FEW YEARS AGO , the cover of the Drag IllustrateD 30 Under 30 Issue highlighted the youth movement in NHRA Pro Stock , with Aaron Stanfield , Dallas Glenn , Troy Coughlin Jr ., and Kyle Koretsky serving as the face of that movement . Others like Mason McGaha and the Cuadra brothers were also a part of that movement , and now they ’ re getting their spot on the 30 Under 30 list this year .

Over the last few seasons , a similar youth movement has been developing in the PDRA ’ s Pro Street class . A rebirth of Outlaw 10.5 sans drag radials , Pro Street features stock-appearing race cars utilizing Pro Modified-level engines and power adders riding on 10.5-inch-wide slicks . Pro Street has steadily gained traction in the PDRA since its current iteration was introduced

as a championship-earning category in 2021 . This season , it boasted full 16-car fields at five of the eight races on the schedule . Four of those races had more than 16 cars , with the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals setting a series / class record with 20 entries .

Pro Street includes possibly the largest concentration of young participants outside of the Jr . Dragster classes in the PDRA . To kick off the 2024 DI 30 Under 30 list , we ’ re highlight-

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HIS FALL , 2021 PDRA Pro Jr . Dragster world champion Ethan Steding joined an exclusive club when he became just the second PDRA Jr . Dragster champion to also score a professional class world championship . Driving his roots-blown P2 Contracting “ College Fund ” ’ 24 Camaro , Steding won three Pro Street races on his way to the title in his rookie season . At just 17 years old , he ’ s also the youngest pro-class world champion in the PDRA ’ s 11-season history .

Steding didn ’ t really experience drag racing until he was around six years old , when his father , Pro Boost championship runner-up Kurt Steding , decided to take his Ford Raptor to the local dragstrip . A week later , he went to pick up a race car . The elder Steding raced at a local track , where Ethan and his younger siblings got to try Jr . Dragster racing . Ethan was hooked , and a few years later , he won the IHRA Bracket Finals at his home track , sending him to the IHRA World Finals in Memphis . He made it down to eight cars , where he went red by . 002 .

“ I was the only 11-year-old there ,” remembers Steding , who raced at Thompson Raceway Park , Dragway 42 , Summit Motorsports Park , and Quaker City Motorsports Park , all in Ohio . “ It was weird , though , because everywhere you looked , all the other drivers all had full beards and everything already . That was one of my big accomplishments , making it there .”

The Stedings eventually started running a couple PDRA races a year , then they went all-in on the series , with Kurt in Pro Boost , Ethan in Pro Jr . Dragster , and sister Lily in Top Jr . Dragster . In 2021 , Ethan won two races in three final-round appearances to claim the Pro Jr . Dragster championship .

As Ethan started to approach the age where he ’ d grow out of the Jr . Dragster ranks , he and his dad discussed the next step , with the eventual goal being a move up to Pro Boost . At first , the plan was to put Ethan in Kurt ’ s previous Pro Boost Corvette ( now owned and driven by Bubba Greene ) in Elite Top Sportsman , but they reevaluated and came up with a new plan with tuner Todd Tutterow .

“ Whenever it started to come closer to the time , I went to my dad and I was like , ‘ I don ’ t really want to bracket race going 200 MPH ,’” says Ethan , a senior in high school . “ He definitely agreed with me . We got with Todd , started talking with Todd about it , and Pro Street was making its way up . Todd was game with it . Everyone was game with

it , so we found us a Pro Street car . Ever since then , that ’ s been the goal . I love the class . It ’ s a great group of racers and it ’ s really grown .”

Tutterow had Steding do six burnouts before he ever took the tree in the roots-blown ’ 24 Camaro . He then worked on 60-foot launches , then 330-foot pulls before attempting to run the full eighth mile .

“ I just took baby steps , which got me to where I ’ m at now ,” Steding says . “ We ran good at the beginning of the year . Before the first GALOT race , we went and tested . The car ran great there . We ended up actually running a 3.91 . After that , we were like , ‘ Oh wow , we got us a car that can contend for a championship this year .’”

Steding qualified No . 7 with a 3.986 and picked up a first-round win in his debut at the season-opening East Coast Nationals . He qualified

No . 1 at the next race in Virginia , then earned his first win at his home race , the American Doorslammer Challenge at Norwalk . The following race , the North vs . South Shootout at Maryland , the Stedings scored a Father ’ s Day weekend double-up win . Two races later , Ethan won again at the inaugural Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol . He clinched the Pro Street world championship when he bumped into the 16-car field in the final qualifying session at the World Finals .

“ I knew the car was going to perform ,” Steding says of his unlikely championship rookie season . “ I ’ ve got the baddest man behind me , Todd Tutterow , and his son , Ty . I ’ ve got the baddest people behind me . So I knew the car was going to be there . It came down to me as a driver , if I was going to be capable of driving a 200 MPH race car at 17 years old , only coming out of a Jr . Dragster , not really having that kind of experience . I knew I needed to be on it .”

With guidance from his father and the Tutterow father-son duo , Steding grew as a driver as the season went on , learning when to lift , how to handle two different transmission configurations , and more . He plans to continue learning in Pro Street to prepare for a move to Pro Boost in the coming years .

“ I ’ m not making the funds for these things yet , so it ’ s really not my choice right now ,” says Steding , who is also learning the family business , P2 Contracting , with a current focus on running heavy equipment . “ I would love to go into a Pro Mod , but I think for now Pro Street ’ s where I want to be . It ’ s an awesome class . Perfect speed for me . The racers in that class are awesome , super respectful , especially towards me , which means a lot .

“ I think Pro Street is where I ’ ll be for a couple years ,” continues Steding , who thanked parents Kurt and Wendi , the P2 Racing team , the Tutterows and their WYO Motorsports team , and partners like Larry Jeffers Race Cars , Mike Janis Superchargers , Noonan Race Engineering , Ty-Drive , and NGK Spark Plugs , “ but I would definitely say it is a stepping stone towards Pro Boost , and that ’ s eventually where I ’ ll want to be racing . I ’ ll want to be racing after my dad .” DI

108 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 191