BRISTOL, Tenn. — Pro Modified icons Jim Halsey and Todd “King Tut” Tutterow contributed to the Bristol Dragway history books Friday night when they qualified No. 1 in their respective classes at the inaugural PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown.
Competing at the sixth of eight races on the 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series tour, Halsey posted a 3.692-second blast to qualify No. 1 in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous, while Tutterow threw down a 3.63-second pass to top the field in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting & Ty-Drive.
Along with the headlining Pro Mod categories, the Thunder Valley Throwdown also features the PDRA’s five other heads-up professional classes.
The No. 1 qualifiers after three sessions are Tommy Lee in Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition, Jeff Melnick in PDRA Pro 632, Brunson Grothus in Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Bill Riddle in Menscer Motorsports Pro Street presented by Afco Racing, and Connor McGee in Afco Racing Super Street presented by Menscer Motorsports.
Four-time Pro Nitrous world champion Jim Halsey raced at Bristol Dragway in the early days of his Pro Modified career in the early and mid-1990s. Thirty years later, he’s back at the historic Tennessee facility as the No. 1 qualifier for the fifth time in six races this season. He started qualifying with a 3.713 to take the provisional No. 1 spot in his Fulton-powered “Daddy Shark” ’68 Camaro, then locked it in with a 3.692 at 204.26 in the final session. Halsey goes into race day as the points leader chasing his third win of the season.
“We’ve always had good luck here,” said Halsey, who credited his team, including tuner Brandon Switzer, crew chief Eric Davis, Michael McMillan, and wife Cathy. “We’ve always ran good here, but the transformation from the last time I was here to now is just unbelievable. The facility is so awesome. It’s pretty cool. The altitude here and the surface here make it very challenging. Especially to run like two or three hundredths faster than the No. 2 guy, we’re very, very happy with that. Everything’s in one piece. We’ll try hard tomorrow.”
Fellow Maryland-based competitor Fredy Scriba drove his Musi-powered “Sorcerer” ’69 Camaro to a 3.715 at 203.40 to qualify second. Three-time and reigning world champion Tommy Franklin in his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro qualified third with a 3.722 at 203.80.
Veteran Pro Modified driver and tuner Todd “King Tut” Tutterow’s experience with challenging atmospheric conditions paid off Friday night with his second consecutive Pro Boost No. 1 qualifier award. He tuned teammate Kurt Steding to the quickest passes of the first two sessions, then fired off a 3.63 at 207.69 alongside Steding in the final session to put Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro in the No. 1 spot for the third time this season. Tutterow’s first-round opponent is Melanie Salemi, who’s No. 2 behind Steding and ahead of fourth-place Tutterow in the Pro Boost standings.
“We’ve done good up here before,” Tutterow said. “We’ve come up here about every five years and always run good, whether it’s NHRA or outlaw stuff too. My stuff normally runs really good in high altitude. I’m very excited about this weekend. Both me and Kurt have been down the race track every time we’ve been to the starting line, other than mine on one run and I was trying to reset the record out there. We’ve got good, good plans for this weekend. I was No. 1 qualifier at the last race and didn’t get to go down [the track]. But we’ve got Melanie first round, and it’d be nice to get it done.”
Johnny Camp, who earned his first win of the season at the most recent race on tour, qualified No. 2 with a 3.642 at 204.70 in his ProCharged “Hells Bells” ’69 Camaro. Steding ended up third with his 3.646 at 206.51 in his screw-blown P2 Contracting ’69 Camaro.
As a driver and crew chief, Tommy Lee has just about seen and done it all in Pro Stock racing, but his PDRA Extreme Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier award on Friday night was a career first. Making his first PDRA appearance of the season with Curt Steinbach’s 3V Performance-powered Stellar Marine ’22 Camaro, Lee laid down a 4.136 at 174.73 to qualify No. 1 over fellow 3V-powered driver Jeremy Huffman by speed.
Huffman posted a 4.136 at a slightly slower 174.08 in his Patriot Axe Throwing ’10 Cobalt to end up No. 2. Past world champion Chris Powers qualified third in his Sonny’s Racing Engines ’21 Camaro with a 4.146 at 174.84.
Just a couple weeks after scoring his first Pro 632 victory of the season, reigning world champion Jeff Melnick picked up his second career No. 1 qualifier award and his first of the season. The driver of Alan O’Brien’s Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro charged to a 4.203 at 169.23 in the final qualifying session to solidify his place atop the qualifying order.
Walter Lannigan Jr. steered Chris Holdorf’s Nelson-powered Dewitt Custom Concrete ’10 GTO to a 4.226 at 166.64 to qualify No. 2. Rookie Andy House, who won in his debut at the season opener, qualified third with a 4.244 at 166.17 in Meade Baldwin’s Southern Diamond Co. ’69 Camaro.
It’s been more than two months since Pro Extreme Motorcycle’s last event on the PDRA schedule, but Brunson Grothus picked up right where he left off, earning his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award. Riding Robert Varela’s turbocharged Dallas Flat Glass Distributors ’19 Hayabusa, Grothus recorded a 4.036 at 184.83 in the opening qualifying session to take the top spot.
A pair of Alabama-based riders, Chris Garner-Jones and Ashley Owens, followed Grothus in second and third, respectively. Garner-Jones, the two-time and reigning world champion, posted a 4.05 at 170.77 on his nitrous-fed T.T. Jones Racing ’18 Hayabusa, and Owens rode his nitrous-assisted McKinney Motorsports ’10 Suzuki to a 4.065 at 175.11.
It was a day of ups and downs for Pro Street No. 1 qualifier Bill Riddle, who had a run-in with the retaining wall shortly after launching his roots-blown Corrigan Race Fuels ’89 Camaro in the final qualifying session. Fortunately, the damage was minimal and he’ll get to race on Saturday. Before that, the reigning world champion fired off a 4.004 at 188.04 in the opening qualifying session, and to Riddle’s surprise, it held up through the final session under the lights.
Fellow Michigan-based racer Dan Norris followed Riddle in the qualifying order with a 4.018 at 192.60 in his roots-blown ’22 Mustang. Jerry Morgano qualified third with a 4.023 at 201.46 in his turbocharged ’02 Mustang.
Earlier this season, Super Street young gun Connor McGee raced to his first career win in the class at the American Doorslammer Challenge at Norwalk. He added another highlight to his 2024 scorecard Friday night when his 4.637 at 159.48 in the final qualifying session netted him his first career No. 1 qualifier award. His nitrous-fed ’90 Mustang is powered by a 440-cubic-inch engine built by Gene Fulton, who was inducted into Bristol Dragway’s “Legends of Thunder Valley” hall of fame in 2012.
Tommy Thrasher went into the final session as the No. 1 qualifier in his Massachusetts-based ’93 Mustang, but his improved 4.655 at 163.93 wasn’t quick enough to take the top spot back from McGee. Points leader Dan Whetstine in his ProCharged “Red Velvet” ’90 Mustang qualified third with a 4.667 at 157.71.
Elite Top Sportsman points leader Glenn Butcher collected his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award when he drove his nitrous-assisted, Albert-powered ’69 Camaro to a 3.819 at 195.73 to top the all-3-second, 16-car field. Randy Perkinson, who’s No. 2 in points, also ended up No. 2 on the qualifying sheet with a 3.82 at 192.06 in his ProCharged ’67 Mustang. Jacky Bennett, making his second PDRA appearance of the season, took the No. 3 spot in his ProCharged ’68 Camaro with a 3.821 at 198.64.
Dan Ferguson went into the weekend shooting for a spot in the 16-car Elite field with his nitrous-fed 2000 Dodge Viper, which was previously campaigned in Pro Nitrous by Billy Harper, but he ended up instead qualifying No. 1 in the Top Sportsman 48 field with a 3.99 at 189.39.
K.C. Ingram charged to a 3.69 at 205.13 in his supercharged ’20 Miller dragster to earn his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award and his third of the season in Elite Top Dragster. Charles Careccia, who hails from Asheville, North Carolina, ran a 3.769 at 191.70 in his supercharged ’24 NexGen-built dragster to qualify second. Championship contender Frank Falter IV qualified third in his supercharged “Candy Man” ’22 Miller dragster with a 3.778 at 200.23.
Just two thousandths of a second kept Mike Kopko and his supercharged ’12 M&M dragster from qualifying in the 16-car Elite program. He was the quickest of the 64 drivers who didn’t make the quick 16, though, using a 3.878 at 186.54 to take the top spot in Top Dragster 48.
The PDRA’s sportsman categories also wrapped up three qualifying sessions, with No. 1 qualifier awards going 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, Dan Ferguson in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman presented by Corbin’s RV, and Mike Kopko in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster presented by Younce RV.
After two of three qualifying sessions in the Jr. Dragster classes, the provisional No. 1 qualifiers are Zach Shirkey in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and Madison Pickens in Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products. Shirkey ran a 7.902 to lead the way in Pro Jr. Dragster, which qualifies using a 7.90 index. Pickens threw down a .002 reaction time to take the provisional top spot in Top Jr. Dragster, which qualifies based off of reaction time.