MARTIN, Mich. (Aug. 1, 2025) – For the second time in Tim Paap’s rookie season, the former Elite Top Sportsman racer qualified No. 1 in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous Friday night at the Talbert Manufacturing PDRA Northern Nationals presented by Callies Performance. Paap raced down the U.S. 131 Motorsports Park eighth mile in 3.624 seconds at 206.61 mph to lead the Pro Nitrous field at the fifth of eight races on the 2025 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series schedule.
Low qualifier awards also went to Randy Weatherford in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive, Fletcher Cox in Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by Menscer Motorsports, Jeremy Huffman in AED Competition Fuel Systems Extreme Pro Stock presented by Liberty’s Gears, and Lexi Tanner in Pro 632 presented by PTC.
The Northern Nationals also include the PDRA’s sportsman classes, where No. 1 qualifier awards went to Don Klooster in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Jody Stroud in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Brian Werner in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, and Noah Vislosky in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster presented by Derrick Wolfe Trucking.
Longtime Jr. Dragster standout Danika Miles went to the provisional No. 1 spot in Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products, using a 7.903-second pass to lead the way in the class that uses a 7.90 index. In Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products, which qualifies based off of reaction times, recent winner Knox Schween is the provisional No. 1 qualifier with a .007 reaction time.
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PRO NITROUS
After coming out swinging by qualifying No. 1 and winning the season opener in his Pro Nitrous debut, Tim Paap had to miss the second event on the PDRA tour due to prior commitments. That set him back in the championship points standings, but he’s hoping to make up for that this weekend. He’s well on his way after qualifying No. 1 for the second time this season, wheeling his Jeffrey Barker-tuned, Musi-powered Paap Auto Body ’16 Corvette to a 3.624 at 206.61 in the final qualifying session. He held off fellow rookie Amber Denton by just one thousandth of a second.
“I did not know if that 3.62 run was gonna hold up for No. 1,” said Paap, who thanked his team for their efforts. “There's a lot of tough people in this competitive field. You've got the Franklins. You've got Rickie Smith tuning [Tim] Molnar now. It's anybody's game to figure out who's gonna be No. 1. It feels great to be back in the No. 1 spot for the first time since the beginning of the season. I had to miss one race for my son's wedding, but we're still going for the championship. That's all I can say. Hold on.”
Denton, who entered the Northern Nationals with the points lead, qualified second with a 3.625 at 208.82 in her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro. Engine builder Billy Albert threw down a 3.637 at 207.28 in Stan Nance’s Rickie Smith-tuned Structural Mechanical ’20 Camaro to qualify third after scraping the retaining wall earlier in the day.
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PRO BOOST
Former Pro Nitrous driver turned Pro Boost contender Randy Weatherford turned heads when he lit up the scoreboard with a 3.578 at 212.06 mph in his WS Construction ’21 Camaro, which now relies on a Harts Charger centrifugal supercharger as its power adder. Weatherford delivered the new combination its first No. 1 qualifier award in its PDRA Pro Boost competition debut. It was also the Virginia-based driver’s first No. 1 qualifier award since 2020.
Kurt Steding, last year’s championship runner-up, followed Weatherford into the 3.50s with a 3.596 at 209.69 in his Todd Tutterow-tuned, screw-blown P2 Contracting ’69 Camaro to qualify second. Second-generation wheelman Ty Tutterow put Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro in the No. 3 spot with a 3.597 at 209.40.
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PRO STREET
In the quickest night of Pro Street qualifying in the class’s history, recently retired NFL star Fletcher Cox recorded the quickest PDRA Pro Street pass ever to secure his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award. With tuner Phil Shuler calling the shots on his nitrous-fed “Training Day” ’69 Camaro, the Super Bowl champion turned Pro Street rookie charged to a 3.829 at 192.31 to close out the final qualifying session.
“I got a small little office between the seat and the steering wheel. That's what I do,” Cox said when asked if he expected to throw down such a number. “Phil makes all the calls and the team gets together on decision making. Like I said, I was just told to hold on and that's what I did. It was definitely a good run. At the stripe I instantly came on the radio and said, 'I don't know what it ran, but it felt really good.'"
Though quicker than the 3.864-second class E.T. record set by Brian Weddle at last year’s World Finals, Cox will need to back up his performance within one percent during Saturday eliminations to take the record. Winning the event is the first thing on Cox’s mind, though.
“Qualifying No. 1, yeah, that's fun and that's fancy, right? But that gets you lane choice for round one, and we're looking to move,” said Cox, who thanked his team, family, friends, and partners like Menscer Motorsports, VP Racing, Diamond Pistons, LAT Racing Oil, Neal Chance Converters, and Straight Line Media. “Obviously we went out in E2 at the last race, so we're looking to better that. As a team, and as my personality, we're just so competitive. Everybody on this team is competitive. We're looking forward to tomorrow, and hopefully we’ll go some rounds. We think we've got a hot rod this weekend.”
Points leader Blake Denton, who’s appeared in all three final rounds this year and won two of them, joined Cox in the 3.80s with a 3.893 at 195.74 in the Musi-powered “Bonnie” ’69 Camaro to qualify No. 2. Class veteran Ron Green, who recently switched to a screw-blown combination in his “Gamechanger” ’00 Firebird, qualified third with a 3.901 at 199.12.
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EXTREME PRO STOCK
Recent first-time Extreme Pro Stock winner Jeremy Huffman rolled to his first No. 1 qualifier award of the season when he posted a 4.047 at 178.15 in his 3V Performance-powered ’10 Cobalt. The strong performance ended two-time and reigning world champion Chris Powers’ three-race No. 1 qualifying streak.
“It feels awesome to pick up our first No. 1 qualifier of the year,” said Huffman, who credited crew chief and engine builder Tom Vigue. “We’ve been anxious and working hard to get that No. 1 qualifier belt back from Chris Powers, who has had it all year. We are very motivated to leave U.S. 131 with a win and the points lead. We have a great race car right now and just need to put it all together on race day to leave here with the win.”
Alan Drinkwater, the 2023 world champion who won the last event on tour to take over the points lead, qualified No. 2 in his Kaase-powered Flatout Gaskets ’08 Mustang with a 4.08 at 176.61. Powers ended up third with a 4.109 at 176.82 in his Sonny’s Racing Engines ’21 Camaro. Bill Neri rounded out the field with a 4.193 at 174.76 in his Illinois-based “Prosecutor” ’08 Cobalt.
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PRO 632
Lexi Tanner collected her second Pro 632 low qualifier award of the season when she ran a 4.148 at 171.56 in the final qualifying session. After closing out the 2024 season with a win at the World Finals, Tanner kicked off the season with her first career No. 1 qualifier award and a runner-up finish. She added another runner-up finish at the most recent race driving her Musi-powered “Thunder” ’16 Camaro. Now entering race day from the No. 1 spot for the second time in her career, the Rensselaer, Indiana-based driver is chasing her first win of the season at her home race.
Points leader and 2023 world champion Jeff Melnick, who qualified No. 1 at the last two races and is the most recent winner on tour, qualified No. 2 in Alan O’Brien’s Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro with a 4.152 at 171.82. Season opener winner Walter Lannigan drove Chris Holdorf’s Nelson-powered C&C Pumping Services ’10 GTO to a 4.159 at 169.75 to qualify third.
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TOP SPORTSMAN
For the first time all season, someone other than defending Elite Top Sportsman world champion Glenn Butcher qualified No. 1. That honor went to Kalamazoo’s own Don Klooster, who laid down a 3.738 at 198.85 in his supercharged ’70 ‘Cuda to take the top spot. Bryan LaFlam followed with a 3.757 at 194.64 in his supercharged BigStuff TPM ’67 Mustang. Butcher wasn’t far off from his usual No. 1 spot, ending up third in his nitrous-fed Butcher & Son Demolition ’69 Camaro with a 3.766 at 198.68.
Brian Werner was the quickest in a trio of Ohioans who ended up on the top of the Top Sportsman 32 field. His 4.181 at 172.55 in his ’68 Camaro put him just outside the 16-car Elite field, but it gave him the No. 1 spot in Top Sportsman 32.
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TOP DRAGSTER
Chesterfield, South Carolina’s Jody Stroud rolled to his fourth consecutive No. 1 qualifier award in Elite Top Dragster. Piloting his supercharged “Zombie” ’07 Spitzer dragster, Stroud made a string of 3.60-second passes – including one quicker than the 3.65 limit for the class. It was his 3.661 at 203.34 that secured the top spot. Missouri’s KC Ingram recorded a 3.677 at 204.36 in his supercharged ’20 Miller dragster to take the No. 2 spot. Ashley Johnson in her supercharged ’13 Spitzer dragster qualified third with a 3.703 at 193.88.
Noah Vislosky sat just outside the Elite Top Dragster 16-car field after final qualifying, but his 3.935 at 180.00 in his Pennsylvania-based ’11 Race Tech dragster was quick enough to earn the No. 1 spot in Top Dragster 32.
The Saturday schedule at the Northern Nationals, which also includes a night of Top Fuel, nostalgia Top Fuel, Fuel Altereds, Outlaw Nostalgia Funny Cars, jet cars, and more, starts with Jr. Dragster final qualifying at 9 a.m., while pro eliminations will start around noon. Nitro shows are scheduled for 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Saturday tickets are available at the gate for $45, while children ages 6-12 get in for $10, and children five and under get in free with paid adult.
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.
