HISTORY MADE
KEN QUARTUCCIO CELEBRATES INAUGURAL DRAG ILLUSTRATED WINTER SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP
BY NATE VAN WAGNEN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUKE NIEUWHOF, DAVID HILNER, DARREL JACKSON JR., ROBERT RICHARD, DANNY STOGNER AND MELLIE SNEDEKER
Ken Quartuccio recently completed one of the most impressive stretches of his illustrious racing career, and also one of the most impressive runs in doorslammer drag racing history. The Connecticut native won the prestigious NHRA U. S. Nationals in Pro Mod last Labor Day weekend, runnered up at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals to kick off the inaugural Drag Illustrated Winter Series( DIWS) presented by J & A Service, won the next race of the series, the $ 75,000-to-win U. S. Street Nationals, and won Duck X Productions’ Lights Out 16 in Radial vs. the World. Just days after that victory, he rolled back into Bradenton for the World Series of Pro Mod as the Winter Series points leader. On WSOPM race day, Quartuccio locked up the DIWS championship, adding another high point to an illustrious doorslammer racing career.
While Quartuccio made headlines with his performances over the winter, he sees the Toyota NHRA U. S. Nationals in Indianapolis last September as the start of the run he’ s been on with Scott Tidwell Racing. Following an NHRA Pro Mod debut in 2023, Quartuccio partnered up with Tidwell for the full 2024 season, a pairing that resulted in Quartuccio’ s win at Indy, as well as a fourth-place finish in an incredibly close NHRA Pro Mod championship battle.
“ We went in there, we won that race, and it’ s the same group of people all season, but we really peaked then, and then we had some issues with the car,” Quartuccio says.“ Not crew problems, not tuning. Mostly my driving was fine. We were still on a roll, but we didn’ t have the results because the car was giving us trouble.
“ Then at the end of the season, we went right to World Street Nationals in Orlando and we won the shootout race for Pro Mod vs. RVW, then we went to Snowbirds and runnered up there,” Quartuccio continues.“ I feel as though our team has been on a roll since midseason last year.”
For the inaugural DI Winter Series, Quartuccio was tapped to drive a new screw-blown’ 69 Camaro commissioned by Dustin Nesloney and Tidwell. Tuned by Steve Petty with input from Brandon Stroud and Chris Terry, the new car was successful right of the gate.
Quartuccio qualified No. 4 with a 3.601 at the Snowbirds, which had the quickest 32-car field in Pro Mod history with Mark Micke on top with a 3.591 at Bob Glenn in the No. 32 spot with his 3.647. He charged to the final round, where he lost a close race to No Prep Kings driver Kye Kelley.
In late January, Quartuccio returned to Bradenton for the U. S. Street Nationals, where he qualified No. 2 and ran a string of 3.50s to meet Lyle Barnett in the final round. Quartuccio cut a. 001 reaction time and ran a 3.586 to earn the $ 75,000 victory over Barnett and his 3.608. Earlier in the day, he also took over the points lead
THROUGHOUT THE WINTER SERIES, QUARTUCCIO AND TEAM PROVED THEMSELVES AGAINST THE TOUGHEST RACERS IN PRO MOD, INCLUDING PAST NMCA WORLD CHAMP TY TUTTEROW AND HIS MANY-
TIME WORLD CHAMPION FATHER AND TUNER, TODD TUTTEROW.
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