PDRA
Musi Powers Franklin to PDRA Pro Nitrous Championship and ET Record
MOORESVILLE, NC — After settling for runner-up in the championship standings at the conclusion of the first two 
seasons of the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA), Tommy Franklin was tired of playing second fiddle. This season he decided to do something about it. Not only did he win the 2016 Pro Nitrous championship, he did so by winning the final event of the year and smashing the national elapsed time record in the process, all with power from Pat Musi Racing Engines.
Musi engines dominated the 2016 Pro Nitrous Wars, but the points battle was still largely undecided heading into the last two events of the season. Franklin put himself in the final round of the postponed Bradenton event to take a slight lead in the points over Jay Cox. The two stayed neck-and-neck during the PDRA World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park until they met in the semi-final round of competition. The winner would be the 2016 Pro Nitrous world champion. Franklin knew conditions were prime and laid down a 3.699 at 204.20 MPH to Cox’s off-pace 5.76. At that point, the championship was his, but there was still work to be done.
Snider, Franklin, Rivenbark and McKinney Punctuate World Championships with Victories at PDRA World Finals
DINWIDDIE, VA – Several recently crowned world champions of the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) 
backed up their titles with season-ending wins at the PDRA Brian Olson Memorial World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park, Oct. 20-23. NAS Racing Pro Extreme champion Brandon Snider defeated defending world champion Jason Scruggs in the final round, while Tommy Franklin (Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by MoTeC), Kevin Rivenbark (GALOT Motorsports Park Pro Boost), and Eric McKinney (Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle) ran world-record performances en route to their victories.
PDRA Extreme Pro Stock winner Buddy Perkinson scored an emotional win for team owner Enoch Love. DiSomma Racing Engines Outlaw 10.5 number one qualifier John Carinci swept the weekend, also winning the event.
Rini, Snider, Strickland and McKinney Qualify No. 1 at PDRA World Finals
DINWIDDIE, VA – Weather delays and an incredible car count at the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) 
Brian Olson Memorial World Finals pushed the third qualifying session well into Saturday evening, but the wait was worth it for Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by MoTeC number one qualifier Chris Rini. The New York native ran a career-best 3.694 at 199.26 mph to earn his first low qualifier award with the PDRA.
Also qualifying number one during Saturday’s third and final qualifying session at Virginia Motorsports Park were Brandon Snider in NAS Racing Pro Extreme, John Strickland in GALOT Motorsports Park Pro Boost, Eric McKinney in Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Buddy Perkinson in Ronnie Davis Top Sportsman presented by MagnaFuel, Jody Stroud in Lucas Oil Top Dragster, John Carinci in DiSomma Racing Engines Outlaw 10.5, and John Pluchino in PDRA Extreme Pro Stock.
Rain Shortens Friday Qualifying at PDRA World Finals
DINWIDDIE, VA – Late rain showers and falling temperatures forced race officials to postpone Friday’s qualifying 
action at the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Brian Olson Memorial World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park. The inclement weather set in during the middle of the second qualifying session for Top Sportsman, which featured a record 74 cars attempting to qualify.
All of the PDRA’s professional and sportsman classes received at least one qualifying session on Friday. Defending world champion Jason Scruggs leads the NAS Racing Pro Extreme field with his 3.546 at 217.53 mph. The other number-one qualifiers in the pro classes are Steve Jackson (Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by MoTeC), John Strickland (GALOT Motorsports Park Pro Boost), Ashley Owens (Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle), Ron Green (DiSomma Racing Engines Outlaw 10.5), and Richard Penland (PDRA Extreme Pro Stock).
VP RACING FUELS CONTINGENCY AWARDS AT STAKE IN PDRA FINALS
$5700 in Fuel Credits Await Champions
SAN ANTONIO, TX – The Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) will stage its final event of the season this 
weekend at Virginia Motorsports Park and among the awards at stake is $5700 in fuel credits posted by VP Racing Fuels, the Official Fuel of PDRA. The awards include $1000 to the champion in each of the Pro automotive classes, $500 to Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster champions and $100 each to the Junior Dragster and Top Junior Dragster champion.
In addition to gift certificates in these amounts to be awarded at the end-of-year banquet, each class champion also will receive a VP Racing Fuels Championship jacket, according to Mark Ticen, VP’s Director of Race Fuel Sales. “It gives us great pleasure to provide these awards in recognition of the hard work and dedication required to achieve these championships,” Ticen said.
Keith Haney, Keith Haney Racing to skip final PDRA race of 2016
TULSA, OK – Keith Haney and his Keith Haney Racing team are likely done for the 2016 season after Haney decided 
not to race “Notorious” in the PDRA World Finals this weekend at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Haney has driven the Lucas Oil/RacingJunk.com Chevrolet — nicknamed “Notorious” — in the Pro Nitrous class this season, but he and his team are taking the weekend off.
“It saddens me a little bit because it’s a Brian Olson memorial, and he was such a great friend to me,” Haney said. “But to drive 22 hours the week after racing in the Throw Down (in T-Town) was going to be tough. It doesn’t matter where I’m at in the points, and I can finish in the top 10.
Dan Ferguson, One Round Away From Another World Championship
HARRISBURG, NC – The Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) has contested 23 events in its tenure thus 
far. Dan Ferguson has held the points lead in Ronnie Davis Top Sportsman presented by MagnaFuel for 18 of those events. Now, at just 29 years old, Ferguson is up for his second World Championship in his three year Top Sportsman career. If he wins one round of competition, the 2016 PDRA Top Sportsman World Championship is his.
The PDRA is down to its final two races of the season. While qualifying for the Sunshine State Shootout was completed on the original date at Bradenton Motorsports Park, eliminations were postponed until the World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park, due to water seepage on the track. Both the Sunshine State Shootout and the World Finals will be completed October 20-22 in Virginia. If Ferguson wins first round of the Bradenton event, he’ll secure his championship. If not, he must qualify for the World Finals to mathematically lock up the championship and be crowned the 2016 Ronnie Davis Top Sportsman presented by MagnaFuel Champion.
PDRA Nas Racing World Finals Welcomes International Racers
PITTSBORO, NC – For over a decade the Switzerland-based WCD Racing team has competed in the FIA European 
Championship. This season, the team’s dream of competing in the United States is being realized. The WCD Racing 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier has made the trip from Switzerland to the U.S. and will be running in Ronnie Davis Top Sportsman presented by MagnaFuel at the NAS Racing PDRA World Finals, October 20-22 at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Sascha Pretzsch pilots the WCD Racing Cavalier and recently was admitted to the 200 MPH Club in NHRA Comp Eliminator. “This dream seemed inaccessible a year ago,” Pretzsch said of running in the U.S. “It was only because of the perseverance of the whole WCD Racing team that it has become a reality. At the PDRA World Finals we hope to position ourselves as a worthy competitor that deserves a place in U.S. championships and thus do justice to all the fans that helped a Swiss team participate in this great adventure.”
PDRA Sunshine State Shootout Postponed Until Sunday
BRADENTON, FL – For the second day in a row, rain hindered the racing action at the Professional Drag Racers 
Association (PDRA) Sunshine State Shootout presented by Mel Bush Motorsports. Saturday’s first round of eliminations was delayed until 8 p.m. before another storm covered Bradenton Motorsports Park, forcing PDRA officials to postpone the balance of the event into Sunday.
“We’ve made every effort over the last two days to get this race in at Bradenton,” stressed PDRA race director Bob Harris. “We had some great racing and incredible elapsed times recorded last night. However, we’ve been fighting rain all weekend. We were working diligently to prepare the track surface to go racing this evening, but the mist picked back up around 8 p.m. when we were just about ready to run. We decided to call the race until 9 a.m. on Sunday.”
Scruggs, Franklin, Strickland and Garner-Jones Lead Friday Qualifying at PDRA Sunshine State Shootout
BRADENTON, FL – Water from the sky and the ground attempted to prevent Friday qualifying action at the 
Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Sunshine State Shootout presented by Mel Bush Motorsports, but the PDRA track crew fought back to allow the stars of the all-eighth-mile series to record some of the quickest elapsed times of the season. After two qualifying at Bradenton Motorsports Park, Jason Scruggs (NAS Racing Pro Extreme), Tommy Franklin (Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by MoTeC), John Strickland (GALOT Motorsports Park Pro Boost), and Chris Garner-Jones (Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle) lead the fields in the professional classes.
In the PDRA’s sportsman classes, Billy Albert leads the field in Ronnie Davis Top Sportsman presented by MagnaFuel, and Paul Daigrepont tops the Lucas Oil Top Dragster list. South Carolina’s Hailey Hawkins is the provisional number one qualifier in Talbert Pro Junior Dragster with her 7.903 et, while local racer Jason Stewart used a .006 reaction time to top the field in MegaCorp Top Junior Dragster.
