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 International 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. The other pro class No. 1 qualifiers – Jeremy Huffman in Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition, Ty Kasper in Menscer Motorsports Pro Street presented by Afco Racing, and Dan Whetstine in Afco Racing Super Street presented by Menscer Motorsports – all earned their first career No. 1 qualifier awards.
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.
PRO BOOST
Virginia’s Steve King has raced at Maryland International 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.
PRO NITROUS
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.
“Like I said at the last race, I think we’re just starting to get this new car figured out, to make the runs we made in the heat yesterday and today,” said Halsey, who thanked his team that includes wife Cathy, Switzer, crew chief Eric Davis, Michael McMillan, and Brian Chin. “This new car is good and these guys are working hard. It’s good to make runs like we have, especially with the new car. We knew everything about the old car. We made three out of four runs yesterday and three out of three today. We feel pretty good.”
Franklin ended up second in his Jeff Pierce-tuned, Musi-powered “Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro with a 3.682 at 206.70. Defending event winner Marcus Butner, who defeated Halsey in the final to claim his first Pro Nitrous win last year, qualified third with a 3.689 at 207.69 in his Jay Cox-tuned, Musi-powered Butner Construction “Heartbreaker” ’69 Camaro.
EXTREME PRO STOCK
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.
“We have worked hard and busted our butts,” said Huffman, who thanked his family-based team and partners like Patriot Axe Throwing and Line2Line Coatings. “We’ve changed the four-link in this car five times in the last eight runs. We’re really trying to work hard to figure out what it wants. It’s so rewarding to put all this sweat equity in and have it pay off. We decided when we moved up from Pro 632 to Pro Stock that we don’t want to play follow the leader. We’re going to try some things that may not work and it may work. It’s just so cool to see some things really start to come together for us.”
Fellow North Carolinian Elijah Morton qualified second in his Allen-powered Cashion Fishing Rods ’19 Mustang with a 4.13 at 175.43. Dave Hughes ran a 4.15 at 174.66 in his Kaase-powered HRE Racing Manifolds ’18 Camaro to qualify No. 3.
PRO 632
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.
“It’s definitely a testament to my team,” said Franklin, who thanked the fans and her team’s supporters. “It’s a testament to Pat Musi Racing Engines, [tuner] Jeff Pierce, my dad [Tommy Franklin], Jerry Bickel Race Cars, and Red Line Oil. All those guys put a lot of work into my car and our program and I couldn’t do it without them. My crew gives me the best car every run and that’s the end of it. I can’t thank them enough. It’s the first hot race of the season, so getting up and down the racetrack is what we’re going to try to do [on race day]. Hopefully I can do my job on the tree again and get to another final and hopefully get the win this time.”
Walter Lannigan Jr., who’s coming off a No. 1 qualifier award and win at the last race, qualified second in Chris Holdorf’s Nelson-powered Dewitt Custom Concrete ’10 GTO with a 4.20 at 169.08. Reigning world champion Jeff Melnick in Alan O’Brien’s Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro used a 4.224 at 168.70 to qualify third.
PRO EXTREME MOTORCYCLE
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.
“In your mind, that’s how you draw it up,” Grothus said of the No. 1 qualifying effort. “You think a lot about these races in between races and you think about the plan and it’s to do exactly what we just did. I get to ride this thing. My dad does all the maintenance in between races, along with Klemme Performance Motorcycle and Dan Wagner. Thanks to Robert Varela for again trusting me to come here and ride this thing. It’s awesome.”
Defending event winner Brayden Davis made the quickest pass of the day for a nitrous bike with his 4.004 at 175.91 on his father Travis’s Timblin Chassis ’18 Hayabusa to end up second. Longtime Pro Extreme Motorcycle rider and tuner Ashley Owens rode his McKinney Motorsports ’10 Suzuki to a 4.013 at 176.77 to qualify third.
PRO STREET
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.
“I’m so excited about that bat,” Kasper said. “We’ve been giving them out [to the No. 1 qualifiers in Pro Street] and I haven’t gotten one yet. I’m more excited about that, but I’m happy that the car is running good. We moved the turbos, changed the converter, changed the stator, and finally found the piece of the puzzle. It’s been a struggle, but you never give up. It’s rewarding when something like this happens. It makes all the bad stuff go away.”
Jerry Morgano made a string of smooth runs in his turbocharged, small-block-powered ’02 Mustang, highlighted by a 4.064 at 201.91, to qualify second. Defending event winner Scott Kincaid in his screw-blown ’69 Camaro qualified third with a 4.069 at 191.89.
SUPER STREET
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.
“We’ve been working some crazy hours in the garage the last few weeks,” said Whetstine, who thanked his team, including wife Michelle and crew chief Tim Essick, as well as sponsors like Maxima Oils, ATI Performance, Billet Atomizer, and Menscer Motorsports. “We got new heads, new intake, and changed our ATI converter. We came out here testing last weekend and experimented with some converter stuff, gear change, and things like that. We’ve really figured out a way to put some power down. This motor wants power in different spots than my other combination, so that was kind of a struggle for us in Ohio. But Tim’s made some great tuning calls. This motor is still not happy in all the areas, but that was as close as we’ve been. That was the first pass it pulled all the way through.”
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.
TOP SPORTSMAN
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.
Connecticut’s Dan Hill used a 4.121 at 174.21 in his ’69 Camaro to secure the No. 1 spot in Top Sportsman 48.
TOP DRAGSTER
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.
The North vs. South Shootout presented by Performance Polish will continue Saturday morning beginning at 9 a.m. The day starts with Jr. Dragster final qualifying and a time trial for Edelbrock Bracket Bash presented by COMP Cams, with sportsman and Jr. Dragster eliminations to follow. Pre-race ceremonies and pro eliminations will kick off at 2 p.m.
Fans at home can watch the full event live on the official livestream through www.FloRacing.com.
This story was originally published on June 15, 2024. 
