BENSON, N.C. (Sept. 13, 2025) – Second-generation Pro Modified wheelman Ty Tutterow continued a dominant streak in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive Saturday night at ProFab PDRA DragWars presented by PST Driveshafts when he rolled to his second straight win and third overall in four consecutive final rounds. For the second time in 48 hours, the Mocksville, North Carolina-based driver met up with Melanie Salemi in the final round, winning with a 3.561-second pass at 209.95 mph down the GALOT Motorsports Park eighth mile. The win helped Tutterow maintain his points lead over Salemi heading into the final race of the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season.
Another North Carolina native, Marcus Butner, picked up the win in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous, while additional pro class victories went to Ethan Steding in Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by Menscer Motorsports, Alan Drinkwater in AED Competition Extreme Pro Stock presented by 3V Performance, Walter Lannigan in PDRA Pro 632 presented by PTC Torque Converters, and Austin Vincent in PDRA Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling.
Competition in the sportsman classes ended with victories going to Dewayne Silance in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Steve Furr in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Joe Roubicek in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman 32, and Ken Batchelor in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster 48 presented by Derrick Wolfe Trucking. It was an all-Benson final round in Edelbrock Bracket Bash presented by COMP Cams, with Kristen Byrd defeating Johnson Raynor.
The final rounds in the PDRA’s always-competitive Jr. Dragster classes featured two of the closest races of the entire event. Chloe Geryes picked up the win in Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and James Beattie III was victorious in Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products. Geryes and opponent Donald O’Meara III cut identical reaction times and Geryes ran a 7.911 to O’Meara’s 7.919 to win by .008 seconds. Beattie, the reigning world champion, stopped No. 1 qualifier Kylie Varnier from sweeping the event, as he moved first and posted a 9.001 on an 8.96 dial-in to get the win over Varnier’s 9.044 on a 9.01 dial-in, making for a .003 margin of victory.
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PRO BOOST
A year ago, Ty Tutterow helped his father, Todd “King Tut” Tutterow, race to a runner-up finish at DragWars driving Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro. Now with Ty in the driver’s seat and Todd calling the shots, the pair found the winner’s circle at GALOT Motorsports Park Saturday night. Final-round opponent Melanie Salemi moved first with a .009 reaction time to Tutterow’s .011, but a mechanical issue quickly prevented Salemi from sweeping the GALOT races as she slowed to an 11.113 at 37.29.
Tutterow fired off low elapsed time of race day, a 3.561 at 209.95, to claim his third win in four straight final rounds. This one came just 48 hours after Tutterow defeated Salemi in the final round of the Thunder Valley Throwdown, which was completed Thursday night at GALOT after rain showers pushed it from Bristol Dragway in late August.
“Racing the Salemis is always tough and it's always fun too because when you go screw blower racing, it's really us against the Salemi group,” Tutterow said. “They make a lot of power too and we use a lot of similar components and it's always just a pleasure to race them and go back and forth.”
Tutterow led the points standings by just under two rounds over Salemi after the Bristol race was completed. He extended that by one round with the DragWars win, but he’s not taking anything for granted going into the Brian Olson Memorial World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park.
“We need to qualify,” said Tutterow, referencing his DNQ at the spring Virginia race and his father’s DNQs at both Virginia races last season. “Everybody knows Virginia is our Achilles heel. Hopefully we go to Virginia and qualify and get some rounds. If we're fortunate enough to get another win or runner-up, it'd be awesome. That's the goal.”
Tutterow, who qualified No. 1 for the first time this season, kicked off race day with a 3.608 at 208.88 to eliminate Bubba Greene, tuned by Pro Modified legend Scotty Cannon, and his 3.751. Tutterow then locked into the 3.50s, running a 3.59 at 207.72 over Jason Lee’s 4.59 in the second round and a 3.568 at 209.49 over a red-lighting Randy Weatherford in the semis. That was the second-quickest pass of the day, setting him up with lane choice in the final.
Salemi, who won the season-opening East Coast Nationals at GALOT, qualified sixth in Eddie Whelan’s screw-blown Al-Lee Installations “Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird. That meant a first-round meeting with teammate and 2025 World Series of Pro Mod champion Steve King, who left the line first but ran a 3.638 to follow Salemi and her 3.586 at 207.46. It didn’t get any easier for Salemi in the second round, as she faced Johnny Camp in a rematch of the East Coast Nationals final round. This edition went Salemi’s way as well, with her 3.617 at 193.24 beating Camp’s 3.708 as both drivers wounded parts. Salemi dipped back in the 3.50s in the semis with a 3.583 at 207.88 over Ed Marx, who coasted to a 4.579 at 111.78.
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PRO NITROUS
Marcus Butner’s third career Pro Nitrous win was meaningful in more than one way, as he parked his Jay Cox-tuned, Musi-powered “Heartbreaker” ’69 Camaro in the winner’s circle at his home track while also putting himself in a position to chase the world championship at the World Finals in three weeks. Racing three-time world champion and points leader Tommy Franklin in the final round, Butner left second but had the power to get around Franklin. Butner won with a 3.634 at 207.78, while Franklin had to muscle his way to a 3.666 at 203.71. Butner is now just over two rounds behind Franklin in the points standings.
“This means everything to us,” Butner said. “We go down this racetrack every month – probably every other week. We make a lot of laps here. They look after us. We try to look after them.
“Winning the championship was the goal from day one when we showed up here in the spring,” Butner continued. “All we want to do is win a championship and we're in a decent spot. We'll just have to see how it all plays out.”
Butner qualified No. 2 and set the tone for the day with the quickest pass of the first round, a 3.666 at 206.99, to defeat Cam Clark’s 3.742. He won a side-by-side race over past Elite Top Sportsman world champion Tim Molnar, laying down a 3.684 at 207.08 next to Molnar’s 3.688. Semifinal opponent Dane Wood cut a .002 light, but Butner covered the holeshot advantage with a 3.64 at 207.50 to earn lane choice for the final.
Franklin, who qualified No. 1 in his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro, caught a lucky break in the opening round as he suffered a mechanical failure and coasted to a 4.871 at 103.37. Opponent Edward Wilson also had problems and followed to a 5.993. Franklin was back in form in the second round, where he recorded the quickest pass of the round, a 3.679 at 205.38, to beat defending world champion Fredy Scriba and his 3.709. On a semifinal bye run, Franklin took the tree and lifted to a 5.016 at 98.98.
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PRO STREET
Reigning Pro Street world champion Ethan Steding trailed Blake Denton in the points standings for the first half of the season, but when he took out Denton in the opening round at the Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol Dragway, the door was open for Steding. He ran right through it, charging to a runner-up finish in the Thursday night completion of the rain-delayed Bristol race, then followed it up with his third win of the season on Saturday night. Steding, a past Pro Jr. Dragster world champion, lined up against class veteran Ron Green in the final round. Steding’s roots-blown P2 Contracting “College Fund” ’24 Camaro moved first and led the whole way, winning with a 3.925 at 194.74 to Green’s 3.938 at 179.35. Steding is now the points leader with one race left in the season.
“I was as motivated as I've ever been,” said Steding, who thanked parents Kurt and Wendi, tuners Ty and Todd Tutterow, crew members John Redfield and Mike Stanley, and Mark Beatty with Red Line Oil. “I believe we were about 800 points behind [Denton] going into Bristol, and I was fortunate enough to be able to line up with him first round and meet up with him again at this race. It helped me out a lot, and after this weekend, I think I'm in pretty good hands. We're going to try and keep that number one on the car.”
Steding’s first-round opponent, spring GALOT race runner-up Chris Tuten, ran into mechanical issues while Steding raced to a 3.947 at 194.38. In a pressure-packed second-round match with Denton, Steding left first and fired off a 3.929 at 196.56 to hold off Denton’s 3.934. He was consistent in the semifinals, running a 3.923 at 196.44 to defeat No. 2 qualifier Richard Reagan and his off-pace 4.256.
Green in his screw-blown “Gamechanger” ’00 Firebird opened Pro Street’s first round of eliminations with a holeshot win over 2023 world champion Bill Riddle, who followed Green’s 3.96 at 193.38 with a 3.95 at 190.48. The Chesterfield, Virginia-based driver then set low E.T. of the next two rounds, beating No. 1 qualifier Fletcher Cox’s 3.966 with a 3.912 at 199.85 in the second round and a 3.901 at 200.41 to take out young gun Scott Kincaid and his 3.942 in the semis.
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EXTREME PRO STOCK
Alan Drinkwater, the 2023 Extreme Pro Stock world champion and points leader, denied young gun Jordan Ensslin a second consecutive victory when the two met up in the final round. Ensslin, who earned his first career win in the class Thursday night in the weather-extended Thunder Valley Throwdown, grabbed a slight starting line advantage, but Drinkwater powered to a 4.075 at 176.74 in his Kaase-powered Flatout Gaskets '08 Mustang to get around Ensslin and his 4.093 at 175.55. The win padded Drinkwater’s points lead going into the World Finals.
“Jordan's been having a great weekend. He's a hell of a driver,” said Drinkwater, who thanked God, his wife, and his team. “They've had that car on rails all weekend. We've had faith in our car. We just got a couple rounds behind, but I knew it was really going to be a real tight race, and that's what it was. I think we left pretty close. He might have left a little bit on me, but thankfully we had enough Kaase horsepower to come around him. It's very tough to put these wins together, and thankfully we were able to pull it through.”
Drinkwater opened race day with a 4.066 at 177.95 to beat 2018 world champion Steven Boone, who lifted to a 9.816. North Carolina’s Elijah Morton went red by .004 against Drinkwater in the second round, while Drinkwater ran a 4.078 at 177.32 to advance to the final round.
As the No. 1 qualifier, Ensslin got a first-round bye run, which he used to record a 4.07 at 176.19 in his Allen-powered Poke County Pro Stock ’09 Mustang. He then threw down low E.T. of race day, a 4.059 at 176.70, to knock out championship hopeful Jeremy Huffman and his 4.081 in the semifinals, giving him lane choice for the final.
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PRO 632
Walter Lannigan ended 2023 Pro 632 world champion Jeff Melnick’s three-race win streak in the DragWars final round, completing the GALOT Motorsports Park sweep in the process. Lannigan, who won the season-opening East Coast Nationals at GALOT, returned to Benson with the same Nelson-powered ’10 GTO that he drove earlier in the year, but now under new ownership. Driving for car owner David Cook, Lannigan left the line behind Melnick but charged to a 4.153 at 169.70 to turn on the final win light. Meanwhile, a parts failure in Melnick’s car slowed him to a 4.537 at 121.33. Still, Melnick carries a significant points lead into the final race of the season.
“This car was sold just last Thursday,” Lannigan said. “Chris [Holdorf] called me on Friday and said, 'Hey, the new owner might want you to drive the car at GALOT.’ I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ I was planning on just taking some time off, and here we are today.
“Jeff is awesome. He's a world champion,” Lannigan added. “I didn't do as well as I wanted to on the tree when you race a guy like that. He's always a challenge, so it was great.”
Lannigan, who qualified fourth, was unopposed in the first round as opponent Ed McLemore suffered catastrophic mechanical damage in qualifying. He ran a 4.172 at 169.42 and followed that up with a 4.177 at 169.47 to defeat rookie Jeff Pittman and his 4.187 in the second round. With Jamie Miller tuning, Lannigan stayed consistent in the semifinals with a 4.18 at 169.15 to take out Jason Ventura and his 4.193.
Melnick qualified third in Alan O’Brien’s Barry Allen-powered Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro before using a 4.139 at 171.21 to get around Gary Hood’s .009 light and 4.404. He then drove around Virginia 1 winner Kyle Salminen with a 4.159 at 171.08 to Salminen’s 4.227. Rookie Carson Hoyle put up a good fight in the semifinals with his 4.154, but Melnick was quicker at both ends of the track with a .007 reaction time and a 4.142 at 171.51, which gave him lane choice for the final round.
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SUPER STREET
Super Street young guns Austin Vincent and Connor McGee have made a habit of meeting up in the late rounds this season, including a Thursday night match to decide the winner of the rain-delayed Thunder Valley Throwdown. While McGee won that race, Vincent got payback Saturday night when he won DragWars. The race was over on the starting line, as McGee moved .007 seconds too soon and lifted off the throttle. Vincent was ready for him, though, with his perfect .000 reaction time. He also backed off the throttle when he saw McGee go red and coasted to a 6.69 at 64.66 in his nitrous-fed Vincent Performance ’88 Mustang.
“I really hoped to get one the other night in the makeup finals for Bristol and just missed it by a little bit,” said Vincent, who thanked his parents, best friend Cody, and partners like Vincent Performance, VDRD, Ron G, Davis Technologies, and Nitrous Express. “Coming into this final, I knew we had to be good. I knew they'd be fast. Apparently I was perfect on the tree. He left just a little bit too soon and we got it done. It felt like it was chattering [the tires] a little bit and I'd seen him go red, so I saw my win light. It's like, 'Well, let's go ahead and lift and save it for another day.’ We already got the win. Can't win any more than that.”
Vincent qualified second and ran a 4.616 at 157.56 unopposed in the opening round, as opponent Phil Hines had mechanical issues on the starting line. Semifinal opponent Matt Schalow suffered a similar fate, while Vincent improved to a 4.593 at 149.05 to get ready for the final.
McGee started the weekend by winning the Bristol race for the second straight year. He qualified No. 5 for DragWars in his Fulton-powered Brian’s Heating & Cooling ’90 Mustang and started eliminations with a holeshot win over rookie Carson Perry, running a 4.58 at 156.50 to Perry’s 4.575 at 155.51 for a .0006 margin of victory. He then met up with reigning world champion and No. 1 qualifier Dan Whetstine in the semifinals, where Whetstine went red by .007 seconds. McGee advanced with a 4.559 at 157.10, earning lane choice for the final.
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TOP SPORTSMAN
The Elite Top Sportsman final round was seemingly over at the starting line as championship contender Dewayne Silance was dead late with a .536 reaction time to Scott Duggins’ .025 light. The win light came on in Silance’s lane, though, when Duggins broke out in his ProCharged ’63 Corvette with a 3.877 on a 3.88 dial-in. Silance, the 2017 world champion, won with a 3.896 on a 3.88 dial-in in his nitrous-fed ’68 Camaro.
In the Top Sportsman 32 final round, Ronnie Proctor threw away a 4.186 on a 4.17 in his nitrous-fed ’09 Mustang by going .016 red. Joe Roubicek, the 2022 world champion, lifted early in his nitrous-assisted ’68 Camaro and ran a 4.326 on a 4.17 dial-in for the win.
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TOP DRAGSTER
By just one thousandth of a second, Brian Maine missed out on a near-perfect package in the Elite Top Dragster final round. After going red by .001, Maine threw down a 4.003 on a 4.00 dial-in in his ’14 Miller dragster. With the win light already on in defending event champion Steve Furr’s lane, the two-time world champion broke out with a 3.753 on a 3.76 dial-in in his ProCharged ’13 American dragster. Furr also won the spring GALOT race.
A pair of North Carolina racers threw down in the Top Dragster 48 final round, with Leland’s Ken Batchelor taking the win over Benson’s own Clayton Roberts. Batchelor moved first and posted a 4.356 on a 4.35 dial-in in his ’20 American dragster, while Roberts ran a 4.205 on a 4.20 dial-in in his ’22 Race Tech dragster. The race was decided by two thousandths.
The 2025 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season will conclude Oct. 2-5 at the Pro Line Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals presented by ProCharger at Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, Virginia. The weekend will also include the Summit Racing Equipment PDRA ProStars all-star race on Thursday and VMP’s Night of Fire on Saturday. For more info, visit www.PDRA660.com or www.RaceVMP.com.
Photos by Tara Bowker
