Thirty-six years ago, on a Saturday in early March, a new professional category named Pro Modified made its debut in Darlington Dragway. There were only two power adders allowed, nitrous-injected or supercharged on alcohol.
Friday night, Randy Weatherford showed just how far that class has come. He didn’t ease into it — he went straight to the top of the sheet.
Weatherford blasted to a 3.543-second pass at 212.26 mph in the final qualifying session of the PDRA Carolina Nationals, putting the first leg on a potential series record. It will need a one-percent backup of 3.578 to make it official, but nobody was waiting on paperwork to recognize the run.
That’s Pro Modified. You either land it, or you don’t.
“It’s very rewarding. Now, if I can come away with a victory here, it will really be rewarding,” Weatherford said. “The car’s been running pretty good. I’ve got that new 4.9 AJ motor in it from Pro Line.”
“The car I’ve got right now has been flawless. It’s won and it should have won a couple more races, but we had some issues go wrong,” Weatherford said.
He didn’t try to oversell it. In this class, you let the time slip do the talking.
“But to come out here and do what we did, it just speaks highly of my team and the people behind me and my employees that work hard for me and give me the opportunity to come out here and play this big ball game here,” Weatherford said. “This is what we come for – it’s the trophies, not the money.”
Pro Nitrous didn’t take a back seat to any of it. Twenty cars showed up for 16 spots, and the bump spot wasn’t giving anything away.
Tommy Franklin made his move when it mattered. Sitting fourth going into the final session, he and tuner Jeff Pierce went to No. 1 with a 3.634 at 208.24 mph.
That’s how this class works — you can be safe, or you can be first.
“There’s a great group of cars. We had 20 cars fighting for 16 spots in Pro Nitrous, which is just badass,” Franklin said. “Thank you to all those racers that came out and put on a heck of a show tonight.”
Franklin’s team had already burned time earlier in the week chasing issues. That made the final-session hit count more.
“My team just put one together. We had some issues – just first-race issues – testing on Wednesday and we got through that, came out here and made a good lap,” Franklin said.
He didn’t hedge on what it takes to run up front.
“I say it all the time – these are the best racers in the world. I say that about every class here at the PDRA,” Franklin said. “So to come out here and go No. 1 qualifier, just to run up front, period, takes a lot.”
Jerry Morgano had to fight for his No. 1 spot in Pro Street. It didn’t show up early, and it didn’t come easy.
After struggling in the first session, he worked to a 3.960 in the second and then locked it in with a 3.949 at 203.90 mph in his turbocharged “Copperhead” ’02 Mustang. That’s a grind, not a gift.
“This is a big deal,” Morgano said. “We worked our tails off over the offseason, testing and then racing at the Snowbirds, U.S. Street, and World Series.”
There wasn’t any pretending it’s been smooth getting here.
“We had a really good showing. We were either super high or super low there. Things went well, and they didn’t, but we just kept plugging away,” Morgano said.
He came in with a clear target and didn’t back off it.
“My goal coming into this race, I wanted to do my damnedest to try and qualify No. 1,” Morgano said. “I knew it would be tough. There’s a lot of really fast guys in our class.”
And like everyone else chasing a night session, he knew it could flip in a hurry.
“When we get to run when the sun’s down, anybody can take the No. 1 spot,” Morgano said. “Luckily it was me today, but really the goal is just to keep plugging away, hit as many as we can, and hope for the best for the season.”
Elsewhere in professional qualifying, J.C. Beattie Jr. secured the top spot in Pro 632, while Matt Schalow led Super Street.
In the sportsman ranks, Jamie Fowler took the No. 1 position in Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, with Josh Duggins leading Elite Top Dragster. Aaron Glaser topped Top Sportsman 48, and Taylor Davis paced Top Dragster 48.
