DINWIDDIE, Va. — It was a family affair Thursday night at the sixth annual Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars presented by Laris Motorsports, as both Amber Denton and her husband Blake Denton took home wins in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series’ all-star race.
Amber picked up the $15,000 win at Virginia Motorsports Park when she defeated class veteran Billy Albert in the final round of Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by Jerry Bickel Race Cars. Blake, meanwhile, defeated Mikey Sasina for the $7,500 win in Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by KTR Drag Racing.
After making numerous adjustments halfway through the season, Amber Denton continued her recent hot streak on Thursday night, piloting her Pat Musi-assisted “OG Jungle Rat” ‘69 Camaro to the winner’s circle and a $15,000 payday in the all-star race in just her second year competing in Pro Nitrous.
Denton used a huge starting line advantage and a 3.645 at 208.52 mph in the final round to defeat Billy Albert, who ran 3.706 at 206.04 mph in his ’20 Camaro powered by his own racing engine.
“It means the world to me,” said Denton, who previously won ProStars in 2024 in the Pro 632 class. “I grew up watching my dad in this class, so I watched most of the people competing in it. These are the baddest nitrous racers in the world, and I’m just so grateful for the opportunity to even be in this field. So to get a win, especially with how we had a slow start to the season, just random round losses, we’re hoping to keep this momentum going until the end of the year.”
Denton started off eliminations by defeating reigning two-time ProStars winner Freddy Scriba, running a 3.732 at 179.06 mph to Scriba’s tire-shaking run of 6.028 at 78.04. She then won a very close semifinal matchup with Tim Paap and his red ’16 Corvette, with her 3.652 at 208.14 mph just enough to clip Paap’s 3.665 at 201.91.
Albert, meanwhile, defeated Hopewell, Virginia’s Buddy Perkinson in the first round, then took out Tommy Franklin and his “Jungle Rat 3.0” in the semifinals, preventing a father-daughter pairing in the final round.
Making the win even more memorable for Denton was getting to share the winner’s circle with her husband Blake Denton, who won the Pro Street class just two runs after Amber. Denton got to see it all unfold from the top end as she was still celebrating her own victory.
“We’ve raced together for almost 10 years now, and had yet to pull off a double up, so we were both really pumped,” said Denton. “As soon as I got out of the car, I was more worried about his round than our team winning. It just means the world to be able to do it with my family. That’s why we do it. We love doing it together, and I’m super excited for his team as well to be able to pull it off together. It means a lot to both of us.”
Reigning PDRA Pro Boost world champion Ty Tutterow shook off a disappointing finish at Drag Wars a few weeks ago with an impressive $15,000 ProStars win over four-time world champion Jason Harris in a battle of class stalwarts that was perfectly suited for an all-star race.
In a classic screw blower vs. centrifugal supercharger battle, it was Tutterow’s screw-blown combination that came out on top, as he pedaled the Larry Jeffers-built Quik Fuel ’68 Camaro owned by Justin Smith to a 3.654 elapsed time at 206.45 mph. The pass was more than enough to defeat Harris, who violently shook the tires of his Harts Charger-boosted “Party Time” ’69 Camaro, coasting to a 5.734 at 80.84.
“Last year, we were one and two in points,” Tutterow said of his matchup with Harris. “This year, he was leading the points for most of the year. We had some bugs at the last race, and it looks like we finally, hopefully got them behind us. The car’s performing well…just tried too hard right there in the last run, shook the tires, but got it recovered and got it to the other end. Just hats off my crew. I couldn’t do it without them. They never get their head down. We had a mechanical failure at the last race, went home, got it all worked out, come back out here and got the car back where it was.”
Tutterow caught a break in the first round, as he suffered tire shake and only managed a 5.524 at 85.26 mph. However, his opponent and teammate, Kurt Steding, turned on the red light in his screw-blown P2 Contracting ’26 Corvette, handing the win to Tutterow. In the semifinals, Tutterow ran low e.t. of eliminations, a blistering 3.568-second pass at 209.10 mph to get by Melanie Salemi’s “Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird, who ran a respectable 3.625 at 208.52 after thrashing to swap motors before the round.
Harris defeated a pair of Virginia residents – Randy Weatherford and Don Tolley – in the first two rounds to earn his spot in the finals against Tutterow.
The other half of the Denton duo, current points leader Blake Denton, followed his wife Amber’s win with one of his own, taking home the $7,500 Pro Street crown. Driving the fan-favorite Pat Musi-powered, nitrous-assisted “Bonnie” ‘69 Camaro that Pat’s late daughter, Lizzy Musi, made famous, Denton saved his best run of the day for the finals against Golden, Colorado’s Mikey Sasina.
Denton ran a stout 3.927 elapsed time at 195.11 mph to get the win, while Sasina spun the tires on his Harts Charger-powered ‘03 Mustang, slowing to a 5.603 at 100.79.
“We looked at the day as just a confidence booster for us, and I think winning tonight really just gave me that extra edge,” said Denton. “After not being in a final from the first race until now, it’s good to be back in a final. It gives me that confidence that I know I can do it and I’d love to carry that momentum through this weekend.
“That’s what we dream of,” Denton added concerning winning together with his wife. “Any husband and wife that does this wants to win together. We’ve been in a couple finals, but tonight’s the first time we’ve ever actually both won together. It’s a huge deal for us and we’ll cherish it for a long time.”
In the opening round, Denton put his driving skills on display, grabbing a holeshot win over Florida’s Jerry Morgano in his twin-turbo ’02 Mustang. Denton’s .022 reaction time, paired with a 3.960 at 193.57 mph was enough to stay in front of Morgano’s quicker 3.959 at 201.70. He then took out the most recent event winner, Ron Green, in the semifinals when Green had mechanical issues and couldn’t make the call.
Sasina took out championship hopeful Richard Reagan in the first round, using a massive holeshot and 4.391 at 176.17 mph to defeat Reagan’s 5.008 at only 133.65. In the semifinals, Sasina caught a break, defeating West Virginia’s J.R. Webb and his red ’70 Camaro when Webb went -.024 red. The early jump cost Webb, who ran a quicker 4.083 at 187.03 mph to Sasina’s 4.521 at 123.89.
With two final-round appearances and an event win in Bristol over the past two events, Pro 632 newcomer Ryan Altman has had a strong second half to the season, and he continued that momentum on Thursday night, taking home the ProStars trophy and $7,500. Paired up with Jeff Pittman in the final round, Altman took the win before the tree was even activated, as Pittman’s Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales ‘68 Chevelle launched as soon as the stage bulbs were lit. Altman, meanwhile, laid down a 4.191 at 179.09 mph in the Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ‘18 Camaro – a solid run, but also his slowest of the day.
In the first round, Altman narrowly overcame a holeshot advantage by North Carolina’s David Cook Jr. (.036 to .055), running a 4.154 at 171.27 to Cook’s 4.186 at 169.21. The South Carolina native then used a 4.142 at 179.44 mph in the semifinals to outrun Cameron Gibson’s 4.215 at 169.19.
Pittman, who won the PDRA North vs. South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway earlier this year, started eliminations with a 4.147 at 171.36 to get the win over Carson Hoyle. He then ran low e.t. of eliminations in the semifinals, a 4.133 at 171.55 mph, to get around Gary Hood, who went -.081 red in his ‘63 Corvette.
Heading into the final round of Super Street, Matt Schalow likely would have been viewed as the underdog against reigning class champion Connor McGee. However, it was Schalow, who hails from nearby Virginia Beach, who used his home track advantage to earn the $7,500 ProStars win.
Piloting his nitrous-assisted “War Pig” ‘69 Camaro, Schalow used a stout 4.574 elapsed time at 158.99 mph to outrun McGee, who spun the tires in his Fulton-powered Brian’s Heating & Cooling ‘90 Mustang, slowing to a 6.087 at 81.70 mph.
The win was also a bit of redemption for Schalow, who runnered-up in the ProStars specialty event last year. Schalow started the evening with a first-round win over 2024 world champion and 2024 ProStars winner Dan Whetstine.
Whetstine grabbed a sizeable starting line adavantage with a near-perfect .002 reaction time, but his 4.786 was not enough to hold off Schalow’s 4.620 at 158.82 mph. Schalow then used a 4.604 at 159.01 mph in the semifinals to defeat Kenny Fox and his 4.679 at 155.87.
McGee knocked off points leader Austin Vincent in a side-by-side first-round matchup, with McGee’s 4.538 at 159.08 mph narrowly getting by Vincent’s 4.551 at 160.63. McGee then picked up the pace even more in the semifinals against Troy Hill, running a 4.514 at 163.31, the quickest and fastest pass in all of eliminations, to set up the final round against Schalow.
Elite Top Sportsman points leader Bryan LaFlam won the PDRA ProStars trophy for the second consecutive year in his supercharged BigStuff TPM ‘67 Mustang. LaFlam and opponent Jamie Fowler both pulled into the beams with 3.79-second dial-ins, but the race was over at the starting line, as Fowler went -.017 red in his nitrous-assisted, Fulton-powered ‘69 Camaro.
Meanwhile, LaFlam made a clean pass, running 3.810 at 193.29 mph. LaFlam will be attempting to win his second consecutive points championship later this weekend as well.
Seth Garrison took home the Top Sportsman trophy in his ‘06 Dodge Stratus, using a .002 reaction time and a 4.311 on his 4.29 dial-in to defeat Virginia’s Mark Payne. Payne was nearly dead-on his dial – 4.205 on a 4.20 – in his ‘06 Chevy Cavalier, but his .038 reaction time cost him the win.
After winning the 2025 PDRA World Finals in Top Dragster, North Carolina’s Will Creasman started the 2026 edition in much the same way, taking home the ProStars victory in Elite Top Dragster on Thursday night over current points leader and two-time ProStars champion Steve Furr. The two drivers were nearly identical off the line (.013 to .014), but Creasman’s 3.705 on his 3.70 dial-in was too much for Furr, who ran a 3.822 on his 3.80 dial-in.
North Carolina’s James Albertson used a .006 reaction time and a 4.439 on a 4.43 dial in his ‘04 Racetech dragster to grab the Top Dragster win over T.J. Harper, who broke out by a mere one-thousandth of a second, running a 4.399 on a 4.40 dial-in.
