BRADENTON, Fla. — By one thousandth of a second, doorslammer world record holder Jimmy Taylor charged to the provisional No. 1 qualifier position Thursday night at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission at Bradenton Motorsports Park, earning the $5,000 Pro Line Racing “Off The Trailer” Bonus.
He edged out Jason Harris, who qualified No. 1 and won the opening race of the three-race Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service. Harris is attempting to complete the Jerry Bickel Race Cars Clean Sweep Challenge, which will award him a brand-new Pro Mod rolling chassis if he can qualify No. 1 at all three Winter Series events.
With a 3.555-second pass at 224.77 mph, Taylor asserted that Harris will have to go through him if he wants to go back-to-back.
While Harris stole the show at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals presented by Motion Raceworks in early December, Taylor wasn’t far behind him in qualifying, as he ended up No. 2 on the final Snowbirds qualifying order. Determined to better that at the U.S. Street Nationals, Taylor and tuner and engine builder Carl Stevens Jr. went to work. Their efforts paid off when Taylor rolled to a 3.555 at 224.77 to come out on top of a Pro Mod qualifying session that saw 20 drivers dip into the 3.50-second range.
“It’s insane that so many cars are already in the .50s,” Taylor said. “The bump’s definitely going to be in the .50s before it’s over with, but we’ve got another good run [Friday] night. I think the bump will be a .59 before it’s over with. I’m impressed. Everybody has just gained so much speed from the last race, even with the holidays and everything else. It’s crazy.”
Though Taylor still has three more qualifying sessions before he can rest comfortably as the official No. 1 qualifier, he does have the Pro Line Racing “Off The Trailer” Bonus in the bag. It’s a $5,000 bonus awarded to the provisional No. 1 qualifier after the first qualifying session, regardless of engine builder.
“That feels good, I ain’t gonna lie,” Taylor said. “Just to qualify No. 1 on the first pass against a field like this, it’s just phenomenal. We couldn’t be happier with it. It’s just amazing to be No. 1 out of all these cars, and going up against people that I’ve watched my whole life? Pretty wild.”
As the most recent race winner and the Winter Series points leader, Harris ran in the final pair of the Pro Mod session. Driving his Harts Charger-boosted “Party Time” Harold Denton tribute ’69 Camaro, Harris lit up the scoreboard with a 3.556 at 211.33 to slide into the No. 2 spot behind Taylor.
In addition to the JBRC Clean Sweep Challenge in qualifying, Harris is chasing the Elite Motorsports Million, which would pay him an unprecedented $1 million bonus if he can win all three Winter Series races.
Canadian Justin Bond is third with a 3.563 at 211.83 in Scott Tidwell’s Harts Charger-equipped ’69 Camaro. Billy Banaka, the 2025 NHRA Pro Mod championship runner-up, qualified fourth in his ProCharged Billy Banaka Racing ’68 Camaro with a 3.565 at 210.77.
Two-time NHRA Pro Mod world champion and 2025 WSOPM runner-up Stevie “Fast” Jackson laid down a 3.569 at 211.39 in the screw-blown Motion Raceworks “Shadow 3.0” ’68 Camaro. Frank Falter IV sits on the 32-car bump spot with a 3.632 at 207.78.
In Pro 10.5, retired NFL superstar Fletcher Cox wheeled his nitrous-fed “Training Day” ’69 Camaro to the provisional No. 1 position. Cox, who reached the final round at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, posted a 3.895 at 189.36 in the opening qualifying session to take the early lead. Though numerous drivers improved in the second session, none of them were quick enough to pass Cox. Carson Baker, driving his ProCharged ’24 Camaro out of the Fireball Racing camp, ran a 3.914 at 196.02 to sit second. Canada’s Nick Agostino is third with a 3.930 at 201.64 in his turbocharged, small-block “Cannoli Express” ’69 Camaro.
In FuelTech Radial Outlaws competition, the provisional No. 1 qualifiers are Lyle Barnett in Pro 275, Jamie Stanton in Limited Drag Radial, D.J. McCain in X275, and Steve Romeo in Ultra Street. Barnett, who was the Pro Mod runner-up at the 2025 U.S. Street Nationals, drove Tommy Youmans’ Harts Charger-boosted “Salvage Title” Mustang to a 3.678 at 206.54 to lead the way.
By just two thousandths of a second, Stanton in his ProCharged ’02 Camaro went to No. 1 with a 3.876 at 191.27 ahead of Bradenton’s own Brett LaSala. McCain, the defending series champion in X275, picked up where he left off in 2025 and powered to a 4.116 at 173.43 in his nitrous-fed “Vecna” C6 Corvette. Romeo in his Pennsylvania-based, ProCharged ’67 Chevelle ran a 4.402 at 158.52 to lead Ultra Street.
