MARTIN, Mich. — Despite multiple rain showers, the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series completed two qualifying sessions on Friday at the Northern Nationals presented by Talbert Manufacturing.
The father-daughter duo of Tommy and Amber Franklin qualified No. 1 in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous and PDRA Pro 632, respectively, to highlight the top performers of the day, which also saw several nitro-fueled race cars make passes to prepare for U.S. 131 Motorsports Park’s 23rd Northern Nationals presented by Gun Lake Casino on Saturday.
The qualifying fields were set in the professional and sportsman classes after two of three scheduled qualifying sessions. The other pro No. 1 qualifiers were Todd Tutterow in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive, Elijah Morton in Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition, and Nick Agostino in Menscer Motorsports Pro Street presented by Afco Racing.
Low qualifier awards in the sportsman classes went to Glenn Butcher in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, KC Ingram in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Lorenzo Brooks in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman presented by Corbin’s RV, and Chuck Stirdivant in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster presented by Younce RV.
The PDRA’s Jr. Dragster classes completed one qualifying session, with a final session set for Saturday morning. The provisional No. 1 qualifiers are Jase Wanamaker in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and Brady Dunigan in Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products. Wanamaker posted a 7.903-second pass to go to the No. 1 spot in Pro Jr. Dragster, which qualifies on a 7.90 index. Top Jr. Dragster uses reaction times to qualify, and Dunigan’s .029 light was the quickest in a session that saw several drivers go red.
In addition to PDRA eliminations, the Saturday show at the Northern Nationals will feature modern Top Fuel dragsters, nostalgia front-engine Top Fuel dragsters, nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars, a Fuel Altered, jet cars and more.
PRO NITROUS
Last month, three-time and defending Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin and his daughter, 2022 Pro 632 world champion Amber Franklin, shared the winner’s circle in a Father’s Day weekend double-up at the North vs. South Shootout in Maryland. On Friday night, they both qualified No. 1 in their respective classes at Martin. It was the elder Franklin’s first low qualifier award of the season thanks to a 3.644-second pass at 206.71 MPH in his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro in the final session. He’s rolling into Saturday eliminations with a slight points lead over four-time world champion Jim Halsey.
“We’ve got a good team over here,” Franklin said. “Pat Musi Racing Engines just builds us a great piece. That’s where it starts. Hopefully I get a chance to say this so many times this year, but I always want to dedicate it to Lizzy [Musi]. We miss her forever and just love Pat and Liz tremendously. They work hard at the shop and give us good pieces and that’s what we rolled in here with. All the competition is good out there, but it just makes us push a little harder. We’re going into race day like we usually do, taking it one round at a time. We’ll just try to gather points and try to put some gap on it and see what we can do to get a championship.”
Young gun Marcus Butner in his Musi-powered Butner Construction “Heartbreaker” ’69 Camaro qualified No. 2 with a 3.655 at 206.90. Fredy Scriba, who picked up his first Pro Nitrous win at the recent Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars all-star race, qualified third with a 3.675 at 203.53.