PDRA’s Season Opener Goes Into Overtime in North Carolina, and the NHRA completes the 63rd running of the Winternationals in California
From the east coast to the west coast, two major events were completed on the first weekend of April, as the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) hosted some great competitions.
The PDRA, celebrating its tenth year of racing in 2023, started with a barnburner of an opening event at the East Coast Nationals at Galot Motorsports Park in Benson, North Carolina.
A large racer turnout, which nearly maxed out the property, got an extra day of action when Mother Nature pushed final eliminations from Saturday to Sunday, but some deserving winners were given their moment in victory lane.
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He may have qualified number two, but defending Pro Nitrous champ Jim Halsey got the job in eliminations, working his to the final round and then defeating Tommy Franklin in the title bout.
The Pro Boost class was separated by just over six hundredths of-a-second among sixteen qualifiers, and Melanie Salemi rode from the top spot in qualifying through four rounds of competition to get the win over a red-lighting Johnny Camp in the final round.
Among the biggest news was 17-year-old Bryden Davis getting a double win, picking up the winner’s trophy in the Pro Nitrous Motorcycle class as well as the Pro Jr. Dragster class!
Dwayne Rice picked up the Extreme Pro Stock win over Dillon Voss, the Pro 632 class witnessed Jeff Melnick upsetting defending class champ Amber Franklin in the final round, and Pro Street class champ Tim Essick started his title defense with a win over Bill Riddle.
Elite Top Sportsman was won by Reigning world champion Henry Underwood, while the Top Sportsman title went to Zach Houser. Former world champ Steve Furr got the win in Elite Top Dragster, and Justin Fordyce grabbed the trophy in the Top Dragster class.
The NHRA completed the sixty-third running of the Winternationals in Pomona, California. With just three races complete in the season, Justin Ashley and Matt Hagan picked up their second class wins of the year in Top Fuel and Funny Car respectively. They were joined onstage by Dallas Glenn, the third different winner in Pro Stock in as many events.
Ashley, who picked up the win at the most recent NHRA event in Arizona one week ago, continued his winning ways by qualifying number one and defeating Austin Prock in the final on a 3.71 at 330 mph to 3.76 at 327 mph.
Hagan qualified tenth in the Funny Car field, but got in gear for Sunday eliminations to collect Wally trophy number 45 with a final round defeat of current class champion Ron Capps. Hagan, who scored the win at the season-opening Gatornationals in Florida, now leads the class points as well.
Glenn, who scored NHRA’s Rookie of the Year in 2021, scored his fifth win of his career by scoring a narrow three-thousandths of-a-second margin over Matt Hartford via a 6.54 to 6.55 count.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of PDRA / Gary Rowe and NHRA.