An unpredictable day of Pro Nitrous eliminations at the PDRA North vs. South Shootout presented by Performance Polish at Maryland International Raceway ended with a final-round bye run for three-time and reigning world champion Tommy Franklin. He was set to face Billy Albert in the final round, but Albert couldn’t get his car started for his semifinal bye run.
Franklin staged his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro and recorded a 3.645-second pass at 207.66 MPH to secure the first end of a Franklin family double-up. His daughter, past Pro 632 world champion Amber Franklin, later won her final round to lock up the father-daughter duo’s third double-up since she made her Pro 632 debut in late 2021. This most recent edition meant a little more since it fell on Father’s Day weekend.
“First and foremost, I dedicate this to my dad,” said Franklin, referencing his late father, Roger, who passed in 2022. “He’s the one that got me into this [drag racing] mess. I don’t regret one bit of it and I’m passing it right down to my daughters. Both of them are out here racing really good and I’m just proud of them.
“My team is working hard,” added Franklin, who credited engine builder Pat Musi, Jerry Bickel Race Cars, Mark Menscer of Menscer Motorsports, and Red Line Oil. “It’s just a great program. Our car’s great. Jeff Pierce is awesome on the keyboard. It’s my whole crew, every single one of them. I don’t want to miss one of them, but they’re all awesome. They worked a lot on Friday. We changed some stuff around, trying to make strides, and that’s what we did. This is what we needed.”
Franklin faced fellow Virginian Dane Wood in the first round, where the two drivers left the starting line together, but Wood slowed to a 5.548 while Franklin set low E.T. of the round with his 3.685 at 207.08. It was an all-Virginia matchup in the next round, as Franklin paired up with past Elite Top Sportsman world champion Buddy Perkinson. Franklin used a 3.679 at 207.62 to drive around Perkinson, who was quicker off the starting line and raced to a 3.732. The Fredericksburg-based driver then fired off low E.T. of the event, a 3.632 at 208.49, to eliminate defending event winner Marcus Butner and his 3.679 in the semifinals.
In Pro 632, Amber had to strap into her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro just a few pairs of cars after watching her father solidify his first Pro Nitrous win of the season. The past Pro Jr. Dragster world champion stayed cool under pressure, leaving first by .002 seconds in her third final round of the season and running a 4.128 at 171.69 to beat Walter Lannigan Jr. and his 4.141 at 171.01. The performance stood for low E.T. of the event.
“We say it all the time, but doing this as a family is what we do,” Franklin said. “It’s what we go for, but it’s a lot harder than it looks to park more than one car in the winner’s circle. It means a lot, especially on Father’s Day, to do this with my dad. Thank you to Red Line Oil, Pat Musi Racing Engines, Hoosier Racing Tire, Jerry Bickel Race Cars, Menscer Motorsports, Jeff Pierce, my family, Blake [Denton, fiancé], and all of our crew. There’s not enough thank-yous to the people that put into this program.”
As the No. 1 qualifier, Franklin earned a first-round bye run, which she used to record a 4.201 at 170.23. In the second round, she drove around Andy House’s .001 reaction time with a 4.178 at 170.26 to House’s 4.221. Franklin repeated with a 4.178 at 170.41 in the semifinals to eliminate Jayme Thompson and his 4.262.
Tommy moved into the points lead with his win, while Amber extended her points lead when she won.
This story was originally published on June 16, 2024. 
