Drag Illustrated Issue 185, November / December 2023 | Page 64

Special Section
THIS EIGHTH AND FINAL 2023 EDITION OF THE PDRA TOP 3 LIST REPRESENTS PERFORMANCES FROM THE PRO LINE RACING BRIAN OLSON MEMORIAL WORLD FINALS PRESENTED BY PROCHARGER , OCT . 19-22 , AT VIRGINIA MOTORSPORTS PARK . FOR COMPLETE RESULTS AND THE
FINAL POINTS STANDINGS OF THE 2023 SEASON , VISIT WWW . PDRA660 . COM .
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER
PRO NITROUS
PRO BOOST
EXTREME PRO STOCK
PRO OUTLAW 632
PRO NITROUS MOTORCYCLE
JAY COX TOMMY FRANKLIN BILLY ALBERT
JASON HARRIS RANDY WEATHERFORD JOE ALBRECHT
JOHN MONTECALVO JOHNNY PLUCHINO STEVEN BOONE
DARYL STEWART CHRIS HOLDORF DOUG NICHOLL
PAUL GAST MESHAL AL-SABER CHRIS GARNER-JONES
For the third time in as many races , Tommy Franklin and Jay Cox met up in the Pro Nitrous final round . This time , though , Cox turned on the win light , laying down a 3.643 to claim his 11th and last – for a while anyways – PDRA 660 Man trophy as a driver . Franklin slowed to a 3.785 after getting out of the groove . Earlier in the day , he claimed his third world championship when he advanced through the first round and rival Jim Halsey did not . Engine builder Billy Albert had one of his best showings , taking down “ Tricky ” Rickie Smith and Scott Blake before losing to Cox with a weekend-best 3.677 .
In his sixth final round of the eight-race season , Jason Harris collected his third win of his Pro Boost world championship season by running a 3.581 to Randy Weatherford ’ s 3.600 . In prior rounds , Harris ran a 3.603 , 3.600 , and 3.580 , setting low E . T . of three of the four rounds . Weatherford was similarly quick in his ProCharged WS Construction ’ 21 Camaro , but it was his reaction times that really impressed : . 025 , . 009 , . 014 , and . 010 in the final . “ Nova Joe ” Albrecht was also cutting quick lights and making strong passes in Fletcher Cox ’ s ProCharged ’ 69 Camaro , including a . 001 bulb in the semis against Harris .
PRO STREET
Though rookie Alan Drinkwater secured the Extreme Pro Stock world championship , veteran names like Montecalvo , Pluchino , and Boone appeared in their fair share of headlines . Montecalvo raced through a murderer ’ s row of competitors – Tony Gillig , Elijah Morton , and John DeFlorian – to meet Johnny Pluchino and his Kaase-powered Feather- Lite Batteries ’ 13 Mustang in the final . Pluchino left first in his first three rounds , then left . 006 too soon in the final , while “ Machine Gun Monte ” posted a 4.055 in his Kaase-powered Roy Hill ’ s Drag Racing School ’ 21 Mustang for the win . Steven Boone , the 2018 world champ , earned his first-ever PDRA low qualifier award with a 4.029 in his Allen-powered ’ 07 Cobalt .
After qualifying No . 1 at the last two races , things finally went Daryl Stewart ’ s way in Pro 632 eliminations . He was . 005 away from the class E . T . record with his 4.108 in the second round , and he was going for the record in the final , but cool conditions sent him into tire shake . In the other lane , Chris Holdorf went way red and coasted to a stop on the starting line after making solid runs in his Nelson-powered Dewitt Custom Concrete ’ 06 GTO . Title contender Doug Nicholl in his Musi-powered ’ 68 Camaro ran in the teens in the first two rounds , then slowed to a 4.200 in the semis against Stewart .
SCOTT KINCAID | CHRIS CADOTTO | JERRY MORGANO
Paul Gast made his second Pro Nitrous Motorcycle appearance of the season on his Fast By Gast Suzuki , and he made the most of it by qualifying No . 2 and winning the race . He ran a 4.004 in E1 and a 3.989 in the semis before meeting up with Meshal Al-Saber in the final . There , both drivers had . 034 lights and ran 4.00s . Gast ’ s was . 005 quicker for the win . Chris Garner-Jones qualified No . 1 , clinched his second world championship , and set low E . T . of the first round before fouling out on the starting line against Al-Saber in the semis . Al-Saber was second-quickest of E1 , then caught a break when Garner-Jones timed out .
The Pro Street final round came down to two drivers who were undefeated this season – 16-0 Scott Kincaid and Chris Cadotto , who ’ s now 7-1 on the season . Kincaid ran in the 3.90s every pass , including his 3.915 against a red-lighting Cadotto in the final round . Cadotto in his screw-blown ’ 97 Dodge Ram known as “ The Brick ” stopped newly crowned world champion Bill Riddle in the semis with a 3.889 , the quickest pass for a full-sized truck on 33x10.5s . Outlaw 10.5 veteran Jerry Morgano picked up his first No . 1 qualifier award in his twin-turbo ’ 02 Mustang before losing on a holeshot to Joel Wensley Jr . in the second round .
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