Virginia’s Randy Weatherford nearly reset the national record Friday night at Virginia Motorsports Park, running just one thousandth off the mark to take the provisional No. 1 spot in WS Construction Pro Boost. His 3.556-second pass at 212.13 mph led one of the quickest Pro Boost qualifying fields in PDRA history as the 2025 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season finale got underway.
Other provisional leaders after Friday’s sessions included Fredy Scriba in Pro Nitrous, Richard Reagan in Pro Street, Jordan Ensslin in Extreme Pro Stock, Jeff Melnick in Pro 632, and Carson Perry in Super Street. Sportsman provisional No. 1 qualifiers were Bryan LaFlam, Alan O’Brien, Dan Hill, and Angie Travis.
The Jr. Dragster divisions again delivered tight competition. In Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster, Cameron Boyd’s perfect 7.900 on the index led 56 entries, while Deontrie Brown III grabbed the Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster top spot with a perfect .000 reaction time.
Weatherford’s 3.556-second run at 212.13 mph in his Harts Charger-powered WS Construction ’21 Camaro put him within .001 of Derek Ward’s national record. It also gave him a chance to collect his second No. 1 qualifier award of the season after running a 3.600 earlier in the day.
“I guess there in August I was pretty hot,” Weatherford said, referring to his dominant showing at the PDRA Northern Nationals. “Hopefully this time I can go out here and just win this one right here. I think they’re going to have a hard time with me this weekend.”
Steve King followed with a 3.565 in Gene Pilot’s “Savage” ’19 Corvette, while defending world champion Jason Harris went 3.570 at 210.14 in his ProCharged “Party Time” ’69 Camaro.
Fredy Scriba, fresh off a ProStars win, put down a potential national record with a 3.600 at 208.62 in his Musi-powered “Sorcerer” ’69 Camaro. He’ll need to back it up with a 3.636 or quicker to make it official.
“I didn’t think it was going to go a 3.600 – maybe a .62 or .63,” Scriba said. “We just wanted to run faster than everybody else. We weren’t even thinking about the record.”
Tim Paap was just a thousandth behind at 3.609, and points leader Tommy Franklin ran 3.612 at 208.75 to round out the top three.
Richard Reagan stole the top spot — and possibly the record — with a 3.854 at 199.29 in his screw-blown ’90 Mustang. The pass was one hundredth quicker than the existing record.
“Man, we’ve got a hot rod,” Reagan said. “Thanks to Tim and Scott Kincaid, my family, and my daughter. I’m going to be a papa in March, so I can’t wait for that. It’s just awesome.”
Defending champ Ethan Steding and rival Blake Denton followed close behind with a pair of 3.88-second runs.
Jordan Ensslin continued his breakout season by grabbing the provisional No. 1 spot with a 4.030 at 178.66 in his Allen-powered “Seabiscuit” Mustang. Ensslin has won his last two races, including Thursday’s ProStars event.
“All I can say is I’m blessed,” Ensslin said. “We didn’t go as fast as we wanted to, but we got down the track and that 3.99 will have to wait a little bit.”
Newly crowned two-time world champion Alan Drinkwater was second at 4.044, followed by Elijah Morton at 4.049.
Two-time world champion Jeff Melnick kept his momentum rolling, leading Pro 632 with a 4.094 at 173.16 in his Greenbrier Excavating & Paving Camaro. The pass was the second-quickest in class history.
“We’re here to set the record,” Melnick said. “We already have enough trophies. We’d rather set the record and lose than win the whole race.”
JC Beattie Jr. and Walter Lannigan followed with 4.10- and 4.12-second runs.
Carson Perry, Thursday’s ProStars winner, scored his first career No. 1 qualifier with a 4.513 at 157.41 in his nitrous-fed ’00 Camaro. Reigning champion Dan Whetstine was close behind with a 4.519 at 161.71, and points leader Connor McGee was third with a 4.595.
Elite Top Sportsman points leader Bryan LaFlam backed up his ProStars win with a 3.772 at 194.55 to lead qualifying. Alan O’Brien, the Elite Top Dragster points leader, set the pace in his quad-turbocharged ’23 Race Tech dragster with a 3.729 at 199.73.
Dan Hill (4.080) and Angie Travis (3.843) led their respective Top Sportsman 48 and Top Dragster 48 classes.
Jr. Dragster and sportsman qualifying will continue Saturday morning, followed by final pro qualifying and the Night of Fire thrill show.
Pro eliminations will begin Saturday evening and continue through Sunday’s conclusion of the PDRA World Finals.
