an unopposed 3.702 at 201.58 and a 3.677 at 202.09 over Danny Sauro before using a holeshot advantage and 3.664 at 202.52 to take down Lizzy Musi ’ s 3.658 at 204.98 in the semifinals . Harris qualified in the No . 12 spot and defeated Jim Halsey , Matt Guenther and two-time and defending world champion Tommy Franklin before facing Cox in the final round .
PRO EXTREME Past Pro Extreme world champion Jason Scruggs ’ s celebrated return to competition was shut down in the final round by North Carolina logger Terry “ Legbone ” Leggett in his Leggett Logging & Trucking ’ 71 Mustang . Scruggs left first , but an aggressive wheelstand forced the veteran wheelman to back off the throttle , allowing Leggett to charge on to a 3.557 at 213.47 .
Leggett qualified No . 2 and earned his spot in the final round with an opening-round 3.697 at 172.61 win over Swedish racer Adam Flamholc , who struggled to an 8-second pass . Scruggs qualified No . 1 Friday night , but faced a late-night thrash to repair the Roger Henson-owned ’ 69 Camaro after a high-speed run-in with the gravel pit at the end of the track . He returned Sunday morning with an unopposed 3.684 at 163.53 in the first round before facing Leggett .
PRO BOOST After a string of strong performances at various preseason races around the Southeast , Jeremy Ray and his “ Carolina Kingpin ” ’ 63 Corvette were poised to secure their second PDRA event win . Last year ’ s Indy winner did exactly that , firing off consistent 3.7-second passes capped off by a 3.72 at 200.77 in the final round . Ray ’ s opponent , Outlaw 10.5 legend Chuck Ulsch , broke shortly after leaving the starting line .
“ This is just awesome ,” said the soft-spoken Ray . “ I don ’ t get too excited ; I ’ m calm . I race the racetrack . Whatever it takes is what I ’ ll give it . I don ’ t run my mouth – the scoreboard does the talking for Jeremy .”
Ray raced from the No . 6 position before beating Larry Higginbotham in the opening round . Second-round opponent Eric Donovan was unable to make the call after suffering an engine explosion in the first round , while semifinal opponent Marc Caruso slowed to a 4-second pass alongside Ray ’ s 3.712 at 200.92 . Ulsch qualified No . 4 , moved past first round unopposed and beat Pro Mod veterans Ray Commisso and Tommy D ’ Aprile before the final round .
EXTREME PRO STOCK Saturday ’ s rain-out was a letdown for everyone but No . 7 Elijah Morton , who suffered engine damage during Friday qualifying . The full day of downtime between qualifying and eliminations allowed Morton ’ s crew to drive to their engine builder ’ s shop in Tennessee , fetch a fresh batch of parts and return to GALOT Motorsports Park to make the repairs . Morton went on to beat No . 8 qualifier Chris Powers on a holeshot , running a 4.04 at 177.56 over Powers ’ s 4.033 at 177.56 in an unlikely final round .
“ My daughter told me you couldn ’ t start No . 1 if you want a Cinderella story , so we had to start from the bottom and work our way up . I guess this is our little Cinderella story this weekend ,” Morton said . “ My guys here from Allen Competition Engines drove back to Tennessee to get parts . They ’ re just great guys . My crew just did a great job this weekend . Plus , this is my home track , so there ’ s nothing better than coming out and winning in front of your friends and family .”
Morton left his troubles behind in qualifying , as he drove his Morton Brothers Motorsports ’ 12 Mustang to a 4.056 at 177.09 over a red-lighting John Pluchino and a 4.055 at 177.44 to beat John DeFlorian ’ s 4.129 at 172.23 . On the other side of the ladder , Powers and his Liberty ’ s Gears ’ 14 Camaro raced past No . 1 qualifier Jeff Dobbins and J . R . Carr .
PRO EXTREME MOTORCYCLE Pro Extreme Motorcycle rookie Rodney Williford came out of the gate swinging came out of the gate swinging as he rode his nitrous-assisted Williford Racing ’ 04 Suzuki Hayabusa to a 4.063 at 177.23 in the final round over multi-time PDRA event winner Brunson Grothus and his troubled 7.50 at 57.93 . Williford , a star in the Pro Street scene , had never raced a motorcycle with wheelie
bars or a big tire before a prerace test session .
Williford qualified No . 5 in the 16-motorcycle field and charged to 4.0-second passes over Burke Forster , Tommy Saxon and Terry Schweigert . Grothus qualified No . 2 aboard his Indocil Art Hayabusa and was unopposed in the first round before recording a pair of 4.02s to take down defending world champion Travis Davis and Ronnie Smith .
PRO OUTLAW 632 Johnny Pluchino , the son of 2016 Extreme Pro Stock world champion John Pluchino , used everything he learned from his father about naturally aspirated , clutch-equipped race cars to score the Pro Outlaw 632 win over Matthew Buck . Pluchino ’ s ’ 06 Ford Escort left the line first alongside Buck in Ken Kershaw ’ s Chassis Engineering-built ’ 15 Camaro , then Pluchino ’ s scoreboard lit up first with a 4.265 at 167.68 over Buck ’ s 4.281 at 165.42 .
“ We really have to thank ( engine builder ) Jon Kaase ,” Pluchino said . “ We got this motor probably 2-3 weeks ago . My dad and I spent nights nonstop putting this thing together , but it ’ s a bad piece . We ’ re out here running with these nitrous guys and we ’ re showing ‘ em how to do it .”
OUTLAW 10.5 John Carinci ’ s striking blue ’ 04 Corvette quietly reached the semifinals after escaping the first two rounds without an opponent in the other lane , though he popped off a 4.05 and 4.06 in the process . The Canadian driver turned up the wick
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