Persistent rain showers on Saturday and a rainy Sunday forecast forced Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) officials to cancel the remainder of the PDRA Summer Nationals at Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park. The all-eighth-mile series was set to enter first round of eliminations before rain entered the Tulsa area Saturday morning.
“With the weather we’re dealing with this evening and the forecast calling for a 95-percent chance of rain on Sunday, it’s just not possible to complete the event,” said PDRA race director Bob Harris. “Our rulebook requires us to be into the semifinals in order to push back the remainder of an event to the next race. Since we were unable to start eliminations this morning, it’s only right to cancel the event.”
All participants who qualified for the event will receive qualifying money, entry points and first-round points.
“We absolutely regret having to make this decision,” Harris continued. “It’s unprecedented in the four-year history of the PDRA; we’ve never had to completely cancel an event. All of the PDRA and Tulsa Raceway Park staff worked hard in attempting to dry the track, but the weather was just working against us.”
Three rounds of qualifying were contested Friday night. The PDRA Summer Nationals low qualifiers were Mattias Wulcan in Pro Extreme, Jim Laurita in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by MoTeC, Jose Gonzales in Andy McCoy Race Cars Pro Boost, John DeFlorian in Extreme Pro Stock, and Terry Schweigert in Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle. In the PDRA’s sportsman classes, the No. 1 qualifiers were Billy Albert in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, Jimmy Sackuvich in Lucas Oil Top Dragster, Mia Schultz in Campers Inn RV Pro Junior Dragster, and Arellyn Garner-Jones in MegaCorp Top Junior Dragster.
The next stop on the 2017 PDRA tour is PDRA Drag Wars, Sept. 7-9, at GALOT Motorsports Park in Benson, North Carolina.
