Drag Illustrated Issue 140, January 2019 | Page 39
Special Section
TOP DRAGSTER ELITE 16
CHAZ SILANCE
ending with back-to-back vic-
tories at Darlington and
Virginia.
Chaz Silance saw firsthand what
it takes to win a PDRA sports-
man world championship in
2017 when his father, Dewayne,
won the MagnaFuel Elite Top
Sportsman title. When Silance
started his 2018 Lucas Oil Top
Dragster campaign with three
consecutive first-round exits,
he wasn’t so sure he had what
it would take to join his father
as a PDRA world champ. Silance
quickly turned his luck around,
cleaning house with a win in his
Buck-powered, supercharged
dragster at the Firecracker Na-
tionals. A second-round exit at
Drag Wars was a brief hiccup in
what amounted to an incredible
second half of the season,
“Our season started off terri-
ble,” Silance admitted. “I had
three first-round losses and my
dad said you can’t win anything
if you’re losing first round – and
it don’t pay good either. I went
to the fourth race at VMP and
won. It was my first PDRA win,
third final. I had all kinds of
problems at the second GALOT
race. We ended up winning Dar-
lington and VMP to finish the
year. It couldn’t have played out
any better.”
A significant point of pride for
Silance in winning the world
championship was becoming
the latest member of his family
to hoist a world championship
trophy. The honor comes with
bragging rights, and Silance is
definitely going to take advan-
tage of that.
“Between my dad and my uncle,
I have to listen to a lot of trash
talking,” Silance said. “Between
the two of them they have five
world championships. Me and
Derrik (Sholar) have to listen to
a lot of junk from them. But I’ve
got one now, so Derrik has to
listen to it all by himself. Now I
just hope to do it again next
year so I can talk a little more
junk.”
TOP DRAGSTER 32
TOM MARTINO
After missing the first two races
of the season, a semifinal finish
at the Summer Drags in Michi-
gan inspired Tom Martino and
his son, Ryan, to travel to more
PDRA events from their home
base in Youngstown, Ohio. A
victory at Drag Wars and a real
shot at the championship set
the hook even deeper for the
Martinos and their nitrous-as-
sisted “Sharktino” dragster. A
semifinal finish at the Fall Na-
tionals followed, along with a
runner-up effort to close the
season at the World Finals, al-
lowing the veteran drag racer
to earn the Lucas Oil Top Drag-
ster 32 world championship.
“This is the highlight of my
racing career right here,”
Martino said. “I’m very proud
to accept this trophy and take
it back home. Nothing could
be better.”
In his championship speech,
Martino offered thanks to a
long list of family, friends and
sponsors for their support of
his racing efforts, then made a
special point to highlight the
second half of this tightknit
father-son racing team.
“I have to thank my crew chief,
best friend and son, Ryan,”
Martino said. “He’s the only
reason we’re up here. Ryan does
the tune-ups and dial-ins, plus
all of our marketing and sponsor
work. He used to send me all
the notes and suggestions over
the phone when he was playing
college football, but now he’s
able to go to all the races with
me. Nothing’s better than
rolling down the highway, city
to city, track to track, knowing
your best friend is sitting along-
side of you. That’s pretty cool.”
PDRA660.com 39