PHOTOS : MIKE CARPENTER , NATE VAN WAGNEN

PRO EXTREME

After kicking off the 2017 season with a win over Jose Gonzales at Valdosta and runner-up finishes to Mike Recchia at GA- LOT 1 and Mattias Wulcan at Darlington , Tommy D ’ Aprile is carrying a sizable points lead into the second half of the year . While the Mel Bush Motorsports ’ 15 Corvette was a clear favorite in the cooler spring races , D ’ Aprile is confident his Al Billes-led team can carry over the performance into the hot summer events .

“ Being from Florida , we can take the heat ,” D ’ Aprile laughed . “ I think we have an advantage there . We know how to run on a hot racetrack , so I think that ’ ll help us , but again , competition is so tight . I look at it this way : we do the best we can at every race . If it ’ s good enough to win , great . If it ’ s not , then I ’ ll be cheering on someone else .”

PRO NITROUS

The defending Pro Nitrous world champion is back in championship form this season . His Jerry Bickel-built “ Jungle Rat ” ’ 69 Camaro appeared in three consecutive final rounds in the first four races , including an event win at Darlington – easily the hottest race on the 2017 PDRA tour so far .

“ Going into the summer races , we ’ re just trying to get a hold of the hot tracks ,” said Franklin . “ We ’ re strong ; we have a good hot-weather tuneup . We ’ ve had two finals and one win , and we ’ re looking to continue that . With the crew that we ’ ve got and Pat Musi power , we ’ ll be good .”

PRO BOOST

Admittedly , the Darlington winner and her Strange Engineering-backed “ Purple Reign ” ’ 68 Firebird , tuned by husband Jon , struggled to readjust to the mild conditions at Maryland after conquering the heat and humidity at Darlington . Salemi , who runnered-up in quarter-mile competition at last summer ’ s big-money Shakedown at the

Summit , is poised to get back to the winner ’ s circle again as the PDRA tour heads to Indianapolis for the PDRA Midwest Indy Showdown , July 14-15 .

“ We tested really well here ( at Maryland ) then we ’ ve been too aggressive on the last couple qualifiers ,” Salemi revealed . “ I think Jon is trying to make it go faster than it needs to go right now . We know that it can go faster than it went in testing . I think you ’ ve really gotta push it to that point first to get to where you need to be . Now we can reel it in and hopefully go a few more rounds .”

EXTREME PRO STOCK

The first-ever PDRA Extreme Pro Stock world champion has quietly positioned himself and his Dean ’ s Casing Service / Dewayne Higgins Trucking ’ 15 Camaro to chase another title . The Oklahoma native leads the points after a runner-up finish at GALOT and low qualifier awards at Valdosta and Darlington .

“ We ’ re known as a team that can get down when the tracks get greasy , and that ’ s how you win championships ,” Goforth offered . “ But we have to maintain that performance now that we ’ ve found it . We have a good baseline setup for the heat . It ’ s going to get cool at night , but the heat is going to stay in the track as we get into the summer months . Right now we just need to stay with our baseline and don ’ t get outside of what we know we need to do .

PRO EXTREME MOTORCYCLE

Riding a Timblin-built Suzuki , Travis Davis has been on a tear in the class typically nearly dominated by his friend , Eric McKinney . The two riders have squared off on more than one occasion this season , with Davis taking the Darlington win over the three-time and defending world champion on a holeshot . Davis also defeated class standout Chuck Wilburn in the GALOT 1 final round . With a proven bike and a little magic , Davis believes he can continue stringing together round wins through the summer .

“ I feel like I have a handle on the hot-weather tune-up ,” Davis said . “ I think I ’ ll be all right in these summer months , especially if I can make some rounds ( in the heat ) and then it gets dark and the track cools off and tightens up .”

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