One of the largest Pro Nitrous fields in recent history came down to a unique final round at the Summit Racing Equipment East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech, pitting three-time PDRA Pro Nitrous world champion and series co-owner Tommy Franklin against Keith Haney, who’s the owner of the Mid-West Drag Racing Series as well as a multi-time champion in that series.
When the tree dropped Saturday night at Darana Motorsports Park – Benson, NC, it appeared to be Haney’s race as he left first with a .007 reaction time, but a flash of fire out of his hood scoop signaled the end of his day while Franklin drove past with a 3.676 at 206.64 in his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro. Haney recorded a 3.966 at 148.01 in the runner-up effort.
“First off, happy birthday to Pat Musi. He’s a great friend, great engine builder, great guy, period,” said Franklin, who also credited Mark Beatty from Red Line Oil, class sponsors Switzer Dynamics and Jerry Bickel Race Cars, and all the team’s supporters. “My team’s awesome. It’s a busy pit in our pits. There’s a lot of cars over there, but everybody, when we’ve got to do work on anything, they all jump in there. These wins are all big, and we love them all. We struggled a little bit in the heat, but hey, the team overcame. Jeff Pierce is a badass tuner and got this thing back turned around, and we were excellent in the heat today.”
Franklin qualified No. 4 and started race day with a 3.714 at 205.10 to get the first-round win over Chris Rini and his 3.774. He lined up against 2015 world champion “Tricky” Rickie Smith in the second round, with a consistent 3.711 at 205.29 taking out Smith’s 3.750. When the sun went down and conditions cooled off, Franklin dipped into the 3.60s with his 3.669 at 205.60 to knock out past Elite Top Sportsman world champion Tim Molnar and his 3.707 in the semifinals.
After the win, Franklin reflected on the state of Pro Nitrous, the class he’s called home since before he banded together with a small group of other drivers and team owners to form the PDRA in 2014. It’s currently the only place where nitrous Pro Mods compete against each other without boosted combinations.
“Pro Nitrous is an awesome class,” Franklin said. “Twenty cars at Darlington, 21 cars here. There’s more of them out there. This is the class. This is the way the class needs to be built. This is the way that people want to compete. The competition is tight. It’s some badass racing out there. The boosted world has left us, but that doesn’t mean that nitrous cars don’t matter. They do exist and they’re the coolest cars on the planet.”
Franklin also highlighted the family aspect of the PDRA and why he feels so strongly about what the series offers.
“I think everybody knows we do this as a family. I probably wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t doing it as a family,” Franklin said. “I love coming out here racing with my family. I love the whole aspect of it. I’ve said this multiple times this weekend: PDRA is a family. It’s a tight-knit group. This is not corporate America. It won’t be, and I love what we have. I love the group that races with us, the heart that goes into it. Everybody’s supporting everybody.”
The family aspect was on full display in the winner’s circle, as Franklin’s “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro was paired up with the “Bonnie” ’69 Camaro previously driven by the late Lizzy Musi and now piloted by Franklin’s son-in-law, Blake Denton, in tribute to Lizzy. Denton earned the Pro Street win, successfully defending his first career win in the class at last year’s East Coast Nationals. Oldest daughter Amber Denton also competes in Pro Nitrous, and her younger sister, Ashley Franklin, races in Top Dragster. Tommy’s wife, Judy, holds it all together.
“To come out here and do it with my family, they put a lot into it,” Franklin said. “Judy, first of all, just for dealing with it. We’re all racing. Amber’s ate up with it. Ashley’s ate up with it, and Blake obviously is ate up with it as well, and he’s wheeling that Pro Street car good. It’s just a good time. We love it, and to be able to double up at anything is awesome. My girl Ash was on fire today and she took it down to the semis and lost by .001. It’s tough racing out here. I love doing it with everyone and one day we’ll get a three-peat. We can’t do four because we’ve got me and Amber in the same class, but we can get three wins in one day.”
Adding a win to his No. 1 qualifier award and semifinal exit at the season-opening Carolina Nationals, Franklin is now the Pro Nitrous points leader going into the next stop on the PDRA tour, the Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Classic Graphix, May 21-23, at Virginia Motorsports Park.
This story was originally published on April 20, 2026. 
