Special Section
THE PDRA TOP 3 LIST FIRST APPEARED IN DRAG ILLUSTRATED IN JULY
OF 2018 AS AN EVER-CHANGING LIST OF THE BIGGEST NEWSMAKERS
AND POWER PLAYERS IN THE PDRA’S PROFESSIONAL CLASSES. THIS
MONTH’S EDITION, REPRESENTING PERFORMANCES FROM THE PDRA
NORTH-SOUTH SHOOTOUT PRESENTED BY LINE-X AT MARYLAND IN-
TERNATIONAL RACEWAY, DOES NOT REFLECT THE CURRENT POINTS
STANDINGS, THOUGH MOST OF THE DRIVERS WHO APPEAR ON THIS LIST CAN ALSO BE FOUND NEAR THE TOP OF THE POINTS STANDINGS IN THEIR RESPEC-
TIVE CLASSES. AS DRIVERS BATTLE BACK AND FORTH FOR NO. 1 QUALIFYING SPOTS, EVENT WINS AND NATIONAL RECORDS OVER THE COURSE OF THE 2019
SEASON, THIS LIST WILL CHANGE TO REFLECT THOSE ACCOMPLISHMENTS. (NOTE: THIS LIST ALSO INCLUDES FINAL-ROUND RESULTS FROM THE MID-ATLAN-
TIC SHOWDOWN AT VIRGINIA, AS THE FINALS WERE COMPLETED DURING THE MARYLAND RACE.)
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER
PRO BOOST
1. TOMMY D’APRILE
2. KRIS THORNE
3. KEVIN RIVENBARK PRO NITROUS
1. JIM HALSEY
2. JAY COX
3. LIZZY MUSI EXTREME PRO STOCK
1. TODD HOERNER
2. JOHN MONTECALVO
3. JEFF DOBBINS PRO OUTLAW 632
1. JOHNNY PLUCHINO
2. WES DISTEFANO
3. TONY GILLIG PRO NITROUS MOTORCYCLE
1. RONNIE SMITH
2. CHRIS GARNER-JONES
3. BRUNSON GROTHUS
Defending world champion
Tommy D’Aprile and tuner/
car owner Al Billes have done
a masterful job of keeping
the roots-blown combina-
tion on top in Moroso Pro
Boost despite powerful
charges by the turbocharged
and centrifugal-super-
charged entries. D’Aprile de-
feated Jerico Balduf in the
rain-delayed Virginia final,
then raced to a runner-up
finish at Maryland, falling to
Kris Thorne’s 3.703-second
pass with a quicker 3.683.
Thorne qualified No. 1 for the
second consecutive race in
his Mikey Rees-tuned, tur-
bocharged ’17 Corvette and
earned his first-ever PDRA
victory. Season opener
winner Kevin Rivenbark
switched to GALOT Motors-
ports teammate John Strick-
land’s ProCharger-boosted
’69 Camaro for eliminations
and steered it to a semifinal
finish, dropping out with a
3.715 to Thorne’s 3.689. Escaping the first round of
eliminations in Switzer Dy-
namics Pro Nitrous was a
feat at Maryland, with two-
time world champions
Tommy Franklin and Jason
Harris and points leader Jim
Halsey loading up after E1.
However, Halsey and his
Fulton-powered ’68 Camaro
qualified No. 1 and left the
race with his second con-
secutive event win after de-
feating Franklin in the Vir-
ginia final round, which was
contested during Q3 at
Maryland. ET record holder
Jay Cox took his Buck-pow-
ered Butner Construction
’69 Camaro to the winner’s
circle, defeating Lizzy Musi
with a 3.677 in a rerun final
round after debris tripped
the beams in his lane during
the first final. Musi, who re-
corded low ET and top
speed of the event (3.651 at
207.88) in the semifinals,
went 3.655 in the first final
but shook on the rerun. After Todd Hoerner started
his return season in Liber-
ty’s Gears Extreme Pro
Stock with a runner-up
finish at GALOT and a No. 1
qualifying effort at Virginia,
he was shaping up to be the
next first-time PDRA winner.
Sure enough, he drove the
Sonny’s-powered TT Mo-
torsports ’12 Camaro to a
4.073 final-round win over
John Montecalvo’s 4.107 at
Maryland. Montecalvo slid
into the field in the No. 8
spot and took his ’18
Camaro to its second con-
secutive final, as tuner
Tommy Lee drove it to the
Virginia final. Jeff Dobbins,
the Maryland No. 1 qualifier
in his Bear’s Performance
’14 Avenger, won that final
round on a single, as Lee
forfeited the run so Monte-
calvo could get in the show. Defending world champion
Johnny Pluchino was unex-
pectedly given the chance
to make his Extreme Pro
Stock debut in his father’s
car, but he didn’t let that
distract him from a relent-
less championship defense
in Schwing America Pro
Outlaw 632. Pluchino de-
feated Wes Distefano in the
Maryland final round, which
was also a rerun due to de-
bris-beam interference,
with a 4.206 in his Kaase-
powered ’06 Ford Escort.
Distefano was appearing in
his second final of the year
with his nitrous-assisted,
Musi-powered ’68 Camaro.
Tony Gillig, who was also
pulling double duty in
Extreme Pro Stock after
getting the call to drive
Eddie and WR Buck’s new
entry, took out Pluchino in
the Virginia final round run
during Q3. A smooth 4.005 in the hot
opening qualifying session
set the tone of the weekend
for Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Mo-
torcycle defending world
champion Ronnie “Pro Mod”
Smith. Three of his next four
runs aboard the FuelTech-
equipped Innovative Perfor-
mance Suzuki were in the
3-second zone, including a
shocking 3.958 over Brunson
Grothus in the final round.
The pass shattered Smith’s
own 3.973 national record
set at Maryland last year.
Chris Garner-Jones was con-
sistently quick on his family-
owned Suzuki, qualifying No.
3 and running a pair of 4.02s
on race day before falling to
Smith in the semifinals.
Brunson Grothus made the
most of his No. 8 qualifying
spot and took out No. 1 qual-
ifier Paul Gast on a holeshot,
then stepped up to a 4.007
to defeat three-time world
champion Eric McKinney and
advance to the final round.
46 PDRA660.com