the driver,” Scriba said. “I was a little tardy on the tree, but we made up for it down track. I’m just happy the car is making consistent runs right now. It’s a good start for the weekend.”
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Scriba opened eliminations with a holeshot win over Marcus Butner, then advanced past semifinalist John Vergotz with a 3.630 at 207.34. Denton reached the final by beating Brian Shrader and later upsetting her father, points leader and three-time champion Tommy Franklin, on a holeshot.
In Pro Boost, Melanie Salemi established herself as a serious championship contender with a string of record-challenging runs in Eddie Whelan’s “Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird. She fired off three consecutive 3.50-second passes, including a 3.547 at 210.87 to top Jason Lee in the final.
“Evan and Jon [Salemi] have been working tirelessly to get our program to where it is right now,” Salemi said. “To get this win tonight, obviously it’s not a full four-round race, but there were tough competitors. I don’t think anybody was ready for us to come out this evening and lay down the 3.54.”
Lee advanced as an alternate, knocking out Jason Harris in round one and taking a free pass in the semifinals. But Salemi, who trails Ty Tutterow by less than three rounds in the standings, showed the momentum belongs to her team heading into the World Finals.
Extreme Pro Stock produced another breakthrough moment for Jordan Ensslin. Less than a month after his first career win, the third-generation driver upset 2023 champion Alan Drinkwater with a wire-to-wire 4.014-second career-best run at 179.40 mph.
“Winning ProStars is pretty special and important,” Ensslin said. “The money is good, of course, but just being able to go rounds with our family and friends helping us means a lot because we put a lot of heart and soul into this program.”
Ensslin made career-best runs before the final, starting with a 4.030 at 178.33 to advance past Chris Powers. He then made the most of a semifinal bye, posting a 4.017 at 179.02.
Ron Green repeated in Pro Street with his screw-blown “Gamechanger” ’00 Firebird. Entering as an alternate, Green turned the chance into a title by defeating Richard Reagan in the final with a 3.872 at 202.58.
Pro 632 featured a dramatic final between Walter Lannigan and Kyle Salminen. Salminen fouled by .009 seconds, giving Lannigan the automatic win with a 4.172 at 169.25 in David Cook’s ’10 GTO.
The victory extended Lannigan’s round-win streak to seven following his recent DragWars triumph. He earlier defeated Gary Hood and Jeff Melnick to reach the final.
In Super Street, Carson Perry emerged as a first-time winner, defeating fellow young racer Matt Schalow. Perry drove his Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’00 Camaro to a career-best 4.503 at 157.58 after Schalow slowed in the opposite lane.
Perry started his run with a victory over reigning champion Dan Whetstine and added a semifinal bye. Schalow reached the final after eliminating points leader Connor McGee in the semifinals.
Sportsman categories also saw championship-caliber performances. LaFlam defeated Tim Lawrence in Elite Top Sportsman, Reese took Top Sportsman after a double-red-light final, Harris edged Steve Furr in Elite Top Dragster, and Petrofske earned Top Dragster honors when Troy Williams went red.
The Jr. Dragster ranks offered just as much intensity. Sofie Cooper grabbed Pro Jr. Dragster with a 7.902 on the 7.90 index, while Knox Schween delivered a near-perfect .001 light in his Top Jr. Dragster win with an 8.916 on his 8.90 dial-in.
Both Cooper and Schween enter the season finale as championship threats. Their ProStars victories add weight to their title bids at Virginia.
The PDRA season concludes this weekend at Virginia Motorsports Park with qualifying for the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals beginning Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. Pro sessions are scheduled for noon and 5:45 p.m., setting the stage for championship decisions.
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