The Oral History of the PDRA
Racing is a family endeavor for Jason and Mitchell Scruggs .
The Garner-Jones family is another multi-generation PDRA team .
all good . It was a learning curve year for sure .
But at the same time , I felt like 2019 was the year that really , I ’ m not going to say turned the tides , but it started the , “ Hey , we ’ re going to change the direction of PDRA . This is how we foresee it going in the future ,” so we had to turn the boat a little bit through that entire year . That was difficult because you have people that had raced the series for years that were , “ Ahh man , you can ’ t change .” But it was things that you had to change if you wanted to grow and get better . There was a lot of pushback , for sure , but at the same time , with change comes good things , and with change comes bad things . We learned from all of those , and at the same time , I feel like 2019 was a solid year to get the boat turning in the direction we were hoping to take it .
ADAPT AND OVERCOME
Lurking around the corner was the COVID-19 pandemic , which began less than a month before the 2020 season was supposed to kick off . The season opener at GALOT was postponed by about two months to the last weekend in May . The schedule was reduced to seven races , while six races were actually completed . Fans were not permitted at the first race due to social distancing guidelines , while limited fans were allowed to attend the second race at Darlington Dragway .
TC : Yeah , ‘ 20 was a hard one . You go into the whole season with the mindset that we ’ re coming off a strong 2019 , we ’ re growing , we ’ re getting better , and everything is looking really positive . Then all of a sudden you look up and go , “ Oh crap . This is not good .” Fighting a global pandemic , not only on the human side , but also the business side with the hurdles we had to jump through was tough . The racetracks that were partnered with us on all those events , the hurdles that they had to jump through . That was a year where a lot of respect was earned on both sides .
We made the conscious decision to try and go after getting on the racetrack as quick as we could . To do so meant we raced with no fans . Also , no fans meant that we made the decisions to have to cut purses just to get on the racetrack . We were all really nervous about that going in , like , “ Oh man . Are we about to run off the people that we have ?” But everybody bought in . Starting the season at GALOT , we had to cap certain classes . Sold out everything that was on a cap . Racer turnout was absolutely huge for that first race .
That year was a trying year from a planning standpoint because you
really became fearful of planning because your plans changed so often . It was really one of those years that shaped what PDRA is now because of battling through COVID , backing up on the purses , and just taking a step back . The next season we introduced the ProStars program that ’ s a free entry fee , big-money payouts shootout during Night of Fire at Virginia . That kind of turned the tide of the series . A lot of people now look forward to ProStars , and that ’ s one of their goals for the year , to make it into that race .
Before 2020 , everything was going smooth , so it was like why rock the boat ? But when 2020 happened , it ’ s like , “ Here ’ s our excuse . If there ’ s something we ever want to try or redo or change , this is our opportunity because everybody else is fighting the same fights , and if we want to change something , this is the time to do it .” It was a questionable move at the time , but now looking back on it , ‘ 20 was probably one of the strongest turning-point years for the PDRA that I can remember .
The inaugural Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars race during VMP ’ s Night of Fire was just one of the shiny new features on the 2021 schedule . Others included first-time stops at NHRA national-event facilities Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk , Ohio , and Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton , Pennsylvania . Both tracks were on the 2020 schedule before the pandemic . Kentucky ’ s historic Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green also joined the tour .
One of the themes of the 2021 season was rain . The wet stuff plagued nearly every race that season , leading to early qualifying sessions , reduced qualifying opportunities , and Sunday eliminations . Even during the driest years , it seems rain is a factor at no less than a couple races per season . It ’ s comical at times , leading to jokes that the PDRA actually stands for “ Professional Drought Relief Association ” or “ People Dragging Rain Around .” No matter the challenge , though , Crossnoe and the PDRA team jump into action . It ’ s not unusual to find them working through the night to rebuild the track surface after a heavy downpour puts a stop to the day ’ s on-track activities .
TC : It teaches you to keep your head up through adversity . It ’ s another one of those feathers in the cap that racers trust us to get these events done and to make the moves on the schedule when we have rain coming in to get ahead . Anything we can do to make sure we complete the event on time and try to get them home and back to their regular jobs and their families . As hard as it is on us and frustrating as it is to make the changes , going through as many fights as we have has taught us a lot as a team . It ’ s taught us a lot as a series .
It ’ s also , in my opinion , built the trust level even more between the series and the racers . They might see rain in the forecast , but they ’ ll say ,
172 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 185