BUDDS CREEK, Md. — For the first time since Ty Tutterow’s rookie season in 2017, the second-generation Pro Modified racer secured a Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series victory Saturday evening at the BigStuff Total Power Management North vs. South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway.
Behind the wheel of the same screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro his father, Todd “King Tut” Tutterow,” drove to two wins in 2024, Tutterow recorded a 3.667-second pass at 206.54 MPH in the final round of WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive to defeat No. 1 qualifier Steve King and his 3.68-second effort.
When second-generation Pro Boost racer Ty Tutterow returned to driving duties this season, he was determined to continue the success his father, Todd “King Tut” Tutterow,” had in Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro last season.
The elder Tutterow won twice in the first three races of the 2024 season, and in the third race of the 2025 season, Ty added a win of his own at Maryland. The site of his first career final round in 2017, Maryland played host to Tutterow’s second career win when he knocked down 2025 World Series of Pro Mod champion and No. 1 qualifier Steve King in the final round. Tutterow led wire to wire, winning with a 3.667 at 206.54 to King’s 3.68 at 205.35.
“It’s been a while,” said Tutterow, who thanked Smith, parents Todd and Denise, wife Katlyn, Chris Bell at Kinetic Shocks, Mark Beatty at Red Line Oil, Wyo Motorsports, Brad, KB, and Ty-Drive. “It’s a good race car. It’s a comfortable race car. To know and watch what the car’s doing going down the track by watching on the outside and sitting in the seat just gives you a little bit more of an advantage and a feel for the car. The track was changing all day long. It would get sun on it. The prep would change just a little bit, then you come out here for the finals and get some shade on it again and that’s the time to step back on it.”
The North vs. South Shootout was a weekend of redemption for Pro Nitrous finalists Fredy Scriba and Billy Albert. It was a homecoming for Scriba, who earned his first world championship last season but lost in the first round at the first two races of this season.
Albert, on the other hand, lost on a bye run in the Maryland semifinals last season when his car wouldn’t start. This time around, Scriba denied Albert his first Pro Nitrous victory in a side-by-side final round. Scriba left first in his Musi-powered “Sorcerer” ’69 Camaro and held the lead through the finish line with a 3.712 at 206.29. Albert wasn’t far behind with a 3.727 at 206.42.
Ever-changing weather conditions at Maryland threw curveballs at the racers in Pro Street, and Blake Denton and Dan Norris were the two drivers who adapted the best on race day. Consistency carried both drivers to the third final round of their careers – Denton’s third consecutive final and Norris’s first of the season.
The two left the starting line together and locked door handles as they went down the track, though Denton pulled ahead at the end in his nitrous-fed “Bonnie” ’69 Camaro. He won with a 4.019 at 201.49 over Norris’s 4.055 at 185.72. It was Denton’s second win in three finals to start his first full season in the class driving a car previously campaigned by the late Lizzy Musi.
Alan Drinkwater, the 2023 Extreme Pro Stock world champion, returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since his championship season when he defeated defending event Elijah Morton in the final round. With an increased $10,000 prize on the line thanks to a Power Purse boost from C.R. Powers HVAC, Drinkwater left first and raced to a 4.157 at 173.99 in his Kaase-powered Flatout Gaskets ’08 Mustang to finish ahead of Morton and his 4.182 at 174.91. With the win, Drinkwater took over the points lead.
Pro 632 competition at Maryland came down to the two drivers who posted runner-up finishes in the first two races of the season, Jeff Melnick and Lexi Tanner. Melnick, the 2023 world champion, reached the final round at the most recent race in Virginia and followed that up with a second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award on his way to the final.
Tanner kicked off the season with her first career No. 1 qualifier award and a runner-up finish. She was a touch too eager to chase her first win of the season, though, as she went red by .230 seconds in the final and coasted to an 8.934 at 61.81. Melnick in Alan O’Brien’s Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro went on to win with a 4.224 at 168.91, earning the $8,000 Power Purse prize courtesy of ProComm ELS and moving him into the points lead.
When Super Street finalists Connor McGee and Matt Schalow were separated by just three thousandths in the semifinals, a side-by-side final round was all but guaranteed. The two young guns delivered. McGee, who won the season opener and qualified No. 1 on Friday night, got a slight advantage on the starting line before rolling to low E.T. of the event, a 4.615 at 155.38. In the other lane, Schalow made his best run of the weekend, a 4.673 at 156.77, in his return after a crash in eliminations at the last race.
Past world champions dominated the sportsman categories, with victories going to Stacy Hall in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Kyle Harris in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Steve Furr in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman 48, and Nick Meloni in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster 48 presented by Derrick Wolfe Trucking. Bernard Weaver collected the event win in Edelbrock Bracket Bash presented by COMP Cams.
In the Jr. Dragster classes, Alyssa Rabon and Wyatt Piercey were victorious in Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products, respectively. In the Pro Jr. Dragster final round, Rabon and opponent Carter Jackson had identical .045 reaction times before Jackson broke out by just six thousandths with a 7.894, while Rabon’s win light illuminated with her 7.903. Piercey, son of past Top Dragster world champion Tisha Wilson, was quicker off the line than final-round opponent Hanna Mattingly and ran a 12.055 on a 12.07 dial-in to get the win. Mattingly broke out with an 8.949 on an 8.97 dial-in.
