KURT STEDING DEBUTS NEW WEAPON Kurt Steding rolled into the 2024 edition of the WSOPM with a brand-new car . The Pittsburgh-area contractor started shaking down his new screw-blown P2 Contracting ’ 69 Camaro during pre-race testing in the days leading up to qualifying . With longtime tuner Todd “ King Tut ” Tutterow calling the shots , it looked like last year ’ s runner-up just might have a car that could help him turn on that last win light this time .
“ I know with the new car , as long as I do my job , I think the car and Todd will put us there . As long as I stay up on the lights , and they seem to be doing all right right now ,” Steding said .
Steding qualified No . 10 in the 32-car field with his 3.63 at 207.02 , which he recorded in the third qualifying session on Friday . It just so happened to be during Rivals Night , where Steding matched up with 2023 WSOPM champion
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Spencer Hyde in a rematch of the final round . This time it went Steding ’ s way , as he left first by . 008 to win on a holeshot with a . 005 margin of victory . He ran another 3.63 in the final qualifying session , while a pair of 3.655s were his worst E . T . s of the five qualifying sessions . |
A pair of PDRA Pro Boost ’ s toughest drivers met up in the first round , where Steding grabbed a starting line advantage over Travis “ The Carolina Kid ” Harvey and won with a 3.671 to Harvey ’ s 3.691 . He had another tough draw in the second round , as he lined up next to Tutterow in car owner Justin Smith ’ s new screw-blown ’ 69 Camaro . Steding won when the two squared off in the third round last year , but Tutterow came out on top this year . Tutterow was off the line first and ran a 3.726 , while Steding lost traction and slowed to a 4.758 .
“ Todd used to scare the hell out of me . Now I ’ m sort of getting used to it ,” Steding said of racing his tuner . “ He ’ s a good racer , man . Like the best . I ’ m sure we ’ re going to eventually race each other here [ in PDRA Pro Boost ], so we ’ ll just have to see how it goes .” — NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUKE NIEUWHOF |