Caruso called out Balduf for North-South Shootout Battle

PITTSBORO, NC – The first callout of the PDRA season goes down at the upcoming North-South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway. New Yorker Marc “The Rodfather” Caruso called out young gun Floridian Jerico Balduf. It’ll be a true Mason Dixon battle and one for the books.

“Yeah, I called Jerico out,” said Caruso, who recently ran a career best 3.72 in route to a semi-final finish at the PDRA season opener. “This is going to be fun. They’re a good group of guys.”

This is the first callout grudge match for both Caruso and Balduf. “When he called me out, I said, ‘Yeah you old man you ain’t got nothing on me,’” said Balduf, who is 20 years Caruso’s junior. “We went a 3.75 at Bradenton at the beginning of the year. It’s a brand new car and every time we go out we go faster with it.

“Instead of the North versus the South you should make it the young people versus the old people,” Balduf joked. “Even if he does run faster than me, I’ll still have him on the tree by a day and a half.”

Despite Balduf’s jabs, he confesses he’s not much for smack talk, but he’s more than willing to do what it takes to get the fans involved, as evidenced by his flashy paint job, which he hopes attracts interest not only to his car, but to the sport overall.

Caruso has made great strides in his program this year. Balduf is fairly new as a Pro Boost regular, but has already established a credible presence. Both teams are capable of running mid to low 3.70s. It’s anybody’s game and it all comes down to the final qualifying pass on Friday night at the North-South Shootout. It’s a winner take all showdown with bragging rights on the line.