BUDDS CREEK, Md. — Pro Modified veteran Steve King secured his first career No. 1 qualifier award in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive Friday night at the PDRA North vs. South Shootout presented by Performance Polish at Maryland Int’l Raceway.
King recorded a 3.64-second pass at 205.19 MPH in the second session to lead a handful of first-time No. 1 qualifiers at the fourth of eight races on the 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series tour.
Four-time Switzer Dynamics world champion Jim Halsey qualified No. 1 for the fourth time in as many races, while past PDRA Pro 632 world champion Amber Franklin qualified No. 3 for the third time in four races. Brunson Grothus scored his second career No. 1 qualifier in Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle.
Steve King has raced at Maryland Int’al Raceway for 20 years, but Friday night marked his first time qualifying No. 1 in Pro Boost at the storied track. It was also his first career No. 1 qualifier award in the class.
Behind the wheel of Gene Pilot’s screw-blown “Savage 3.0” ‘22 Corvette, King fired off a 3.661 to lead the first session, then a 3.64 at 205.19 in the second session. While several drivers stepped up in the final session, no one ran quicker than King’s Q2 effort. King was on pace to lower his best numbers in the final session when the engine expired near the finish line.
“I feel really good because every session we’ve been low E.T. except that one, and it probably would have been low E.T. if it had made the trip all the way,” said King, who credited tuner Jon Salemi, crew chief Jeff Miller, car owner Gene Pilot, the Pilot Racing team, and G-Force Race Cars. “Pro Boost is probably the closest category in drag racing right now, so it feels pretty good to be here. We feel like we have a hot rod. We know we have a good hot weather tune-up right now.”
Salemi also tuned his wife, longtime Pro Boost standout Melanie Salemi, to the No. 2 spot with a 3.644 at 206.99 in the screw-blown Al-Lee Installations “Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird. Johnny Camp charged to a 3.656 at 205.10 in his Brandon Stroud-tuned, ProCharged “Hells Bells” ’69 Camaro to qualify third.
Four-time Pro Nitrous world champion Jim Halsey’s No. 1 qualifying streak extended to four races when he fired off a 3.674 at 208.81 in the final pair of the final qualifying session. Driving his Brandon Switzer-tuned, Fulton-powered ’68 Camaro, Halsey reclaimed his top spot after three-time and reigning world champion Tommy Franklin took it away by one thousandth of a second earlier in the session. He nearly set a new class speed record with his 209.20 earlier in the day, following up a 209.95 MPH pass he made in Thursday testing. Halsey, who hails from Havre de Grace, Maryland, is seeking a second home-race victory.
Former Pro 632 racer Jeremy Huffman and his Tom Vigue-led team have been gradually working towards their first No. 1 qualifier award in Extreme Pro Stock over the last few seasons. The Catawba, North Carolina-based driver raced to the final round at his last PDRA appearance at the spring Virginia race, then used a 4.123 at 175.50 in his 3V Performance-powered ’10 Cobalt to qualify No. 1 at Maryland.
Past world champion Amber Franklin’s consistency in Pro 632 qualifying continued with her third No. 1 qualifying effort in the first four races of the season. The runner-up at the last two races on tour, she raced to the top of a final qualifying order that included nine drivers packed together in the 4.20-second range. Franklin was the only driver who broke out of the 4.20-second range with her 4.195 at 168.96 in her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro in the final session.
A few weeks after Brunson Grothus scored his first Pro Extreme Motorcycle win in several years, the Davenport, Iowa-based rider picked up his second No. 1 qualifier award. Grothus rode Robert Varela’s turbocharged Dallas Flat Glass Distributors ’19 Hayabusa to a 3.982 at 186.10 to lead an eight-motorcycle field made up of turbocharged and nitrous-assisted entries.
Past North vs. South Shootout Pro Street winner Ty Kasper had to miss the spring Virginia race due to a transporter issue on the way to the race, then his family-based team decided to sit out the Norwalk race to make changes to their twin-turbocharged Victus Sports “Sinatra” ’05 Mustang. Those changes were rewarded with Kasper’s first career No. 1 qualifying effort on the strength of a 4.056 at 195.31 in the final session. Along with a low qualifier bonus, Kasper will receive a custom baseball bat from Victus, his baseball-turned-racing sponsor.
After making changes to his combination before the last race at Norwalk and testing at Maryland the weekend before the North vs. South Shootout, Dan Whetstine’s efforts paid off with his first-ever Super Street No. 1 qualifier award. Whetstine, who lives in nearby LaPlata, fired off a 4.662 at 157.52 in his ProCharged “Red Velvet” ’90 Mustang in the final qualifying session to take the top spot.
Young gun Austin Vincent made a statement in his Super Street debut by laying down a 4.673 at 153.39 in his nitrous-fed ’88 Mustang to qualify second. Championship runner-up Derek Mota posted a 4.72 at 160.94 in his turbocharged East Point Recovery Centers ’93 Mustang for the third spot.
For the third time in four races, past Elite Top Sportsman world champion Tim Molnar drove his nitrous-fed ’68 Camaro to the No. 1 spot. This time, it took a 3.771 at 199.40 to top the 16-car field. Travis “The Carolina Kid” Harvey, the 2014 Top Dragster world champion who now races in Pro Boost, is pulling double duty with his nitrous-assisted ’17 Corvette. He raced to a 3.785 at 199.67 to go to the No. 2 position. Glenn Butcher, who sits No. 2 in points with a recent win at Virginia, qualified third with a 3.798 at 197.13 in his Albert-powered ’69 Camaro.
The North vs. South Shootout is a home race for Mt. Airy, Maryland’s Frank Falter IV, who took his supercharged “Candy Man” ’22 Miller dragster to the No. 1 spot in Elite Top Dragster with a 3.687 at 207.24. He was quicker than No. 2 qualifier Kyle Harris by almost a tenth, as Harris recorded a 3.765 at 192.77 in his supercharged ’15 Horton dragster. Brian Anderson in his ProCharged ’23 Race Tech dragster laid down a 3.798 at 190.48 to round out the top three.
Past world champion Tisha Wilson secured the Top Dragster 48 No. 1 qualifier award for car owner Alan O’Brien, driving his turbocharged Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’23 Race Tech dragster to a 4.075 at 173.65.
After one qualifying session on Thursday evening and two more sessions on Friday, the No. 1 qualifiers in the sportsman classes are Tim Molnar in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Frank Falter IV in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Dan Hill in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman 48 presented by Corbin’s RV, and
Tisha Wilson in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster presented by Younce RV.
Almost 70 Jr. Dragster racers rolled into Maryland to compete in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products. After two of three qualifying sessions, Prince George, Virginia’s Chloe Geryes is the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Pro Jr. Dragster with a perfect 7.900-second pass in her ’18 Mike Bos dragster, leading a field of 51 drivers. In Top Jr. Dragster, which qualifies based on reaction time, Cole Rudy in his Middletown, Maryland-based ’22 Mike Bos dragster cut a .004 reaction time to take the provisional No. 1 spot.