Drag Illustrated Issue 196, September / October 2025 | Page 62

Special Section

NOW IN ITS EIGHTH SEASON, THE PDRA TOP 3 LIST DIVES INTO SOME OF THE BIGGEST PERFORMANCES IN THE PROFESSIONAL CLASSES FROM EACH OF THE EIGHT RACES ON THE 2025 RED LINE OIL PDRA DRAG RACING SERIES. THIS EDITION, REPRESENTING PERFORMANCES FROM THE TALBERT MANUFACTURING NORTHERN NATIONALS PRESENTED BY CALLIES PERFORMANCE, JULY 31-AUGUST 2, AT U. S. 131 MOTORSPORTS PARK, DOES NOT REFLECT THE CURRENT POINTS STANDINGS, THOUGH MOST OF THE DRIVERS WHO APPEAR ON THIS LIST CAN ALSO BE FOUND NEAR THE TOP OF THE POINTS STANDINGS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE CLASSES. DRIVERS EARN THEIR WAY ONTO THE LIST THROUGH WINS, STRONG QUALIFYING EFFORTS, AND OTHERWISE STANDOUT PERFORMANCES. NOTE: SUPER STREET PRESENTED BY BRIAN’ S HEATING & COOLING DID NOT COMPETE AT THE NORTHERN NATIONALS. PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER

In a dream final round for the entire Franklin family, Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous rookie Amber Denton defeated her father, three-time world champion Tommy Franklin, to earn her first career win in the class at the Northern Nationals. Mechanical gremlins plagued both Denton’ s“ OG Jungle Rat”’ 69 Camaro and Franklin’ s“ Jungle Rat 3.0”’ 69 Camaro in prior rounds, so they were considerably down on power for the final, but they still delivered a side-by-side race – Denton’ s 5.44 beat Franklin’ s 5.46. Before Tim Paap had to shut off after the burnout in the semis, his Musi-powered Paap Auto Body / KTR’ 16 Corvette was the quickest car on property, qualifying No. 1 and setting low E. T. of the first two rounds.

With a new Hart’ s Charger centrifugal supercharged on his WS Construction’ 21 Camaro, Randy Weatherford made a major statement with his performance in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive at Martin. He qualified No. 1 and ran progressively quicker as race day developed, ending with a winning 3.578 in the final. Opponent Ty Tutterow was quicker with a 3.576 in Justin Smith’ s screw-blown Quik Fuel’ 69 Camaro, but the Maryland winner went red by. 017. Another final-round appearance paired with a No. 3 qualifying effort keeps Tutterow at the top of the list. Two-time and defending world champ Jason Harris was also on his game in his ProCharged“ Party Time”’ 69 Camaro, qualifying fourth and reaching the semis.

Retired NFL star Fletcher Cox may have made headlines in Liberty’ s Gears Pro Street presented by Menscer Motorsports with his nitrous car, but Ethan Steding left Michigan with the trophy. Driving his roots-blown P2 Contracting“ College Fund”’ 24 Camaro, Steding qualified fourth and took down drivers like Cox on his way to the final, where he met points leader Blake Denton. Steding threw down a wheels-up 3.888, while Denton had to lift to a 3.972 in the nitrous-fed“ Bonnie”’ 69 Camaro. In qualifying, Cox dropped a bomb with his“ Training Day”’ 69 Camaro, running a 3.829, which is quicker than the current E. T. record. He made it to the semis, but couldn’ t back up the run on race day.

The northernmost race on the PDRA tour saw a light field in AED Competition Extreme Pro Stock, which was presented by Michigan’ s own Liberty’ s Gears, but that didn’ t faze the competitors who did roll into Martin. Alan Drinkwater, the 2023 world champion, rolled to his second consecutive win in his Kaase-powered Flatout Gaskets’ 08 Mustang. He used a 4.114 to defeat Jeremy Huffman, who slowed to a 4.537. That was off pace for Huffman, who qualified No. 1 and set low E. T. of the first round in his 3V Performance-powered’ 10 Cobalt. Two-time and reigning world champ Chris Powers qualified third and went red in E1 in his Sonny’ s Racing Engines’ 21 Camaro.

For the second consecutive race, 2023 world champion Jeff Melnick and Lexi Tanner met up in the Pro 632 presented by PTC Torque Converters final round. Melnick qualified No. 2 in Alan O’ Brien’ s Barry Allen-powered Greenbrier Excavating & Paving’ 20 Camaro and charged through eliminations in the 4.10s, winning with a 4.144 to Tanner’ s 4.176. It marked Melnick’ s third straight Martin win with as many engine types – an AMC, a Chevy, and a Ford. Tanner in her Musipowered“ Thunder”’ 16 Camaro earned her second No. 1 qualifier award before racing to her third final of the season. Perennial contender Walter Lannigan qualified third, but suffered a rare first-round exit in Chris Holdorf’ s Nelson-powered C & C Pumping’ 10 GTO.

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