BUDDS CREEK, Md. — A last-minute decision to head to Maryland International Raceway resulted in a No. 1 qualifier award for Tim Paap Friday afternoon at the Hoosier Tire PDRA North vs. South Shootout presented by Callies Performance.
The Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by Jerry Bickel Race Cars driver recorded a 3.653-second pass at 205.41 mph on Thursday’s first qualifying session, and when rain cut Friday’s Pro Nitrous qualifying down to one session, he was still the driver on top.
It’s Paap’s first No. 1 qualifier award of the season at the fourth of seven races on the 2026 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series schedule.
WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive completed two qualifying sessions and started a third when the rain hit MIR. Reigning event champion and world champion Ty Tutterow took the No. 1 spot.
The PDRA’s other three pro classes completed three sessions total, with No. 1 qualifier awards going to Jerry Morgano in Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by KTR Drag Racing, Jeff Pittman in Pro 632 presented by Mark Williams Enterprises, and Connor McGee in 1320 Fabrication Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling.
When severe summer storms rocked Tim Paap’s hometown of Charleston, Illinois, the second-year Pro Nitrous driver strongly considered staying home from the North vs. South Shootout. He forged ahead, though, and his decision was rewarded Friday evening when he claimed the No. 1 qualifier award. He turned heads on Thursday night when his Jeffrey Barker-tuned, Musi-powered Paap Auto Body ’16 Corvette lit up the scoreboard with a 3.653 at 205.41.
“To go from not qualifying at the first race to qualifying No. 1 here is huge,” said Paap, who qualified No. 2 at the second race on tour. “It’s a testament to Jeffrey Barker and our whole team. We weren’t sure if we were going to make it to this race. We got hit by a tornado at home, so it was just all kind of spur of the moment. I actually called it off last Friday, then Tuesday, I’m like, ‘Hey, let’s go. Let’s just get rid of the chaos and we’ll go to a different kind of chaos.’ We’re just looking to be in the winner’s circle at the end of the day tomorrow.”
Two-time Pro 632 world champion Amber Denton ended up a season-best No. 2 on the qualifying sheet thanks to a 3.662 at 206.67 in her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro. Just one thousandth behind Denton, reigning world champion Marcus Butner qualified third with a 3.663 at 207.62 in his Musi-powered “Heartbreaker” ’69 Camaro.
Ty Tutterow, son of two-time Pro Boost world champion Todd “King Tut” Tutterow, won last year’s North vs. South Shootout to kick off a five-race stretch that featured three wins in five consecutive final-round appearances and a world championship. This year, Tutterow is behind the wheel of Justin Smith’s new Larry Jeffers-built Quik Fuel ’68 Camaro, which he took to the No. 1 spot on Thursday. Tutterow’s 3.593 at 209.20 held the top spot through Friday’s lone qualifying session as well.
Jason Harris, who has a pair of world championships in both Pro Boost and Pro Nitrous, took the No. 2 spot in his Harts Charger-boosted “Party Time” ’69 Camaro with a 3.622 at 210.67. Travis “The Carolina Kid” Harvey’s hot streak continued as he qualified third with a 3.624 at 209.30 in the Vaughn Myles and Eric Holland-owned Redd Topp Motorsports ’19 Camaro.
When Pro Street ran its first qualifying session under the lights Thursday night, Jerry Morgano charged to the provisional No. 1 spot and never looked back. He ran a 3.958 at 201.94 in his turbocharged “Copperhead” ’02 Mustang to follow up another sub-4-second pass he recorded earlier in the day during testing. The Outlaw 10.5 veteran also qualified No. 1 at the season opener, where he posted a runner-up finish. He’s hoping to take that one round further on race day.
Young gun Scott Kincaid threw down a 3.966 at 195.19 in his screw-blown ’69 Camaro to qualify No. 2. Golden, Colorado’s Mikey Sasina made his first appearance of the season in his Harts Charger-boosted ’03 Mustang and ran a 3.979 at 197.10 to qualify third.
Former Top Sportsman standout Jeff Pittman’s sophomore season in Pro 632 continues to trend in the right direction as he locked down his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award.
With a Barry Allen engine from Alan O’Brien’s championship-winning Greenbrier Excavating & Paving team under the hood scoop in his Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales ’68 Chevelle, Pittman laid down a 4.147 at 171.95 in Thursday’s opening qualifying session. No one topped it when Pro 632 hit the track again on Friday.
Carson Hoyle, also in his second year in the class, qualified second in his Musi-powered ATI Performance Products ’69 Camaro on the strength of a 4.171 at 169.53. Rookie David Cook Jr. also dipped into the 4.10s with his 4.191 at 168.98 in his Nelson-powered Copy&PrintWarehouse.com ’10 GTO to take the third spot.
For the second consecutive race, defending Super Street world champion Connor McGee secured the No. 1 qualifying position in his Fulton-powered Brian’s Heating & Cooling ’90 Mustang. He’s qualified no worse than second and went to the final round at both completed events this season, winning the first one. His team, led by father Brian McGee, has worked hard to maintain the consistency that carried McGee to his first career championship last season.
Fellow young gun Austin Vincent, who goes back and forth with McGee for qualifying positions and event wins, qualified second with a 4.559 at 154.65 in his Vincent Performance ’88 Mustang. Charles Potter drove his small-block Ford-powered ’84 Mustang to a 4.632 at 152.38 to qualify No. 3.
Bryan LaFlam was the only driver to dip into the 3.70s, posting a 3.776 at 194.49 in his supercharged BigStuff TPM ’67 Mustang to qualify No. 1 in Elite Top Sportsman. Jamie Fowler, No. 1 qualifier at the first two races of the season in his nitrous-fed, Fulton-powered Pee Dee Fleet ’69 Camaro, ended up second with a 3.809 at 198.64. Class veteran Bruce Thrift qualified third in his nitrous-assisted, PAR-powered ’06 GTO with a 3.833 at 193.77.
A trio of ProCharger-boosted, PAR Racing Engines-powered dragsters led the way in Elite Top Dragster. Gray Kimble was the quickest of that group with a 3.745 at 197.33 in his Finney Builders ’18 Miller dragster. Josh Duggins ran a 3.760 at 199.32 in his PAR Racing Engines ’14 Maddox dragster to qualify second. Brian Anderson in his Carson, Virginia-based ’23 Race Tech entry rounded out the trio with a 3.774 at 192.47.
Past Top Sportsman world champion Chad Traylor sat just outside the 16-car Elite field with a 4.221 at 165.97, but that was enough to put him No. 1 in the Top Dragster 32 field.
After three qualifying sessions, No. 1 qualifier awards in the sportsman categories went to Bryan LaFlam in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Gray Kimble in Greenbrier Excavating & Paving Elite Top Dragster presented by American Race Cars, Corey Evans in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, and Chad Traylor in ATI Performance Products Top Dragster presented by TBM Brakes.
The PDRA rising stars in the Jr. Dragster ranks completed two qualifying sessions. Alyssa Rabon (Pro Jr. Dragster) and Camden Berry (Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster) are the provisional No. 1 qualifiers going into Saturday’s final session. Rabon posted a perfect 7.900-second elapsed time in her Florence, South Carolina-based ’10 Halfscale dragster to lead Pro Jr. Dragster, which qualifies against a 7.90 index. In Top Jr. Dragster, where the qualifying order is based on reaction time, Berry was the closest to a perfect .000 light with a .006 in the Prince Frederick, Maryland-based ’04 Halfscale entry.
