FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Iowa’s Brunson Grothus is an accomplished competitor in numerous motorcycle drag racing classes and organizations, but a world championship in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series eluded him until this season. Racing on two wheels in Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Grothus competed against past world champions to win three of the five races that included the class on the eight-race PDRA schedule. He’s now just the fifth different Pro Extreme Motorcycle world champion in the 11-year history of the series.

Grothus, who previously rode his family’s nitrous-assisted Indocil Art/Grothus Drag Bikes Hayabusa, started the season riding Robert Varela’s turbocharged Excel Glass Systems/Dallas Flat Glass Distributors Hayabusa. He lost in the first round at the season opener, then won the American Doorslammer Challenge at Summit Motorsports Park. Grothus qualified No. 1 for the second time in his career at the North vs. South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway. He qualified No. 1 and won the inaugural Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol Dragway, then repeated the sweep at the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park. He clinched the title when he defeated two-time and outgoing world champion Chris Garner-Jones in the semifinals.
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FREDERICKSBURG, VA – As the third generation in a drag racing family, James Beattie III has been surrounded by the straight-line sport his whole life. He’s soaked up knowledge and skills, and he put that all to use this year when he won the Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products world championship in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series. Beattie earned one event win in two final-round appearances to score his first championship in the PDRA.

Beattie, the grandson of ATI Performance Products founder Jim Beattie and son of current ATI president J.C. Beattie Jr., raced to a runner-up finish at the second race of the season, the Mid-Atlantic Showdown at Virginia Motorsports Park. Two races later, the Maryland native picked up a home-race win at the North vs. South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway. It was his second career win, and a bounce back from a tough DNQ at the same race last season. Beattie clinched the title at the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals at Virginia when his closest challengers, Kylie Varnier and Braydon Crayton, lost first round and didn’t qualify, respectively. Beattie advanced to the semifinals.

“Winning the PDRA championship in Top Jr. means a lot because it shows how far I have come in my short racing career and that I was focused all season,” said Beattie, 11. “The highlight of my season was most definitely the .001 / dead 9 in the second-to-last race of the season in round one of eliminations because that’s my best total package and reaction time in eliminations ever and it was an important round win.” Continue reading →

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The MagnaFuel Top Sportsman presented by Corbin’s RV world championship typically comes down to the wire in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series, but this season, newly crowned world champion Mark Reese simply had to qualify at the season finale to secure his title. Facing tough competition with razor-thin margins of victory all season, Reese won two events in three final-round appearances to claim his first world championship in the series.

Reese’s championship hopes began in late May when he drove his nitrous-assisted, PAR Racing Engines-powered ’08 Mustang to a runner-up finish at the American Doorslammer Challenge at Summit Motorsports Park. Two races later, he won the Northern Nationals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. He backed that up with a second consecutive win at the inaugural Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol Dragway. Those performances gave Reese enough of a lead that he merely had to qualify at the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park to clinch the championship. Reese, who doesn’t live far from VMP in North Dinwiddie, Virginia, qualified No. 22 in the Top Sportsman 48 field.

“This is probably the biggest accomplishment I’ve ever done in my racing career,” said Reese, who thanked his wife, as well as tuner Buddy Perkinson. “I’ve won four championships at VMP before with index racing driving for Keith Cox. It just all came together towards the end of the season. Winning Michigan and Bristol and runner-up at Ohio gave me enough confidence thinking I could compete with these guys out here.” Continue reading →

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Amber (Franklin) Denton is now a second-generation two-time world champion in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series professional classes, as she won the 2024 Pro 632 world championship. Denton, who won the 2017 Pro Jr. Dragster and 2022 Pro 632 world championships, secured the title by winning three races in six final rounds across the eight-race season. She also qualified No. 1 six times before closing out the season – and her Pro 632 career – by setting a new class E.T. national record.

Following a third-place finish in the 2023 standings, Denton and her Tommy Franklin Motorsports team were determined to get back to championship form this season. She claimed two No. 1 qualifier awards and two runner-up finishes in the first three races of the season before getting her first win of the season at the North vs. South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway. That was the first of two double-up wins with her father, three-time Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin. The second came just two races later at the inaugural Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol Dragway. Denton in her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro then dominated DragWars at GALOT Motorsports Park, qualifying No. 1 and winning the race. She clinched the world championship during eliminations. Continue reading →

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Going into the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season finale, Kyle Harris didn’t expect to have a realistic shot at the world championship in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving. Ranked third in points, a range of scenarios had to play out perfectly for Harris to climb into the points lead. That’s exactly what happened, though, as Harris raced to his first win of the season at the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals to clinch the championship.

Harris went into the season hoping to be competitive, but his other major goal was helping his son, Pro Jr. Dragster title contender Ryan Harris, earn his Top Dragster license. To accomplish that, Harris switched from his proven but wild Altered to a supercharged, full-length, rear-engine dragster to allow Ryan to make licensing passes during pre-race testing. Harris reached the final round at the third race of the season, the American Doorslammer Challenge at Summit Motorsports Park. He later switched back to the Altered, but when that entry faced continued parts failures that led to early exits, Harris started to feel his championship hopes slip away. Incredibly close first-round losses – both by a .0006 margin of victory – at the sixth and seventh races of the season didn’t help. Continue reading →

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Competing in her final season in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products, Ashley Franklin clinched her first world championship in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series. She joined her older sister, Amber Denton, who won the 2024 Pro 632 world championship to go along with her 2022 Pro 632 title and her 2017 Pro Jr. Dragster championship. The sisters’ father, Tommy Franklin, is also a three-time Pro Nitrous world champion, and Ashley’s brother-in-law, Blake Denton, won the Super Street world championship in 2023. Franklin secured the title with one win in two final-round appearances.

“It’s definitely very rewarding,” Franklin said. “My whole team and family – everybody has worked so hard for this championship. It’s definitely been a stressful year, but we finally got it done.”

Franklin in her ’21 Half Scale dragster kicked off the season with a runner-up finish at the East Coast Nationals at GALOT Motorsports Park. She followed that up with a win at one of her home races, the Mid-Atlantic Showdown at Virginia Motorsports Park. Franklin also reached the final round at the Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars all-star race at Virginia, though it wasn’t a points-earning event. Continue reading →

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Pennsylvania’s Chris Powers is now a two-time world champion in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series after securing the 2024 Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition world championship. Representing the late Sonny Leonard and Sonny’s Racing Engines, Powers won two events in three final-round appearances to add another title to his 2021 world championship.

Powers in his Chuck Samuel-tuned Sonny’s Racing Engines ’21 Camaro went rounds at the first two races of the season, then he charged to the final round at the American Doorslammer Challenge at Summit Motorsports Park. Two races later, he won the Northern Nationals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. He notched a semifinal finish at the inaugural Thunder Valley Throwdown, then he won again at DragWars at GALOT Motorsports Park to carry a significant points lead into the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park. Powers clinched the championship when he won his first-round match at the World Finals.

“This means a lot to us,” said Powers, who finished second in 2023. “We’ve been working really hard. Last year didn’t work out. This year, we just knew we had to do a better job. We’re happy with this year. We did a good job. We went rounds. We got a fresh bullet. Sonny’s worked really hard on the power and it showed. We had a really good car here at the World Finals. It didn’t work out in the [second] round. I couldn’t see the tree, so we kind of just threw it away, but we’re happy. We came and did what we wanted to do.” Continue reading →

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Three years after winning the 2021 PDRA Pro Jr. Dragster world championship, 17-year-old Ethan Steding secured the 2024 Menscer Motorsports Pro Street presented by Afco Racing world championship to become a two-time Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series world champion. He’s now just the second driver to win titles in the PDRA’s Jr. Dragster and professional categories. Competing in his rookie season, Steding won three races to secure the Pro Street world championship.

“At the start of the season, I didn’t think I would be here,” Steding said. “I thought this whole season was going to be a learning curve. This group of Pro Street guys, I thank them. They’re all super respectful and welcomed me into the class super nicely. I just definitely didn’t think I’d be here. I was just hoping to win one race, but we were actually able to win three and secure the championship. It means so much to me, and I know it means a lot to these crew guys.”

Steding, the son of WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive championship runner-up Kurt Steding, made his “big car” debut at the season-opening East Coast Nationals at GALOT Motorsports Park. He scored his first No. 1 qualifier award at the next race, the Mid-Atlantic Showdown at Virginia Motorsports Park. The firsts continued at the next race, the American Doorslammer Challenge at Summit Motorsports Park, when Steding earned his first event win. He won again at the next event, the North vs. South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway, sharing the winner’s circle with Kurt on Father’s Day weekend. A third win followed two races later at the inaugural Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol Dragway. Continue reading →

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The Red Line Synthetic Oil Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) announced today its eight-race 2025 schedule, coming after a successful campaign through the 2024 calendar year. The series will return to the six familiar racetracks throughout the East Coast and Midwest that they ventured to in 2024 yet again, starting at GALOT Motorsports Park and finishing at Virginia Motorsports Park, as in years past.

“The goal each year is continue to grow in numerous ways and being consistent with the locations, dates, and programs so teams and fans alike can plan accordingly,” said Tyler Crossnoe, series director. “Following the 2024 season, there was not much to not like. Each event brought a detail to the season-long story that would not be complete without those details. We saw first-time winners, first-time champions, heartbreaking moments, and storybook endings.

“As we look back on 2024 and look forward to 2025, we will continue to further our motorsports platform with our racer-centric programs and events all while staying consistent with the schedule to continue pushing PDRA’s roots into these six markets to grow our fan base,” Crossnoe continued. “While we will return to the same six facilities in 2025, we have put an emphasis on even spacing on event dates while working with other series to avoid schedule conflicts so crew chiefs, drivers, vendors, and fans can overlap across their favorite professional avenues for drag racing.” Continue reading →

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – Glenn Butcher, who has competed in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series since its inaugural season in 2014, proved why he’s one of fast bracket racing’s best by winning the 2024 MangaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines world championship. The Ohio-based driver won two events in the eight-race season, making him one of the few title contenders going into the final race of the season. By just 10 points, he was crowned the champion on the final day of the season.

Butcher, who has switched back and forth between eighth-mile and quarter-mile Top Sportsman racing in various series for the past 20-plus years, decided in recent years to focus on PDRA Elite Top Sportsman competition. That turned into a championship pursuit this season.

“We got the engine combination, we got the car right, and we got everything right to come out here to try to win,” Butcher said. “We really thought last year we had a good shot going into the year, then some things didn’t work out real well and we were struggling here and there. But this year we knew it was like, ‘Let’s get it done.’ We won here in Virginia at the beginning of the year, and we were like, ‘All right, let’s go, let’s go.’” Continue reading →