DINWIDDIE, Va. — Randy Weatherford ran within one thousandth of the national E.T. record to take the provisional No. 1 spot in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive Friday night at the Pro Line Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals presented by ProCharger.
Weatherford covered the Virginia Motorsports Park eighth mile in 3.556 seconds at 212.13 mph to lead a long list of Pro Boost drivers in the 3.50-second range at the 2025 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season finale.
The PDRA’s Jr. Dragster ranks once again proved they’re among the toughest in the series during their two of three planned qualifying sessions. In Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products, where drivers qualify against a 7.90 index, Cameron Boyd ran a 7.900 to lead the list of 56 drivers attempting to make the 32-car field. Fourteen of those drivers ran 7.90s. Reaction times are the name of the game in Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products, where Deontrie Brown III cut a perfect .000 light to take the provisional No. 1 spot.
It took a 3.556 at 212.13 – one thousandth slower than Derek Ward’s current class E.T. record of 3.555 seconds – to lead the way in one of the quickest qualifying sessions in Pro Boost history. Danville, Virginia’s Randy Weatherford threw down that performance in his Harts Charger-boosted WS Construction ’21 Camaro in the second qualifying session, taking a step up from his 3.600 at 211.33 in the opening session. The former Pro Nitrous driver is now one session away from claiming his second No. 1 qualifier award of the season. Nine other drivers followed Weatherford into the 3.50s.
“I guess there in August I was pretty hot,” Weatherford said, referencing his dominant performance at the PDRA Northern Nationals, where he debuted the new Harts Charger combo. “Hopefully this time I can go out here and just win this one right here. I’ve been testing this car, reworked some things out, got it back around. I think they’re going to have a hard time with me this weekend. If it’s warm, we can run right up there with them.”
Steve King, winner of this year’s World Series of Pro Mod and Yellowbullet Nationals, qualified No. 2 with a 3.565 behind the wheel of Gene Pilot’s screw-blown “Savage” ’19 Corvette. Two-time and reigning Pro Boost world champion Jason Harris posted a 3.570 at 210.14 in his ProCharged Southern Diamond Company “Party Time” ’69 Camaro to qualify third.
Reigning Pro Nitrous world champion Fredy Scriba laid down the first leg of a new class E.T. national record to jump to the provisional No. 1 spot in the second qualifying session. One night after winning a second consecutive Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars title, Scriba drove his Musi-powered “Sorcerer” ’69 Camaro to a 3.600 at 208.62 to close out the second qualifying session with an exclamation point. He’ll need to run a 3.636 or quicker before the event is over to back up the record.
In the other lane, 2024 Elite Top Sportsman championship runner-up turned Pro Nitrous rookie Tim Paap ran a 3.609 at 206.73 in his Musi-powered Paap Auto Body ’16 Corvette, just one thousandth slower than Jim Halsey’s current E.T. record.
Three-time world champion and points leader Tommy Franklin was the provisional No. 1 qualifier before the final pair of the session, as he threw down a 3.612 at 208.75 in his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro to rebound from shutting off on the starting line in the first session.
Brian Weddle’s current Pro Street E.T. national set at last year’s World Finals is in danger, as Richard Reagan posted the first leg of a new record to take the provisional No. 1 spot. Reagan piloted his screw-blown Reagan’s Excavating ’90 Mustang to a 3.854 at 199.29 in the final pair of the second qualifying session to throw his name in the national record conversation. The pass is one hundredth quicker than Weddle’s one-year-old record, and
Reagan will need to run a 3.892 or quicker before the weekend is over to officially claim the record.
In a qualifying battle between the two championship contenders, reigning world champion and points leader Ethan Steding and No. 2 driver Blake Denton, the young guns qualified No. 2 and 3, respectively. Steding ran a 3.884 at 199.97 in his roots-blown P2 Contracting “College Fund” ’24 Camaro and Denton posted a 3.885 at 197.16 in his nitrous-fed “Bonnie” Lizzy Musi tribute ’69 Camaro in a thrilling side-by-side race.
Young gun Jordan Ensslin’s hot streak in Extreme Pro Stock continued Friday night when he raced to the provisional No. 1 spot on the strength of a 4.030 at 178.66 in his Allen-powered Poke County Pro Stock “Seabiscuit” ’09 Mustang. Ensslin recently earned his first career win at the Thunder Valley Throwdown and his first career No. 1 qualifier award at DragWars, then he won the Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars all-star race Thursday night.
Alan Drinkwater, who clinched his second world championship in three years during Friday qualifying, followed Ensslin in second with a 4.044 at 178.85 in his Kaase-powered Flatout Gaskets ’08 Mustang. Elijah Morton also ran well into the 4.00s, recording a 4.049 at 179.90 to sit third in his Allen-powered Morton Brothers Motorsports ’19 Mustang.
With a second world championship clinched at the last race, Jeff Melnick and Alan O’Brien’s Greenbrier Excavating & Paving team set their sights on setting a new class E.T. national record. With Patrick Barnhill tuning and Barry Allen providing the horsepower in the Greenbrier ’20 Camaro, Melnick came close with a 4.094 at 173.16, the second-quickest pass in the history of the class. Two-time world champion Amber Denton currently holds the record with a 4.086.
J.C. Beattie Jr. threw down a career-best 4.106 at 173.81, also one of the quickest passes in Pro 632 history, to sit No. 2 in his ATI Performance Products ’69 Camaro. Walter Lannigan, who won the Summit PDRA ProStars race on Thursday night, took David Cook’s Nelson-powered Copy&PrintWarehouse.com ’10 GTO to the No. 3 spot with a 4.124 at 170.79.
Fresh off a breakthrough win in the Summit PDRA ProStars all-star shootout on Thursday night, Super Street rookie Carson Perry went to the provisional No. 1 spot for the first time in his career on Friday night. He charged to a 4.513 at 157.41 in his nitrous-fed Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’00 Camaro to hold off reigning world champion Dan Whetstine by just a few thousandths of a second.
Whetstine, tuned by two-time Pro Street world champion Tim Essick, ended up second with a 4.519 at 161.71 in his ProCharged “Red Velvet” ’91 Mustang. Points leader Connor McGee is third in his nitrous-assisted Brian’s Heating & Cooling ’90 Mustang with a 4.595 at 153.93.
Elite Top Sportsman points leader Bryan LaFlam is checking all the boxes on his World Finals agenda, as he followed up his Summit PDRA ProStars win Thursday night with the provisional No. 1 spot on Friday night. He drove his supercharged BigStuff TPM ’67 Mustang to a 3.772 at 194.55 to lead the loaded qualifying order after two sessions.
Jamie Fowler is second with a 3.784 at 199.73 in his nitrous-fed Pee Dee Fleet ’69 Camaro, and Bruce Thrift sits third in his nitrous-assisted “Color Me Gone” ’08 GTO with a 3.806 at 192.60.
Dan Hill is just outside the 16-car Elite field with his 4.080 at 176.01, but that run puts him and his Connecticut-based ’69 Camaro on top of the Top Sportsman 48 field.
Alan O’Brien, the points leader in Elite Top Dragster, is also leading the way when it comes to World Finals qualifying, as he laid down a 3.729 at 199.73 in his unique quad-turbocharged, AMC-powered Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’23 Race Tech dragster to hold the provisional No. 1 spot. The father-son duo of Kyle and Ryan Harris is second and third, respectively. Kyle, the reigning world champion, recorded a 3.735 at 199.02 in his supercharged DFS Projects ’32 Bantam Altered. Ryan, who came up one round short of the
Pro Jr. Dragster world championship in 2024, wasn’t far behind with a 3.738 at 195.76 in his supercharged DFS Projects ’18 Horton dragster.
Angie Travis is the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Top Dragster 48 with a 3.843 at 191.43 in her Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales dragster.
