Special Section
THE PDRA TOP 3 LIST IS AN EVER-CHANGING LIST OF THE BIGGEST NEWSMAKERS AND POWER PLAYERS IN THE PDRA ’ S PROFES- SIONAL CLASSES . THIS MONTH ’ S EDITION , REPRESENTING PERFORMANCES FROM THE P2 CONTRACTING NORTHERN NATIONALS PRESENTED BY P2 RACING , AUGUST 12-14 AT MAPLE GROVE 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 RESPECTIVE CLASSES . NOTE : THIS MONTH ’ S LIST DOES NOT INCLUDE DRAG 965 PRO NITROUS MOTORCYCLE BECAUSE THE CLASS DID NOT COMPETE AT THE NORTHERN NATIONALS .
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER
PRO NITROUS |
PRO BOOST |
EXTREME PRO STOCK |
PRO OUTLAW 632 |
JIM HALSEY TOMMY FRANKLIN MIKE ACHENBACH |
KEVIN RIVENBARK TODD TUTTEROW DANIEL PHARRIS |
JR CARR CHRIS POWERS JOHNNY PLUCHINO |
WES DISTEFANO DILLON VOSS DARYL STEWART |
Just as soon as we declared Jim Halsey was unstoppable , the twotime and defending Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous world champion went out and sustained a rare first-round loss at Maple Grove . His Fulton-powered “ Daddy Shark ” ’ 68 Camaro encountered issues , allowing eventual runner-up Ed Burnley to move on . Fellow two-time world champion Tommy Franklin also suffered a firstround loss , but he grabbed his first No . 1 qualifying spot of the season in his Musi-powered “ Jungle Rat ” ’ 69 Camaro . Mike Achenbach , a relative newcomer in Pro Nitrous , worked past a minor crash in testing and a fiery nitrous backfire to earn his first win in his Buck-powered “ Deep Purple ” ’ 69 Camaro , beating Burnley on a holeshot in the final round .
For the second race in a row , former teammates Kevin Rivenbark and Todd Tutterow squared off in the final round of Penske / PRS Pro Boost presented by WS Construction . It was a much closer race this time , though , as Tutterow left first in his screw-blown P2 Contracting ’ 20 Camaro but finished just . 005 behind Rivenbark ’ s 3.691 with a 3.707 . Rivenbark in his ProCharger-boosted GALOT Motorsports ’ 69 Camaro holds just over three rounds over Tutterow going into the last two races of the season . Rivenbark ’ s teammate , Daniel Pharris , also had a strong weekend , running low E . T . of first round ( 3.698 ) before going red to Tutterow in the semifinals , where he could ’ ve won with his 3.723 to Tutt ’ s 3.731 .
JR Carr ’ s Frank Gugliotta-tuned CP- Carrillo / Maxima Racing Oils ’ 20 Camaro has been an absolute stud of a race car all season in Liberty ’ s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition , but he wasn ’ t able to capitalize on its performance for the first few races . That ’ s changed recently , as Carr drove to victory at the Summer Shootout and again at the Northern Nationals , where he and Chris Powers both ran 4.09 in the final round . Unfortunately for Powers , he was . 006 red in his Sonny ’ s Racing Engines ’ 14 Camaro . Defending world champion Johnny Pluchino suffered a similar fate against Powers in the semifinals , going . 001 red on a 4.129 in his Kaase-powered Strutmasters ’ 13 Mustang next to Powers ’ 4.152 .
Defending world champion Wes Distefano , tuner Troy Russell and the Musi-powered $ hameless Racing ’ 68 Camaro have been a hard combo to beat in $ hameless Racing Pro Outlaw 632 . At Maple Grove , Distefano qualified No . 1 for the fourth time this season and recorded low E . T . of every round , culminating with a 4.222 win over Dillon Voss in the final round . Voss , a two-time world champion , qualified second in his Voss-powered Vigilante Associates ’ 17 Corvette and ran consistently in the high 4.20s on race day . Class newcomer Daryl Stewart in his HRE-powered Chassis Engineering ’ 12 Camaro was running just a couple numbers away from Distefano , but he went red by . 004 to Voss in the semis .
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