The Oral History of the PDRA
The PDRA ’ s Wild West days .
The two-wheeled dynamic duo , Eric McKinney and Ashley Owens .
Dragway . The lineup included Pro Extreme , Pro Nitrous , Extreme Pro Stock , the new Pro Boost class , Pro Extreme Motorcycle , Top Sportsman , Top Dragster , Pro Jr . Dragster , and Top Jr . Dragster . That inaugural event played host to Frankie “ The Mad Man ” Taylor ’ s 3.485-second pass , which still stands as the quickest eighth-mile Pro Mod pass of all time . The eight-race season continued at South Georgia Motorsports Park , Memphis International Raceway , U . S . 131 Motorsports Park , Virginia Motorsports Park , and Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park before closing out the year with return stops at Rockingham and Virginia .
By all accounts , the first season was a success , laying the groundwork for an expanded 2015 season . Extreme Pro Stock , which already had fairly low car counts at most races , was cut from the 2015 lineup because of competition from the IHRA Pro Stock class that divided the group of racers . Pro Open Outlaw , a heads-up class for dragsters and altereds , was added to five races . The Outlaw 10.5 Championship series also added two PDRA events to its schedule . New sponsors joined the fold , and purses were increased across the board .
The 2015 season was better yet . After two full seasons of guaranteed payouts and completed events , the drag racing community started to gain confidence in the fledgling series . While Hector and Henson eventually divested their involvement in the ownership group , it was becoming apparent that Scruggs and Franklin were committed to the organization . Another eight-race schedule was set for the 2016 season , which also saw the return of Extreme Pro Stock on a five-race part-time schedule .
TRAGEDY STRIKES
Jason SCRUGGS
Despite the momentum going into the season , the PDRA had a somber start to the 2016 season . Cold weather led to the postponement of the season opener at Tulsa , leading to a double header event during the Spring Nationals at Rockingham . On Saturday at the Spring Nationals , Top Sportsman veteran
Ronnie Davis lost control of his ’ 63 Corvette and crossed over the right-side retaining wall past the scoreboards . After exiting the racing surface , Davis ’ car clipped photographer Ian Tocher , who was the senior editor at Drag Illustrated at the time . Davis succumbed to his injuries , while Tocher was hospitalized with injuries to his legs , pelvis , and back . He ultimately had to have one of his legs amputated . The incident rocked the tightknit PDRA community .
TF : In all honesty , it makes you question it all . If we ’ re out here doing stuff that ’ s taking lives away from us , why do you want to do that ? But we also understand that we don ’ t always get to write the story of life . Life kind of happens , and it ’ s usually written for us . For whatever reason , that was Ronnie ’ s day . He was a great competitor and great supporter of the PDRA . He was always there from the start with us .
It hurts to see that happen , but no different than it would hurt in anybody else ’ s life . I wish it never would ’ ve happened , but I also feel that our team did what was supposed to be done . It was just an unfortunate situation . But it does make you question “ why do I go to the next race ?” when you see something tragic like that happen . I ’ m sure Ronnie would ’ ve been somewhere else racing that day or I ’ m sure it would ’ ve been another series or whatever that is . Sometimes you want to make yourself responsible when you ’ re the one putting on the event .
JUDY FRANKLIN : Losing a racer in the series is like losing a family member . I can remember going to Renee Bingham [ God Speed Ministry president and chaplain ] and just saying , “ I don ’ t want to do this anymore . I don ’ t want to be involved where people lose their lives .” But as Tommy said , we ’ re not the writers of this story . God is ultimately in control and He ’ s the one writing all of our story . Renee sat down and talked to me and said , “ You know what ? God has put you guys here for a reason . You guys are running this series for a reason to bring others closer to God .” She made me re-look at the way I was looking at things when that happened . Again , when you lose a racer like that , it ’ s like losing a part of your family . The PDRA is one huge family .
166 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 185