A year ago, Ty Tutterow helped his father, Todd “King Tut” Tutterow, race to a runner-up finish at the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series’ ProFab DragWars presented by PST Driveshafts driving Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro. Now with Ty in the driver’s seat and Todd calling the shots, the pair found the winner’s circle at GALOT Motorsports Park Saturday night.
Final-round opponent Melanie Salemi moved first with a .009 reaction time to Tutterow’s .011, but a mechanical issue quickly prevented Salemi from sweeping the GALOT races as she slowed to an 11.113 at 37.29. Tutterow fired off low elapsed time of race day, a 3.561 at 209.95, to claim his third win in four straight final rounds.
This one came just 48 hours after Tutterow defeated Salemi in the final round of the Thunder Valley Throwdown, which was completed Thursday night at GALOT after rain showers pushed it from Bristol Dragway in late August.
“Racing the Salemis is always tough and it’s always fun too because when you go screw blower racing, it’s really us against the Salemi group,” Tutterow said. “They make a lot of power too and we use a lot of similar components and it’s always just a pleasure to race them and go back and forth.”
Tutterow led the points standings by just under two rounds over Salemi after the Bristol race was completed. He extended that by one round with the DragWars win, but he’s not taking anything for granted going into the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals, Oct. 2-5, at Virginia Motorsports Park.
“We need to qualify,” said Tutterow, referencing his DNQ at the spring Virginia race and his father’s DNQs at both Virginia races last season. “Everybody knows Virginia is our Achilles heel. Hopefully we go to Virginia and qualify and get some rounds. If we’re fortunate enough to get another win or runner-up, it’d be awesome. That’s the goal.”
Tutterow, who qualified No. 1 for the first time this season, kicked off race day with a 3.608 at 208.88 to eliminate Bubba Greene, tuned by Pro Modified legend Scotty Cannon, and his 3.751. Tutterow then locked into the 3.50s, running a 3.59 at 207.72 over Jason Lee’s 4.59 in the second round and a 3.568 at 209.49 over a red-lighting Randy Weatherford in the semis. That was the second-quickest pass of the day, setting him up with lane choice in the final.
Salemi, who won the season-opening East Coast Nationals at GALOT, qualified sixth in Eddie Whelan’s screw-blown Al-Lee Installations “Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird. That meant a first-round meeting with teammate and 2025 World Series of Pro Mod champion Steve King, who left the line first but ran a 3.638 to follow Salemi and her 3.586 at 207.46. It didn’t get any easier for Salemi in the second round, as she faced Johnny Camp in a rematch of the East Coast Nationals final round. This edition went Salemi’s way as well, with her 3.617 at 193.24 beating Camp’s 3.708 as both drivers wounded parts. Salemi dipped back in the 3.50s in the semis with a 3.583 at 207.88 over Ed Marx, who coasted to a 4.579 at 111.78.
This story was originally published on September 17, 2025. 
