PITTSBORO, NC – The Professional Drag Racers Association’s Pro Boost competitors will have a new force to reckon with at the upcoming PDRA Summer Drags at US 131 Motorsports Park. EKanoo Racing holds the record for the quickest and fastest run by a Pro Import car thanks to a run in January of this year. At Bahrain International Circuit, EKanoo Racing’s brand new Toyota GT86 went 5.774 at over 247 miles per hour, setting the import world on fire.

The team, led by team owner Ebrahim Kanoo recently brought the Pro Import stateside. After a successful test session at Orlando Speed World last weekend, the team has made plans for the PDRA Summer Drags to be their first major event on U.S. soil.

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PITTSBORO, NC – In addition to the four professional classes, two sportsman, and two junior dragster classes contested at each stop on the PDRA tour, Extreme Pro Stock and DiSomma Racing Engines Outlaw 10.5 will join PDRA at the upcoming Summer Drags.

The Summer Drags, held June 9-11 at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich., will be the second of five events Extreme Pro Stock (XPS) will run with the PDRA this season. XPS had an impressive first outing during the Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway with several of the naturally aspirated machines covering the eighth-mile in less than 4.10 seconds. North Carolinian Richard Penland took home top honors at the event, his home stop on the tour. Penland dedicated the win to his father, who passed away just the week before the event. He’ll be looking to continue his winning ways and hold on to his early season points lead, but he’ll have to get through the likes of former World Champs John Montecalvo and Brian Gahm, among a host of other heavy hitters.

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ENNIS, TX – For the third race in a row, PDRA Pro Boost racer Kevin Rivenbark lefts Saturday eliminations as the race winner and points leader. The North Carolina native stayed undefeated this season when he won the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Texas Nationals near Dallas this weekend. Also victorious were Jason Scruggs (Pro Extreme), Jay Cox (Pro Nitrous), and Chuck Wilburn (Pro Extreme Motorcycle).

Texan drivers won the PDRA’s sportsman and Junior Dragster categories, with Lubbock’s Monte Weaver winning Top Sportsman and Orange’s Chase Murray scoring his first-ever PDRA event win in Top Dragster. The Pro Junior Dragster win went to Ty Casey and Trent Augustyn won in Top Junior Dragster.

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ENNIS, TX – With three of four qualifying rounds completed at the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Texas Nationals, Todd Tutterow and GALOT Motorsports teammate John Strickland currently lead the qualifying fields in NAS Racing Pro Extreme and GALOT Motorsports Park Pro Boost, respectively. Second-generation driver Lizzy Musi leads Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous into Saturday’s final qualifying session, while Chris Garner-Jones holds the number one spot in Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle.

In the PDRA’s sportsman ranks, John Benoit is first in Ronnie Davis Top Sportsman presented by Magnafuel and Arizona’s Jon Bradford leads Lucas Oil Top Dragster qualifying. Texas hitter Kendal Little is number one in Talbert Pro Junior Dragster with his perfect 7.900 elapsed time and Mia Schult’s .001 reaction time gave her the top spot in MegaCorp Top Junior Dragster.

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ENNIS, TX – Fans of eighth-mile doorslammer racing have a lot to look forward to as the Professional Drag Racers Association rolls into Texas Motorplex for the PDRA Texas Nationals, May 19-21. The flame-throwing ‘Nitrous Wars’ continue to heat up, and the headlining Pro Extreme cars are quicker than ever before.

Alabama’s Brandon Snider, currently number two in NAS Racing Pro Extreme points, enters the Texas Nationals as the elapsed time record holder with his 3.486 ET set at Tulsa earlier this year. Other Pro Extreme racers to watch are points leader Jason Scruggs and Texans Frankie Taylor and Randall Reid, winner of the PDRA Spring Nationals in Rockingham last month.

Competition in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous is incredibly fierce right now, with a variety of engine builders represented in the top 10 in points. Some of the class’ biggest hitters competed in GALOT Motorsports Park’s $10,000 Engine Builders Challenge race last weekend. Tommy Franklin and his Pat Musi Racing Engines-powered ’68 Camaro collected the win after out-qualifying and racing a field full of Pro Nitrous regulars like Travis Harvey, Jason Harris, and Steve Jackson.

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PITTSBORO, NC – As a committed PDRA partner, Classic Graphix believes in giving credit where credit is due. That’s why the company has stepped up to hand out $1000 to racers who can break the barrier of the quickest run in their respective categories.

The Classic Graphix Pro Performance Challenge will award $1000 to the first Pro Boost, Pro Nitrous and Pro Extreme racer at each event who is able to go faster than the quickest recorded run. The initial standard for the Challenge will be the current E.T. record, but after that racers must go faster than the last Classic Graphix Pro Performance Challenge winner. The Challenge will be contested during qualifying runs only and will be awarded only to the first to break the barrier at every remaining event on the 2016 PDRA tour.

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PITTSBORO, NC – Ronnie Davis was one of the most prolific Top Sportsman racers the category has ever seen. When Davis succumbed to injuries after a wreck in the final round of qualifying at the PDRA Spring Nationals in early April, the entire racing community felt the shock of his untimely departure.

To honor Davis’ contributions to the class he championed many times, PDRA Top Sportsman has been renamed Ronnie Davis Top Sportsman presented by MagnaFuel. “We could see no better way to honor the memory of our friend, competitor and one of the greatest advocates of Top Sportsman than to name the class after him,” stated PDRA Director, Bob Harris.

Besides being a multi-time champion of the class and one of its longest-running competitors, Davis was also a key player in the class’ continuity and growth. He brought the quickest and fastest sportsman doorslammer class to NHRA, which aptly recognized the first NHRA Top Sportsman Champion in 2015. Davis also utilized his Davis Golf Cart Sales company as a sponsor of the class in NHRA’s Division 2 and was the Official Pit Vehicle of the PDRA.

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PITTSBORO, NC – On April 9, 2016 Drag Illustrated Senior Editor, Ian Tocher, was photographing the PDRA Spring Nationals from the top end of Rockingham Dragway. He was located past the quarter-mile, well beyond the eighth-mile finish line, shooting the Top Sportsman category as he’d done hundreds of times before. Reigning PDRA Top Sportsman World Champion Ronnie Davis came up for his final qualifying pass. Davis was uncharacteristically on the outside-looking-in of the 16 car field. This would be his last chance to make it in. As good friends, Tocher was pulling for Davis to make a pass that would qualify him to compete on race day.

Davis fought his ‘63 Corvette all the way down the track before he lost control, making contact with the left retaining wall before veering violently to the right, directly toward Tocher. There wasn’t enough time for Tocher to take cover as the Corvette cleared the right retaining wall, making contact with Tocher in the process and then barrel-rolling to a stop.

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LYNCHBURG, VA – It’s still early in the Professional Drag Racers Association’s third season, but already North Carolina’s Travis Harvey has a decent lead. He’s been in the final of both events held so far, finishing second at the season opener and winning the Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway. That currently gives him a 197 point lead over Tommy Franklin, who was in the season opener final with Harvey. Perhaps even more impressive, Harvey has been to four consecutive final rounds. After taking delivery of a new Jerry Bickel ‘69 Camaro, Harvey won the Snowbird Nationals and then qualified number one and scored a runner-up finish at the U.S. Street Nationals. With additional Sonny’s R&D put into place before the PDRA season opener, it was no surprise Harvey made it to the first two finals.

“The team has just gelled in an awesome way, and Sonny Leonard provides us with excellent horsepower,” the Carolina Kid told. “We put this team together late last year, and it has already been in four finals since December.

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PITTSBORO, NC – The Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) brings the quickest and fastest eighth-mile doorslammers on the planet to Texas Motorplex, May 19-21. Pro Mods of every make and model will take to the track, going from 0 to 230 MPH in just 660 feet in less than 4 seconds. Blown, nitrous-oxide assisted, and turbo cars will all take on the legendary eighth-mile to see who will be crowned this year’s Texas Nationals Champions.

Missile-like Jet Cars will be going head-to-head in a unique jet car match race and the PDRA is thrilled also to feature Danny O’Day’s ATI Wheel Stander, the world’s quickest wheel stander.

Texas Motorplex is a highlight on the PDRA tour for its rich history and phenomenal racing surface. In NAS Racing Pro Extreme Jason Scruggs hopes to continue domination of the quickest and fastest class of the PDRA in his Mississippi Missile. To do that, Scruggs must fend off Frankie Taylor, Randall Reid and Brandon Pesz, who all call the Motorplex their home stop on the PDRA tour.

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