BUDDS CREEK, Md. (June 13, 2025) – For the second consecutive event on the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series tour, three-time world champion Tommy Franklin qualified No. 1 in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous. In the final qualifying session Friday night at the BigStuff Total Power Management North vs. South Shootout, Franklin covered the Maryland International Raceway eighth-mile strip in 3.675 seconds at 206.73 mph in his “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro. In addition to being the No. 1 qualifier, Franklin also goes into Saturday eliminations as the defending event champion.
Along with Franklin, pro class No. 1 qualifiers included Steve King in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive, Fletcher Cox in Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by Menscer Motorsports, Chris Powers in AED Competition Fuel Systems Extreme Pro Stock presented by C.R. Powers HVAC, Jeff Melnick in PDRA Pro 632 presented by PTC Torque Converters, and Connor McGee in PDRA Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling.
Top qualifier awards in the sportsman classes went to Glenn Butcher in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Jody Stroud in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Corey Evans in in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman 48, and Tisha Wilson in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster 48 presented by Derrick Wolfe Trucking.
In the PDRA’s Jr. Dragster ranks, Donald O’Meara III (Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products) and Tori Underwood (Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products) qualified No. 1 after two qualifying sessions. In the class that qualifies against a 7.90 index, O’Meara threw down a 7.900-second pass in the final qualifying session to lead a class-record list of 61 drivers that attempted to qualify for the 32-car field. In Top Jr. Dragster, where reaction times set the qualifying order, Underwood cut a .006-second reaction time to top the 16-car field. Pro Jr. Dragster also completed one round of eliminations, while Top Jr. Dragster will start racing on Saturday morning.
- pro-nitrous-e83c977f-0eb8-c0bc-37ef-6e1a89854995.jpg (486.26 KiB) Viewed 18 times
PRO NITROUS
Three-time Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin will be the first to admit he struggled in pre-race testing at Maryland, but tuner Jeff Pierce and the Tommy Franklin Motorsports team bounced back in qualifying. Franklin led the way in all three qualifying sessions, but it was his 3.675 at 206.73 in the final session that clinched the top spot. The performance left Franklin confident that his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro is ready for battle on Saturday.
“We were trying some stuff and had a couple little issues that cost us a couple laps in testing, but we rebounded,” said Franklin, who won at Maryland last year. “The car came out and ran good – real good in Q1, just barely missed it in Q2, and Q3 we were able to put it on the pole. We have a hard-working team over here. All the cars in our camp get a lot of attention and we have a great group of guys that keep them up top. Thanks to Jeff Pierce, Pat Musi power, and everybody that helps me. We're in really good shape, but there's a lot of stiff competition.”
Elite Top Sportsman championship runner-up turned Pro Nitrous rookie Tim Paap qualified No. 2 in his Jeffrey Barker-tuned ’16 Corvette. Paap, who won the season opener in his debut and had Killin’ Time Racing’s Stevie “Fast” Jackson fill in for him at the last race, posted a 3.677 at 203.03. Another rookie, two-time Pro 632 world champion Amber Denton, ran a 3.681 at 205.72 in her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro to sit third. Denton, No. 2 in the points standings, will take on points leader and 2023 event winner Marcus Butner in the Pro Nitrous Marquee Matchup.
- pro-boost-388ef8ff-a534-b1b1-e1dc-85c0bc12adb3.jpg (503.26 KiB) Viewed 18 times
PRO BOOST
One year after qualifying No. 1 at the 2024 North vs. South Shootout, Steve King returned to Maryland International Raceway with a new title: 2025 World Series of Pro Mod champion. Determined to add a Pro Boost world championship to that title, King and the Pilot Racing team took another step in proving their potential by qualifying No. 1 for the second year in a row. King wheeled Gene Pilot’s screw-blown “Savage” ’19 Corvette to a 3.662 at 206.54 to lead the list of 22 drivers who tried to make it into the 16-car field.
“It's huge to be No. 1 in this field of cars. That's really, really important to Gene Pilot,” said King, who hails from Strasburg, Virginia, and considers MIR a home track. “It's a testament to [tuner] Jon Salemi. We tested a couple weeks ago, made 13 runs in two days. We showed what we learned here. We're ready for race day. A Pro Boost win right here would be huge, but you've gotta start with round one and go from there. No. 1 is good tonight, but it doesn't mean a thing come race day.”
Championship contenders Johnny Camp and Jason Harris, both tuned by Brandon Stroud, followed King in the top three with 3.66s of their own. Camp in his ProCharged “Hells Bells” ’69 Camaro qualified second with a 3.663 at 205.91, while Harris ended up third with a 3.666 at 205.54 in his ProCharged Southern Diamond Company “Party Time” ’69 Camaro.
- pro-street-a36d00df-0860-ddd6-7dfa-172490ccfef6.jpg (453.32 KiB) Viewed 18 times
PRO STREET
When Fletcher Cox retired from playing professional football with the Philadelphia Eagles, he dove headfirst into another competitive outlet: racing in PDRA Pro Street as a driver. Cox, a longtime team owner in the sport, made his Pro Street debut at the last race on tour and immediately made a statement. He reached the semifinals in one of the largest fields in class history, proving just how serious he is about his new endeavor. He made another statement at the North vs. South Shootout, where he qualified No. 1 in just his second race. Cox fired off a 4.027 at 192.03 in the heat of the day behind the wheel of his Phil Shuler-tuned, nitrous-fed “Training Day” ’69 Camaro.
“This means a lot,” said Cox, a Super Bowl champion. “We went out there and tested good. We ran good in qualifying. Ran good during the day, made some really good laps. The team did a really good job of turning the car around and making sure that I had a fast and safe car down the racetrack. But to come out my second race and qualify No. 1, what more can I ask for? Especially when it's [girlfriend] Kaycee's birthday tomorrow.”
Points leader Blake Denton, who defeated Cox in an all-nitrous semifinal match at Virginia, took the No. 2 spot after running a 4.082 at 199.43 in the Musi-powered “Bonnie” ’69 Camaro formerly driven by the late Lizzy Musi. Bill Riddle, the 2023 world champion, rebounded from an on-track incident at Virginia by qualifying third with a 4.11 at 186.20 in his roots-blown Corrigan Race Fuels ’89 Camaro.
- pro-stock-04fbc71a-3b1c-5871-5f7e-55f7db81c2b8.jpg (604.4 KiB) Viewed 18 times
EXTREME PRO STOCK
Two-time and reigning Extreme Pro Stock world champion Chris Powers continued his qualifying domination by taking the top spot for the third consecutive race. By three thousandths of a second, he held off 2023 world champion Alan Drinkwater for the No. 1 position in a tense final qualifying battle. Powers posted a 4.122 at 175.34 in his Sonny’s Racing Engines/ATI Performance ’21 Camaro, setting him up in prime position to chase this weekend’s special $10,000-to-win prize presented by C.R. Powers HVAC.
“We were down a little bit having some issues in the tranny area, but we got it resolved and got back where we wanted to be,” said Powers, winner of the 2021 North vs. South Shootout. “We thought we'd make a little better of a hit, but we'll take it. It was fast enough to get us on the pole. We're going to give it everything we've got tomorrow and show how good of a team we really are. We’ve got Chuck Samuel tuning and my son on the clutch. I’m really pleased with everybody and all the work we've done. It's shown this year how much work we've done over the winter.”
Drinkwater, who lost to Powers in the final round at the season opener, ended up No. 2 with a 4.125 at 175.37 in his Kaase-powered ’08 Mustang. Points leader Jeremy Huffman, who earned his first career Extreme Pro Stock victory at the last race on tour, qualified third in his 3V Performance-powered ’10 Cobalt with a 4.13 at 176.70.
- pro-632-7aa5b1ce-a254-9408-cb59-18d39295ee99.jpg (488.84 KiB) Viewed 18 times
PRO 632
After struggling in his Pro 632 world championship defense season last year, Jeff Melnick is finding his way back to the top of the class. For the second consecutive race, he took Alan O’Brien’s Patrick Barnhill-tuned Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro to the No. 1 spot in qualifying. With power from engine builder Barry Allen, Melnick recorded a 4.168 at 170.64 in the final qualifying session to secure the top spot that he held through all three sessions.
“I feel like the guys have a great handle on the combo,” said Melnick, who was runner-up at the last race and is now one round out of the points lead. “Two years ago, we really had the car set up great with the small block. Last year, we switched to the big-block Chevy and it took a few races to make the adjustments – and having to add 300 pounds to the car. We got a good handle on it by mid-season, but then we hurt the engine at the end of the season. This year, we have another new motor with a big-block Ford in the car now and these guys have used the things we learned last year to make the car better this year. Three different motors in three years. I don’t think anyone has done anything like that.”
Lexi Tanner, who secured her first career No. 1 qualifier award at the season opener, qualified second with a 4.197 at 170.06 in her Musi-powered “Thunder” ’16 Camaro. Melnick’s teammate, newcomer Jeff Pittman, drove his Barry Allen-powered Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales ’68 Chevelle to a 4.207 at 178.54 to qualify third.
- super-street-604efdb5-6bbf-b6e2-af30-4a5ce2c576b0.jpg (458.59 KiB) Viewed 18 times
SUPER STREET
Young gun Austin Vincent dominated Super Street qualifying in the first two races of the season, but fellow young gun Connor McGee stopped that streak Friday night when he took the top spot. After two of three planned qualifying sessions, McGee sat atop the qualifying order with a 4.656 at 154.26 in his nitrous-fed, Fulton-powered Brian’s Heating & Cooling ’90 Mustang. He’s chasing his second win of the season after winning the season opener in April.
“This feels pretty good, especially for points since we're four points behind [Vincent],” said McGee, who thanked partners like Brian’s Heating & Cooling and Driven Racing Oil. “He's fourth [in qualifying], so now we're actually tied for first, which is something you need to put out of your mind on race day. You don't want to think about that stuff to stress you out, but it's always there. This is definitely a race where we think we can put some points ahead of everyone else and just have a good, strong weekend, but everybody else is running pretty strong, so we'll have to see.”
Matt Schalow made a triumphant return after crashing his nitrous-fed ’00 Camaro in eliminations at the most recent event on tour. The Virginia Beach-based driver rolled into Maryland with a new-to-him ’69 Camaro, which he drove to a 4.711 at 155.74 to qualify No. 2. Rookie Carson Perry qualified third, posting a 4.739 at 156.37 in his nitrous-assisted Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’00 Camaro.
TOP SPORTSMAN
Reigning Elite Top Sportsman world champion Glenn Butcher secured his third consecutive No. 1 qualifier award of the season thanks to a 3.777 at 199.37 in his nitrous-fed Butcher & Son Demolition ’69 Camaro. Bryan LaFlam took the No. 2 spot in his supercharged BigStuff TPM ’67 Mustang with a 3.792 at 193.29. Brian Tiffe, driving for Dr. Gary Schween in the nitrous-fed Schween Motorsports ’21 Corvette, rounded out the top three with his 3.861 at 194.32.
Corey Evans was the quickest of the 52 drivers who sat outside the 16-car Elite field after qualifying concluded, giving him the No. 1 spot in Top Sportsman 48 with a 4.193 at 178.78 in his Middletown, Virginia-based ’18 Camaro.
TOP DRAGSTER
As he’s done numerous times, Chesterfield, South Carolina-based Elite Top Dragster wheelman Jody Stroud took the No. 1 spot by a bunch. Driving his supercharged “Zombie” ’07 Spitzer, Stroud laid down a 3.68 at 200.77, making him the only driver to dip into the 3.60s in the hot conditions. Alan O’Brien was the next closest with a 3.751 at 198.17 in his turbocharged Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’23 Race Tech dragster to qualify No. 2. Two-time world champion Steve Furr qualified third with a 3.791 at 195.48 in his ProCharged ’13 American dragster.
By just six thousandths of a second, past Top Dragster world champion Tisha Wilson missed out on the 16-car Elite field, but her 4.117 at 170.34 in her ’25 Race Tech dragster gave her the No. 1 spot in Top Dragster 48.
Race day at the BigStuff North vs. South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway will begin with Jr. Dragster eliminations at 8:30 a.m., followed by Edelbrock Bracket Bash presented by COMP Cams time trials and the continuation of Top Sportsman and Top Dragster eliminations. In anticipation of weather moving into the area later in the day, pre-race ceremonies and pro class eliminations have been moved up to 11 a.m.
PDRA fans around the world can catch all the action live on the official event live stream through www.FloRacing.com.
Photos by Tara Bowker.
