“ This is a dream come true for me,” said Quartuccio.“ I know it sounds cliché, but this is what everyone aspires for.”
Steve King, who joined the exclusive WSOPM Champions Club when he defeated Stevie“ Fast” Jackson in the $ 150,000 WSOPM final round by just. 001 seconds, finished second in the Winter Series championship hunt. Points-and-a-half in WSOPM eliminations helped King bounce back from first-round exits at the first two races of the series.
“ Absolutely crazy to look at this list and see guys and girls on this list who are the best in the world,” King said in a Facebook post.“ This old guy with a twang has no words to even describe this deal!”
Jackson, a semifinalist at WSOPM last year just a week after winning Lights Out 15 in his screw-blown Motion Raceworks“ Shadow 3.0”’ 68 Camaro, locked up a third-place finish in points with his runner-up effort. Like King, he suffered first-round exits at the Snowbirds and U. S. Street Nationals.
“ It’ s pretty cool to finish third in points in this field of racers!” Jackson said on Facebook.“ Hats off to everyone!”
Fourth place went to No Prep Kings star Kye Kelley, who turned heads with his victory at the Snowbirds. Despite not having a true purpose-built Pro Mod, Kelley proved himself in a field of the best Pro Modified drivers and cars in the world.
“ Well boyz and girlz, I’ m not giving up!” Kelley said on Facebook.“ I have what it takes. The best tuners, a badass car, and a great team! We will be back.”
Rounding out the top five is Micke, who qualified No. 1 at all three Winter Series races to extend his No. 1 qualifying streak to 13 races. The driver of the twin-turbocharged M & M Transmission’ 69 Camaro notched a semifinal finish at the Snowbirds, then had to lift early in a second-round match with four-time and reigning NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown at the U. S. Street Nationals. He bowed out to No Prep Kings standout Scott Taylor in the second round at WSOPM.
“ I think it brings a lot of legitimacy to what we’ ve done our whole lives racing,” Micke said of the Winter Series on the Wes Buck Show following the World Series.“ We’ re not professional racers, but we race like professionals, but we don’ t get the notoriety. I think that’ s what this
has done, it’ s opened eyes for a lot of people. You have Antron Brown and Brian Corradi, all those guys over there, and they’ re telling us how badass we are and how they look and watch us. It’ s really showcased what we’ ve all known, but it’ s showing it to the world.”
The list of five other drivers in the top 10 reads like a who’ s-who list of doorslammer drivers: 2023 WSOPM runner-up Kurt Steding in sixth, multi-time PDRA Pro Boost and big-money Pro Mod winner Melanie Salemi in seventh, six-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders in eighth, past NMCA Xtreme Pro Mod champion Ty Tutterow in ninth, and 2024 WSOPM Chicago-Style Second Chance Shootout winner Jeff Rudolf in tenth. DI
AFTER FALLING TO KYE KELLEY IN THE SNOWBIRDS FINAL ROUND, QUARTUCCIO RACKED UP ENOUGH POINTS TO HOLD OFF KELLEY, WHO REMAINED CONSISTENTLY STRONG THROUGH THE REST OF THE WINTER SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE.
154 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 194