THE PDRA TOP 3 LIST IS AN EVER-CHANGING LIST OF THE BIGGEST NEWSMAKERS AND POWER PLAYERS IN THE PDRA ’ S PROFESSIONAL CLASSES . THIS EDITION , REPRESENTING PERFORMANCES FROM THE DECERBO CONSTRUCTION AMERICAN DOORSLAMMER CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY CALLIES , MAY 26-28 , AT SUMMIT MOTORSPORTS PARK , 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 .
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER
PRO NITROUS |
PRO BOOST |
EXTREME PRO STOCK |
PRO OUTLAW 632 |
PRO NITROUS MOTORCYCLE |
TOMMY FRANKLIN JIM HALSEY JOHN DECERBO |
MELANIE SALEMI TODD TUTTEROW JOHNNY CAMP |
JR CARR JOHNNY PLUCHINO TONY GILLIG |
AMBER FRANKLIN WALT LANNIGAN JR . LEXI TANNER |
PAUL GAST ASHLEY OWENS CHRIS GARNER-JONES |
From a sentimental standpoint , two-time Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin had maybe his best weekend ever as he and daughter Amber both qualified No . 1 and won , making them the first father-daughter duo to win at the same event in series history . Franklin in his Musi-powered “ Jungle Rat ” ’ 69 Camaro used a 3.654 to drive around defending champ Jim Halsey and his 3.679 in the final . Halsey ’ s Fultonpowered “ Daddy Shark ” ’ 68 Camaro qualified No . 2 just thousandths behind Franklin with a 3.689 . Event sponsor John DeCerbo takes the third spot on the list after qualifying No . 6 and reaching the semis .
Following a record weekend at the season opener , Melanie Salemi was back in the headlines in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive at the third race on tour . Salemi qualified No . 1 in Eddie Whelan ’ s roots-blown ’ 19 Camaro and ran pass after pass in the 3.60s , but Johnny Camp was just a little quicker in the final round . Camp posted a 3.634 in his Pro- Charger-boosted “ Hells Bells ” ’ 69 Camaro to beat Salemi ’ s 3.647 . Camp won on a holeshot in the semis over No . 2 qualifier Todd “ King Tut ” Tutterow , who won the first two races . Tutterow ’ s consistency keeps him solidly on the Top 3 list .
PRO STREET
JR Carr has consistently had the best car in qualifying in Liberty ’ s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition , but things finally came together in eliminations for him at Norwalk . The low qualifier improved in every round , cracking off a 4.067 in his Frank Gugliotta-tuned ’ 20 Camaro in the final to knock out Tony Gillig and his 4.077 . Gillig qualified No . 2 in his family ’ s Dayco / Gillig-Wagner Motorsports ’ 10 GXP before running a trio of 4.08s to reach the money round . Fresh off a win in Kentucky , Johnny Pluchino qualified third and was similarly consistent to Gillig , but came up short in a side-by-side race with Gillig .
TIM ESSICK | BILL RIDDLE | TY KASPER
Amber Franklin rolled into Norwalk as a recent firsttime winner in $ hameless Racing Pro 632 , and she left with yet another PDRA “ 660 Man ” trophy . She earned a first-round bye as the low qualifier , then left first in all three matchups , including the final round . Franklin in her Musi-powered “ OG Jungle Rat ” ’ 69 Camaro ran a 4.17 to beat Walt Lannigan Jr .’ s 4.238 . Lannigan was appearing in his second final in the Musi-powered $ hameless Racing ’ 68 Camaro after qualifying third . Lexi Tanner , who raced Franklin in the Bowling Green final , reached the semis in her Oakley-powered “ Thunder ” ’ 15 Camaro to face Franklin in a rematch .
Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Motorcycle saw some shakeups with some riders making their season debut and others sitting out the race . Paul Gast and Ashley Owens made their first PDRA appearance of 2022 and raced to the final . Other than Q1 , Gast dipped into the 3.90s on every pass on his Fast By Gast Hayabusa , capping it with a 3.998 over Owens ’ 4.026 in the final . It was Owens ’ best run of the day on one of two McKinney Motorsports entries after running 4.03s in prior rounds . The upset of the event was defending champion and No . 2 qualifier Chris Garner-Jones bowing out to Meshal Al-Saber in the first round .
Menscer Motorsports Pro Street presented by AFCO also saw some shakeups in its second of six appearances on the eight-race PDRA schedule . Defending world champion and low qualifier Tim Essick dipped out in the second round in his nearly invincible ProCharger-boosted “ Brown Sugar ” ’ 18 Mustang . Meanwhile , Bill Riddle had a breakout weekend in his supercharged Corrigan Race Fuels ’ 89 Camaro , running a string of careerbests to get his first win . He fired off a 4.009 in the final to defeat Ty Kasper and his 4.091 . Kasper got a couple lucky rounds , but he pulled out a weekend-best run in the runner-up effort .
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