EVERY YEAR , NUMEROUS DRIVERS , CREW MEMBERS , MEDIA MEMBERS , AND OTHER PDRA-FOCUSED PERSONALITIES APPEAR ON THE DRAG ILLUSTRATED 30 UNDER 30 LIST . THAT ’ S BECAUSE THE SERIES PRESENTS SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SPORT , WHILE ALSO PUSHING THEM TO BECOME BETTER ON AND OFF THE TRACK . IT ’ S ALSO ONE OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE ARENAS IN DRAG RACING , MAKING ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE SERIES ALL THE MORE IMPRESSIVE AND WORTHY OF A SPOT ON THE LIST . ¶ WHILE THE FIVE INDIVIDUALS FOUND HERE DIDN ’ T MAKE THIS YEAR ’ S LIST , THEIR EFFORTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 2023 PDRA SEASON STILL DESERVE RECOGNITION .
AVA MELONI ( PREVIOUS PAGE )
IN HER SECOND full season of Pro Jr . Dragster competition , Ava Meloni accomplished multiple “ firsts ” in an increasingly competitive class . Driving her TT Motorsports dragster , Meloni reached her first final round at Darlington , where she fell to eventual world champion Brayden Davis in a double breakout final round – Davis
went . 005 under the 7.90 index , while Meloni was . 007 too quick . The Massachusetts-based driver then picked up her first No . 1 qualifier award at the World Finals on the strength of a 7.906-second best .
In between rounds in her own car , Meloni also serves as the main crew member for her father , 2021 Top Sportsman world champion Nick Meloni . She helped him go rounds in his TT Motorsports ’ 69 Camaro in Top Sportsman and his ’ 16 Dan Page dragster in Top Dragster . The elder Meloni finished third in Top Sportsman points and seventh in Top Dragster . Last year , he finished second in Top Sportsman and third in Top Dragster . When he won the 2021 title in Top Sportsman , he was the championship runner-up in Top Dragster . Will 2024 be the year this father-daughter duo becomes the latest parent-child duo to win championships together ?
SCOTT KINCAID
AN UNDEFEATED SEASON is all but impossible in today ’ s competitive drag racing environment , but Scott Kincaid accomplished that feat , albeit on a part-time basis . The 24-year-old son of Limited Drag Radial champion Tim Kincaid made his debut in Menscer Motorsports Pro Street presented by Afco Racing at Norwalk , where he ended up in the winner ’ s circle in the family ’ s roots-blown ’ 69 Camaro . Kincaid won again at Maryland and skipped the Michigan race , using the spare time between events to switch to a screw-blown platform .
The Tennessean picked up where he left off at DragWars at GALOT Motorsports Park , winning his third consecutive event . He went into the World Finals with an outside chance at the world championship . Fellow contender and eventual champion Bill Riddle went too many rounds for Kincaid to catch him , but Kincaid did everything he could , winning for the fourth time in as many races . He came up just 24 points – about a quarter of one round – short of the championship despite running two less races than the other top five finishers . The Kincaids plan to run the full tour in 2024 , making Kincaid an early championship favorite .
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