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 PROFES-
SIONAL CLASSES. THIS MONTH’S EDITION, REPRESENTING PER-
FORMANCES FROM THE PDRA SUMMER NATIONALS PRESENTED
BY LITHIUM PROS BATTERIES, 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 RESPECTIVE CLASSES. AS DRIVERS BATTLE BACK AND FORTH FOR NO. 1 QUALIFYING SPOTS, EVENT WINS AND NATIONAL RECORDS OVER
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER
THE COURSE OF THE 2019 SEASON, THIS LIST WILL CHANGE TO REFLECT THOSE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
PRO BOOST
1. JOHN STRICKLAND
2. MELANIE SALEMI
3. KRIS THORNE PRO NITROUS
1. JASON HARRIS
2. TOMMY FRANKLIN
3. JIM HALSEY EXTREME PRO STOCK
1. JOHN MONTECALVO
2. STEVEN BOONE
3. CHRIS POWERS PRO OUTLAW 632
1. JOHNNY PLUCHINO
2. CHRIS HOLDORF
3. WES DISTEFANO PRO NITROUS MOTORCYCLE
1. ERIC MCKINNEY
2. TRAVIS DAVIS
3. RONNIE SMITH
John Strickland was on the
outside looking in after
Moroso Pro Boost qualifying
was complete, but a finish-
line fire knocked Terry
Leggett out of competition,
allowing Strickland to slide
into eliminations. He drove
his ProCharger-boosted
GALOT Motorsports Camaro
to a 3.759 over fellow alter-
nate Tommy Gray, a 3.742
over Kris Thorne’s turbo-
charged Corvette and a 3.781
to beat Melanie Salemi in the
final round. Salemi’s “Purple
Reign” Firebird was the
quickest roots-blown entry,
firing off a 3.731 over defend-
ing world champion Tommy
D’Aprile and a 3.755 over
GALOT’s Kevin Rivenbark
before the final. Thorne’s
3.704 in the first round
showed promise, but the
Floridian slowed to a 3.851
when Strickland was picking
up steam. Jason Harris raced to Switzer
Dynamics Pro Nitrous world
championships in 2014 and
2018 on the strength of a
strategy that revolved
around making A-to-B
passes rather than shooting
for moonshot runs. That
same strategy netted the
“Party Time” Camaro driver
his first win of the season at
South Georgia, as he ran
low-3.70s to defeat Johnny
Camp and Jay Cox before
slowing to a 3.936 to take
out two-time world cham-
pion Tommy Franklin in the
final. Franklin broke traction
in the final after stunning the
crowd with his 3.653 and
3.685 in prior rounds. Points
leader Jim Halsey fell victim
to Franklin in the semis fol-
lowing a stout 3.700 in the
opening round. While John Montecalvo’s No.
4 spot in the Liberty’s Gears
Extreme Pro Stock points
doesn’t reflect it, his Son-
ny’s-powered Camaro is
possibly the most consistent
car in the class. Tuner
Tommy Lee drove it to a
runner-up finish at Virginia,
then Montecalvo added
another two final rounds at
Maryland and South Georgia.
He went red in the SGMP
final, but his prior 4.103 and
4.128 indicated he was ready
to take the win. Defending
world champion Steven
Boone capitalized on the red
light, running a 4.223 to take
his first win of the season.
His semifinal opponent, Chris
Powers, also red-lit, negat-
ing a strong 4.123 preceded
by a first-round 4.098. Four races into the season,
defending Schwing America
Pro Outlaw 632 world cham-
pion Johnny Pluchino has
won three races in four final-
round appearances. His
latest win in his Kaase-pow-
ered Ford Escort came at the
Summer Nationals, where he
qualified No. 2 and defeated
2017 world champion Dillon
Voss, championship chal-
lenger Wes Distefano and
consistent late-round player
Chris Holdorf. He beat Diste-
fano by just one thousandth
of a second in the semis,
then used a holeshot to take
down Holdorf’s hard-charg-
ing nitrous Corvette. Holdorf
was deadly consistent on
race day, going 4.27, 4.293
and 4.306. Distefano record-
ed low ET and top speed of
the event, 4.258 at 171.88, in
the first round. Three-time Drag 965 Pro
Nitrous Motorcycle world
champion Eric McKinney
needed a big performance
at South Georgia. That’s
exactly what he got, as he
rode teammate Ashley
Owens’ Hayabusa to the No.
1 qualifying spot, a career-
best 3.977 at a world-record
179.92 in the opening round
and three more round wins
to claim the Summer Nation-
als victory. His opponent in
the final round was 2017
world champion Travis Davis,
who reached the money
round after holeshot wins
over Chris Garner-Jones and
defending world champion
Ronnie “Pro Mod” Smith.
Smith qualified No. 2 and
was locked in the low-4-sec-
ond zone, maintaining his
points lead with the semifi-
nal finish.
46 PDRA660.com