Drag Illustrated Issue 185, November / December 2023 | Page 63

Special Section

THIS EDITION OF THE PDRA TOP 3 LIST REPRESENTS PERFOR- MANCES FROM THE PROFABRICATION DRAGWARS , OCT . 5-7 , AT GALOT MOTORSPORTS PARK . PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER

Even Tommy Franklin himself admitted the odds were against him to win a third consecutive race , but he did exactly that , marking the first time in his career he ’ s won three in a row . He qualified No . 1 and set low E . T . of every round , including his 3.626 over Jay Cox ’ s 3.65 in the final round . Cox was hoping to win one final home race at GALOT . He qualified No . 3 and ran in the 3.60s all four rounds , but he was a couple numbers behind Franklin each round . No . 4 qualifier Rickie Smith was consistent in his Musi-powered Parkway Ford ’ 22 Mustang to reach the semis for the fifth time this season .

Scott Lang proved his win over points leader Jason Harris at Darlington was no fluke , as he beat Harris for the second race in a row . Lang ’ s Lee White-tuned ’ 18 Camaro qualified No . 6 and carried him to progressively quicker E . T . s , ending with a 3.603 holeshot win over Harris and his 3.589 in the final . Harris qualified No . 1 , and aside from the first round , he set low E . T . of every round . His 3.585 over Travis Harvey ’ s 3.616 in the semis was low E . T . of the event . Kurt Steding bounced back from an early exit at Darlington by qualifying No . 2 in his screwblown P2 Contracting ’ 20 Camaro and racing to a semifinal finish .

Championship spoilers played a role in the Extreme Pro Stock points battle at DragWars . Title contenders Chris Powers and Alan Drinkwater qualified well and made good runs , but both drivers bowed out in the semis . Drinkwater lost traction off the line while Tony Gillig made his best run of the day , while Powers went red on a 4.051 pass to Scott Benham ’ s 4.125 . Benham , the No . 16 qualifier making his first appearance of the season in the Team O Motorsports Cobalt , left first in the final but shook to a 13.463 . Gillig posted a 4.086 in his Kaase-powered Dayco ’ 10 GXP to earn his second win in four appearances .

Daryl Stewart made another statement at DragWars , qualifying No . 1 and running a pair of mid-teens in the first two rounds before dropping jaws with a record-tying 4.105 in the semis . He was stopped in the final by reigning world champion Amber Franklin , who left first and ran a 4.156 in her Musi-powered “ OG Jungle Rat ” ’ 69 Camaro to beat Stewart ’ s 4.109 on a holeshot . It was the second time in two seasons that Franklin shared the winner ’ s circle with her father . Her longtime boyfriend , Super Street contender Blake Denton , proposed in the winner ’ s circle . Points leader Jeff Melnick had a big weekend , taking out challenger Doug Nicholl in E2 .

Meshal Al-Saber ’ s win at DragWars has been a long time coming , as he last won in 2016 and tuner Brad McCoy ’ s last win as a rider came in 2017 . The Kuwaitbased rider qualified No . 1 on the Q80 Racing / BMRC entry and reached the final round to meet No . 2 qualifier Chris Garner-Jones . Al- Saber ran a 4.012 in the final , while Garner-Jones struggled off the line after getting lane choice by . 001 in the semis . Rookie Brayden Davis set low E . T . of the event on his Timblin Chassis Hayabusa with his 3.984 in the first round , but lost on a holeshot on a 3.988 pass to Garner-Jones in the semis .

PRO STREET

SCOTT KINCAID | BILL LUTZ | JOEL WENSLEY JR .

Scott Kincaid remains undefeated in Pro Street competition , as the 24-year-old raced to his third win in as many appearances . Driving his father ’ s ’ 69 Camaro , which switched over from a roots blower to a screwtype supercharger since his last win , Kincaid used consistency to reach the final . There , he laid down a 3.912 to beat Bill Lutz ’ s 3.897 on a holeshot . Lutz qualified second in his screw-blown “ Big Boost ” ’ 68 Camaro , set low E . T . of the second round by almost a tenth , and creeped up on the E . T . record in the final . Joel Wensley Jr . had a career-best day , running low E . T . of a wild first round before reaching the semis .

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