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PRO NITROUS
MARCUS BUTNER AMBER DENTON BUDDY PERKINSON
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PRO BOOST
KURT STEDING JASON HARRIS ED MARX
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PRO STREET
BLAKE DENTON ETHAN STEDING TIM ESSICK
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EXTREME PRO STOCK
JEREMY HUFFMAN ALAN DRINKWATER CHRIS POWERS
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PRO 632
JEFF MELNICK WALTER LANNIGAN KYLE SALMINEN
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Virginia was the race of upsets, and that was certainly the case in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous, where first-round exits struck reigning world champion Fredy Scriba and Stevie“ Fast” Jackson, filling in for season opener winner Tim Paap. Marcus Butner in his Jay Cox-tuned, Musi-powered“ Heartbreaker”’ 69 Camaro qualified No. 2 and fired off 3.63s in the semis and final to earn his second 660 Man. His final-round opponent was rookie Amber Denton, who qualified No. 4 in her Musipowered“ OG Jungle Rat”’ 69 Camaro and reached the final in just her second Pro Nitrous start. Past Elite Top Sportsman world champ Buddy Perkinson got one of those upset first-round wins and parlayed it into a semifinal finish. |
WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive saw its fair share of surprises too, as all four semifinalists from the season opener were out by the time the second round concluded. Championship runner-up Kurt Steding, who lost in the first round at GALOT, wheeled his screw-blown P2 Contracting’ 69 Camaro to a 3.615 – low E. T. of the event – in the final round to defeat Jason Harris. Harris, the two-time and reigning world champ, qualified No. 1 in his Pro- Charged Southern Diamond Co.“ Party Time”’ 69 Camaro and ran a trio of 3.60s to the final, where he went red. Californian Ed Marx enjoyed a strong debut, reaching the semis in his screw-blown’ 23 Camaro. |
Blake Denton, Liberty’ s Gears Pro Street presented by Menscer Motorsports winner at the season opener, was on track to get another win in the nitrous-fed“ Bonnie”’ 69 Camaro. He earned a second straight No. 1 qualifier award and used holeshot wins over World Finals winner Richard Reagan and retired NFL star turned Pro Street rookie Fletcher Cox to reach the final. That’ s where his night ended, as reigning world champ Ethan Steding left first and ran a 3.948 in his roots-blown P2 Contracting“ College Fund”’ 24 Camaro to join his dad in the winner’ s circle. Two-time world champ Tim Essick was consistent as ever in his Pro- Charged“ Brown Sugar”’ 18 Mustang, qualifying No. 2 and bowing out in the semis. |
After several runner-up finishes in AED Competition Extreme Pro Stock presented by Boone Motorsports, Jeremy Huffman was hungry for his first career win. He got into the field on the bump in his 3V Performance-powered’ 10 Cobalt, then knocked out twotime and reigning world champion Chris Powers on a holeshot in E1. He then beat Jordan Ensslin before laying down low E. T. of the event, 4.085, to beat 2018 world champ Steven Boone in the final. Alan Drinkwater, the 2023 world champ, backed up his season opener performance by qualifying No. 2 and going to the semis in his Kaase-powered’ 08 Mustang. Powers scored a second straight No. 1 qualifier award in his Sonny’ s Racing Engines’ 21 Camaro. |
Jeff Melnick, the 2023 PDRA Pro 632 presented by PTC Torque Converters world champion, was back in championship form in Alan O’ Brien’ s Barry Allen-powered Greenbrier Excavating & Paving’ 20 Camaro. He qualified No. 1 and set low E. T. of the first two rounds, a pair of 4.19s, to end up in the final. Melnick went into tire shake, opening the door for Kyle Salminen to charge to his first career win in his Musi-powered’ 03 Cavalier. Not that Salminen, the No. 3 qualifier, needed the door opened – he set low E. T. of race day with his winning 4.185. Season opener winner Walter Lannigan qualified No. 2 in Chris Holdorf’ s Nelson-powered C & C Concrete Pumping’ 10 GTO and made it to the semis. |